Alison Pill

Alison Pill
Pill at the 2013 PaleyFest
Born	November 27, 1985 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma mater	Vaughan Road Academy
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present
Spouse(s)	Joshua Leonard (m. 2015)
Children	1

Alison Pill (born November 27, 1985)^[1][2] is a Canadian actress. A former child actress, Pill began her career at age twelve, appearing in numerous films and television series. She transitioned to adult roles and her breakthrough came with the television series The Book of Daniel (2006). That same year, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2006).

Pill had prominent roles in the films Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), Milk (2008), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and Midnight in Paris (2011), and the television series In Treatment (2009), The Pillars of the Earth (2010) and The Newsroom (2012–14).

Early life

Pill was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her father, a financier, is Estonian.^[3][4] Pill attended Vaughan Road Academy,^[5] where she enrolled in the "Interact" program, designed for students interested in dance, music, athletics, and theatre.^[6]

Career

1997–2007

She decided to involve in acting career when she was 10 years old. As a member of the Toronto Children's Chorus, she was chosen to narrate one of their performances. Her mother tried to discourage Alison by getting her a job as a background performer on the series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. By the time she was 11, she'd played a guest role on an episode of the kids' series The New Ghostwriter Mysteries. At 12, she landed roles in two TV movies and a mini-series, a guest appearance on the TV series PSI Factor and voiced a character on an animated series. After roles in two more television movies, she landed her first feature film role, a small budget Canadian movie called The Life Before This in 1999, followed by the role of Jacobs older sister Marfa in Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang. Pill played roles in four more TV movies before the age of fourteen.^[7]

The next year, she landed a small role in Skipped Parts in 2000 starring Drew Barrymore and Mischa Barton, then appeared in four more TV movies and features that year, including playing Farrah Fawcett's daughter in the TNT network movie Baby and a lead role in the Canadian film The Dinosaur Hunter, which was originally intended to be shown at a dinosaur museum and on a provincial education channel, but which made its way to the Burbank International Film Festival, winning Pill an award for Best Child Actress. She landed the role of young Lorna in the ABC-TV biopic Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows in 2001, based on the memoir by Garland's daughter, Lorna Luft. That year, Pill also played Sissy Spacek's daughter in the TV flick Midwives.^[8]

In 2003, she played Katie Holmes' sister in the indie feature Pieces of April. Pill won the lead in the CTV-TV movie Fast Food High, about a teenager who gets a job at a fast food restaurant and tries to set up a union. She also landed a supporting role in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen in 2003, starring Lindsay Lohan. Pill ventured off into stage acting, with the New York City staging of None of the Above as the first item in her theater credential. This was followed by The Distance From Here, On the Mountain, Blackbird, Mauritius.^[9] In 2006, she starred as Grace Webster in the short-lived NBC drama The Book of Daniel. That same year, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Mairead in Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore.^[10] Because of her busy work schedule, Pill's schooling was done through a program for youngsters in the business. Since graduating from high school, Pill moved to New York to pursue a career in theatre, but continues to work in movies such as Dan in Real Life in 2007.

2008–present

Pill at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International

Pill had a major supporting role as campaign manager Anne Kronenberg in the Oscar-winning 2008 film Milk.

In 2009, she performing with Erin Hill & her Psychedelic Harp playing the Twilight Zone-inspired "Meredith Moon" and "The Real North Pole" sci-fi Christmas Harp;^[11] she was cast as April on In In Treatment. She later played Kim Pine in the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, as well as on Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation. She portrayed Empress Maud in the miniseries The Pillars of the Earth. In Theatre, Actresses Abigail Breslin and Pill starring in Broadway's "The Miracle Worker"; She has worked with Woody Allen twice, first as Zelda Fitzgerald in Midnight in Paris and Hayley in To Rome with Love.^[12]

She starred in short films including Denise in 2012 with Chris Messina, Santa Baby in which she sang and danced. In 2016, Cover Up by Satya Bhabha with Jason Ritter who will be released the LA Shorts Fest, and Woman in Deep, where she played a woman who calls a suicide prevention hot line and is put on hold, directed by Janicza Bravo.^[13]

