Rachel Brosnahan

Rachel Elizabeth Brosnahan is an American actress. She rose to fame for her starring role as Midge Maisel, a 1950s Jewish housewife who pursues stand-up comedy, in the Amazon Prime Video period comedy series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023). She is also recognized for portraying Lois Lane in the DC Universe, debuting in the film Superman (2025).

Brosnahan was born on July 12, 1990, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Carol and Earl Brosnahan, who worked in children's publishing. She was raised from the age of four in Highland Park, Illinois, alongside a younger brother and sister. She attended Wayne Thomas Elementary School, Northwood Junior High School, and Highland Park High School, where she participated in musical theater, spent two years on the wrestling team, and worked as a snowboarding instructor. At 16, she began taking classes with Carole Dibo, who became her manager. She graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2012 and also studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

While in high school, Brosnahan made her film debut as Lisa in the horror movie The Unborn (2009) and made her stage debut in 2009 at the Steppenwolf Theatre. During college, she appeared in short films by Ari Aster, including Basically (2013) and Munchausen (2014), as well as episodes of television shows such as Gossip Girl, The Good Wife, Grey's Anatomy, and In Treatment. Following college, she landed recurring roles in series like The Blacklist and Black Box in 2014.

Brosnahan achieved career prominence for her role as Rachel Posner in the Netflix political thriller series House of Cards (2013–2015), which earned her an Emmy Award nomination. Her television credits also include the period drama series Manhattan (2014–2015) and Woody Allen's miniseries Crisis in Six Scenes (2016). Her film work includes starring roles in the historical spy drama The Courier (2020), the Amazon film I'm Your Woman (2020), which she also produced, the western Dead for a Dollar (2022), and the espionage thriller The Amateur (2025). In 2025, she was cast to lead and executive produce the Apple TV+ crime drama series Presumed Innocent.

On stage, Brosnahan made her Broadway debut in the 2013 revival of The Big Knife. In 2016, she played Desdemona in an off-Broadway production of Othello alongside David Oyelowo and Daniel Craig. In 2023, she starred in a revival of Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and on Broadway.

For her work in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Brosnahan earned a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Critics' Choice Television Awards. Her stage performance in The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window earned her a nomination for the Drama League Distinguished Performance Award.

In 2019, Brosnahan founded the production company Scrap Paper Pictures. She is married to actor Jason Ralph and is the niece of handbag designer Kate Spade.