Elisabeth Moss

Elisabeth Singleton Moss, born July 24, 1982, in Los Angeles, California, is an American actor, director, and producer who holds both American and British citizenship. She is widely known for her television roles, including Zoey Bartlet in The West Wing, Peggy Olson in Mad Men, and June Osborne in The Handmaid's Tale. Over her career, she has earned two Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as a nomination for a Tony Award.

Moss was raised in a musical household by her parents, Ronald Charles Moss and Linda Moss, both of whom were musicians. She was raised a Scientologist and aspired to become a professional dancer during her childhood. In her adolescence, she studied ballet at the School of American Ballet in New York City and under Suzanne Farrell at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. To accommodate her early education and acting career, she was homeschooled and graduated in 1999.

Her screen debut occurred in 1990 with the miniseries Lucky/Chances. Throughout the 1990s, she appeared in television programs such as Picket Fences, Frosty Returns, Gypsy, and Escape to Witch Mountain, along with feature films including Imaginary Crimes, Love Can Build a Bridge, Separate Lives, and The Last Supper. In 1999, Moss gained wider recognition playing Zoey Bartlet, the daughter of President Josiah Bartlet, on the White House drama series The West Wing, a recurring role she played until 2006.

From 2007 to 2015, Moss played secretary-turned-copywriter Peggy Olson in the AMC series Mad Men, receiving five Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and one for Outstanding Supporting Actress. In 2013, she played detective Robin Griffin in the miniseries Top of the Lake. Beginning in 2017, she took on the role of June Osborne in Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, a series she also produced, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Moss expanded her work behind the camera by launching her production company, Love & Squalor Pictures, in 2020. She starred as Kirby Mazrachi in the 2022 Apple TV+ thriller series Shining Girls, serving as an executive producer and directing two episodes. In 2024, she executive produced and starred as veteran MI6 agent Imogen Salter in the FX on Hulu limited series The Veil.

In film, Moss has taken on both supporting and leading roles across various genres. Her film credits include Girl, Interrupted, Virgin, The Missing, On the Road, High-Rise, The Seagull, Us, and The French Dispatch. She starred in three films directed by Alex Ross Perry: Listen Up Philip, Queen of Earth, and Her Smell. Her additional leading film performances include The One I Love, Shirley, and The Invisible Man, the latter earning her a nomination for the AACTA Award for Best Actress, as well as Next Goal Wins.

On stage, Moss made her Broadway debut in a 2008 revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow and her West End debut in a 2011 production of The Children's Hour. She later earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play for starring in the 2015 Broadway revival of The Heidi Chronicles. In her personal life, Moss was married to Fred Armisen from 2009 until their divorce was finalized in 2011, and she gave birth to a child in 2024.