In a new adaptation of "Wait Until Dark," Pill starred as a blind woman who must fend for her life; She also starred in the film Snowpiercer, alongside Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton, which was released in 2013. From 2012 until its ending in 2014, she appeared in Aaron Sorkin's HBO series The Newsroom as Maggie Jordan. Cooties starring Elijah Wood and Pill discuss the film's blend of horror and comedy,^[14] In Zoom, Pill is Emma, an aspiring comic book artist; She has a part in Hail, Caesar! as Eddie Mannix's wife,;^[15] Pill is attached to star in Sook Yin-Lee's Canadian indie Octavio is Dead, a role that will chase her late father's ghost in Mexico City; In Goon: Last of the Enforcers as Eva Glatt, Glatt's love interest in first movie Goon, now married to Glatt. Um role in pilot My Time/Your Time, It is an adaptation of webserie 7P/10E; At present, she is part of the cast of The Family as Willa Warren. In 2016, Pill is set to co-star with Jessica Chastain in the EuropaCorp thriller Miss Sloane.^[16]

Personal life

Pill was engaged to actor Jay Baruchel from 2011 to 2013. Baruchel made their engagement public when he thanked his fiancée (Pill) during an acceptance speech at the Genie Awards in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.^[17] Baruchel alluded to their break-up in a Twitter posting on February 16, 2013.^[18] Pill became engaged to actor Joshua Leonard in January 2015.^[19] They were married on May 24, 2015 after a four month long engagement.^[20] In July 2016, it was announced Pill and Leonard were expecting their first child, a girl.^[21] Their daughter, Wilder Grace Leonard, was born on November 19, 2016.^[22]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Camp Out Party	Friend #2
1999	The Life Before This	Jessica
1999	Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang	Shapiro/Marfa
2000	Skipped Parts	Chuckette Morris
2002	A.W.O.L.	Patient	Short film
2002	Perfect Pie	Marie (age 15)
2003	Pieces of April	Beth Burns
2003	Fast Food High	Emma Redding
2004	Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen	Ella Gerard
2004	The Crypt Club	Liesl	Short film
2004	Dear Wendy	Susan
2007	Dan in Real Life	Jane Burns
2008	Milk	Anne Kronenberg
2009	The Awakening of Abigail Harris	Abigail Harris	Short film
2009	One Way to Valhalla	Dale
2010	Goldstar, Ohio	Kendra Harper	Short film
2010	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World	Kim Pine
2011	Midnight in Paris	Zelda Fitzgerald
2011	Portraits in Dramatic Time	Alison Pill
2011	Goon	Eva
2012	To Rome with Love	Hayley
2012	Denise	Denise	Short film
2012	Santa Baby	Alice	Short film
2013	Snowpiercer	Pregnant Teacher
2014	Cooties	Lucy McCormick
2015	Zoom	Emma Boyle
2016	Hail, Caesar!	Mrs. Mannix
2016	Woman in Deep	Birdie	Short film
2016	Cover Up	Emma	Short film
2016	Miss Sloane	Jane Molloy
2016	Normcore		In post-production
2017	Goon: Last of the Enforcers	Eva Glatt	In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	The New Ghostwriter Mysteries	Lucy	Episode: "Moving Parts"
1998	Fast Track	Alexa Stokes	Episode: "Real Time"
1998	Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal	Sophie Schulman	Episode: "The Night of the Setting Sun"
1998	The Last Don II	Bethany	Episode: "1.1"
1998	Anatole	Paulette	Voice only; 5 episodes
1998	Degas & the Dancer	Marie van Goethem	TV movie
1998	Stranger in Town	Hetty	TV movie
1999	Locked in Silence	Lacey	TV movie
1999	God's New Plan	Samantha Hutton	TV movie
1999	Different	Sally Reed	TV movie
1999	Redwall	Cornflower	Voice only; 13 episodes
1999	Dear America: A Journey to the New World	Remember Patience Whipple	TV special
1999	Poltergeist: The Legacy	Paige	Episode: "Forget Me Not"
1999	A Holiday Romance	Fern	TV movie
2000	Redwall: The Movie	Cornflower	Voice only; TV movie
2000	Traders	Andrea Exter	Episode: "Hawks"
2000	The Dinosaur Hunter	Julia Creath	TV movie
2000	The Other Me	Allana Browning	TV movie
2000	Baby	Larkin Malone	TV movie
2001	Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows	Young Lorna Luft	TV movie
2001	Midwives	Constance Danforth	TV movie
2001	What Girls Learn	Tilden	TV movie
2002	The Pilot's Wife	Mattie Lyons	TV movie
2003	An Unexpected Love	Samantha Mayer	TV movie
2004	What Katy Did	Katy Carr	TV movie
2004	A Separate Peace	Beth	TV movie
2004	Plain Truth	Katie Fisher	TV movie
2006	The Book of Daniel	Grace Webster	Main role; 8 episodes
2006	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Lisa Ramsey	Episode: "Wrongful Life"
2008	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Kelsey Murphy	Episode: "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda"
2009	In Treatment	April	Main role; 7 episodes
2010	Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation	Kim Pine	Voice only; TV short
2010	The Pillars of the Earth	Princess Maude	Main role; 8 episodes
2012–14	The Newsroom	Maggie Jordan	Main role; 25 episodes
2014	7p/10e	Alison	Episode: "Day 16"
2014	Therapy	Lucy	Episode: "1.1"
2014	Dinner with Friends with Brett Gelman and Friends	Herself	TV short
2016	The Family	Willa Warren	Main role; 12 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2003	None of the Above	Jamie	Ohio Theatre [23]
2004	The Distance From Here	Jenn	MCC Theater [24]
2005	On The Mountain	Jaime	Playwrights Horizons [25]
2006	The Lieutenant of Inishmore	Mairead	Lyceum Theatre [26]
2007	Blackbird	Una	Manhattan Theater Club [27]
2007	Mauritius	Jackie	Biltmore Theatre [28]
2008	reasons to be pretty	Steph	Lucille Lortel Theatre
2010	The Miracle Worker	Anne Sullivan	Circle in the Square Theatre [29]
2010	This Wide Night	Marie	Peter Jay Sharp Theatre [30]
2011	The House of Blue Leaves	Corrinna Stroller	Walter Kerr Theatre [31]
2013	Wait Until Dark	Susan	Geffen Playhouse [32]
2015	The House That Jake Built	–	Iama Theatre Company [33]

