Gretchen Mol facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gretchen Mol
Mol in 2015
Born	(1972-11-08) November 8, 1972 (age 52) Deep River, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1996-present
Spouse(s)	Tod Williams ​ (m. 2004)​
Children	2

Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress. She is famous for playing Gillian Darmody in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire.

Mol has also appeared in many movies. Some of her well-known films include Rounders (1998), The Thirteenth Floor (1999), and 3:10 to Yuma (2007). She also played the main character in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005) and had a role in the award-winning film Manchester by the Sea (2016).

Early Life and Education

Gretchen Mol was born on November 8, 1972, in Deep River, Connecticut. Her mother, Janet, was an artist and teacher, and her father was a high school teacher. In high school, she acted in plays and musicals with Peter Lockyer, who later became a Broadway actor. Her brother, Jim Mol, works in the film industry as a director and editor.

After high school, Mol studied acting at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy and the William Esper Studio. To support herself, she worked as an usher at the Angelika Film Center in New York City. She had moved to New York to be near her brother, who was studying at NYU film school.

Career on Stage

Mol started her acting career in summer stock theatre in Vermont. This is a type of theater where shows are produced during the summer. She performed in plays like Godspell and 110 in the Shade.

In 2001, she starred in the play The Shape of Things in both London and New York. She later appeared in the movie version of the play in 2003. In 2004, Mol performed on Broadway as the character Roxie Hart in the popular musical Chicago.

From 2014 to 2015, she returned to Broadway in the Pulitzer-Prize-winning play Disgraced, where she played the role of Emily.

Film Career

Mol at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival

Gretchen Mol has acted in over 30 movies. Her first film role was a small part in Spike Lee's 1996 movie, Girl 6. She said this small role helped her get bigger parts later on.

After Girl 6, she worked with director Abel Ferrara on two films, The Funeral (1996) and New Rose Hotel (1998). She also had a small role in Donnie Brasco (1997).

The year 1998 was a big one for Mol. She appeared in the popular poker movie Rounders with Matt Damon. She also acted alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Woody Allen's film Celebrity. That same year, she was on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine, which called her the "It Girl of the Nineties."

Some of her other notable films include:

• The Thirteenth Floor (1999), a science fiction movie where she played the lead female role.
• The Notorious Bettie Page (2005), where she played the title character, a famous 1950s model. Mol worked hard to prepare for the role.
• 3:10 to Yuma (2007), a Western movie where she starred with Russell Crowe.
• Manchester by the Sea (2016), a highly praised drama.

Television Roles

Mol's first job on television was in a Coca-Cola commercial. She later had roles in several TV shows and movies.

In 2008, she starred in the American version of the TV series Life on Mars. She played Annie Norris, a police officer in the 1970s.

From 2010 to 2014, Mol had one of her most famous roles in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. The show was about gangsters in the 1920s. She played Gillian Darmody, a showgirl and the mother of a young gangster named Jimmy Darmody. The cast of the show won two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

More recently, she has appeared in series like Yellowstone (2018), Seven Seconds (2018), and Perry Mason (2020-2023).

Personal Life

On June 1, 2004, Mol married film director Tod Williams. They have two children, a son born in 2007 and a daughter born in 2011. Since becoming a mother, Mol prefers to take acting jobs that are close to her home in New York City.

Mol is also involved in charity work. She is the national spokesperson for the PMD Foundation. This organization helps fund research for Pelizaeus–Merzbacher disease, a rare condition that affects children.

Filmography

Film

Television