Age: 42
female
Greta Gerwig is an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and director based in NY. She has collaborated with Noah Baumbach on several films, including Greenberg (2010), Frances Ha (2012), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination, and Mistress America (2015). Gerwig made her solo directorial debut with the critically acclaimed comedy-drama film Lady Bird (2017), which she also wrote, and has also had starring roles in the films Damsels in Distress (2011), Jackie (2016), and 20th Century Women (2016). Greta Celeste Gerwig was born in Sacramento, California, to Christine Gerwig (née Sauer), a nurse, and Gordon Gerwig, a financial consultant and computer programmer. She has German, Irish, and English ancestry. Gerwig was raised as a Unitarian Universalist, but also attended an all-girls Catholic school. She has described herself as "an intense child". With an early interest in dance, she intended to get a degree in musical theatre in New York. She graduated from Barnard College in NY, where she studied English and philosophy, instead. Originally intending to become a playwright, after meeting young film director Joe Swanberg, she became the star of a series of intellectual low budget movies made by first-time filmmakers, a trend dubbed "mumblecore". Gerwig was cast in a minor role in Swanberg's LOL (2006) in 2006, while still studying at Barnard. She then appeared in many of Swanberg's films, and personally co-directed, co-wrote and co-produced one entitled Nights and Weekends (2008). She has worked with good quality directors such as Ti West (The House of the Devil (2009)), Whit Stillman (Damsels in Distress (2011)), or Woody Allen (To Rome with Love (2012)) but success and (international) recognition did not come until Frances Ha (2012), directed by Noah Baumbach, a film she also co-wrote. Both tall and immature, awkward and graceful, blundering and candid, annoying and engaging, Greta has won all hearts in the title role of Frances Ha(liday). In 2017, she wrote and directed the highly acclaimed, semi-autobiographical teen movie Lady Bird (2017), set in 2002-2003, and starring Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Timothée Chalamet. In 2011, Gerwig received an award for Acting from the Athena Film Festival for her artistry as one of Hollywood's definitive screen actresses of her generation.
Set against the soot of Philadelphia and the neon of New York, the story follows Kitty Foyle (Margaret Qualley), a "shanty Irish" girl with a white-collar soul. Kitty is caught in the gears of the American class system, navigating a life defined by the men who love her and the woman she is determined to become. The heart of her conflict is Wyn Strafford VI (Gavin Casalegno), the "Golden Boy" of the Philadelphia Main Line. Their romance is a fever dream of collegiate sweaters and secret trysts, but it is perpetually haunted by the icy silhouette of Mrs. Strafford (Elizabeth Mitchell). When the family’s "Old Money" walls prove impenetrable, Kitty flees to New York, trading her frayed ribbons for the sharp, navy-blue armor of a career girl. In Manhattan, Kitty finds a new blueprint for existence at the Art Deco empire of Delphine Detaille (January Jones). Under the mentorship of the razor-sharp Stacy Lee Balla (Maddie Ziegler) and the transformative touch of stylist Giono (Justice Smith), Kitty is reborn. It is here she meets Dr. Mark Eisen (Ben Platt), a man of science and grit who offers her a "New Hope" - a life of mutual respect rather than social performance. When the death of her father, the cynical but soulful Pop Foyle (David Costabile), and a scandalous, secret tragedy force Kitty to face her past, she must decide: return to the "Main Line" as a ghost of herself, or forge a future in a city that doesn't care who her father was. The film ends not with a wedding, but with a transformation. Kitty Foyle stands at a Grand Central platform, her iconic blue coat a vibrant strike against the grey. She isn't choosing a man; she is choosing herself.