Music videos

Year	Artist	Song
2004	Lindsay Lohan	"Drama Queen (That Girl)"
2010	Owen Pallett	"Lewis Takes Off His Shirt"
2010	Nick Casey	"Medicine"

Web

Year	Website	Episode
2016	Funny or Die	"Honest Phone Sex For Married Couples"
2016	WeatherFrom	"Angel and Demon"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2000	Burbank International Children's Film Festival	Best Child Actress Performance	The Dinosaur Hunter	Won
	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot – Supporting Young Actress	Degas and the Dancer	Nominated
2001		Best Ensemble in a TV Movie (Shared with cast)	The Other Me	Nominated
2002		Best Performance in a TV Movie or Special – Leading Young Actress	What Girls Learn	Nominated
2003	Gemini Awards	Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series	The Dinosaur Hunter	Nominated
2004	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Play (Shared with cast)	The Distance From Here	Nominated
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Ensemble Performance		Won
2005	Lucille Lortel Awards	Outstanding Featured Actress	On the Mountain	Nominated
2006	Tony Award	Best Featured Actress in a Play	The Lieutenant of Inishmore	Nominated
2007	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Blackbird	Nominated
2008	Lucille Lortel Award	Outstanding Lead Actress		Nominated
2009	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (Shared with cast)	Milk	Nominated
	Online Film & Television Association Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	In Treatment	Nominated
2011		Best Original Song (Shared with cast)	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World	Nominated
	Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards	Best Ensemble Acting (Shared with cast)	Midnight in Paris	Nominated
	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance	This Wide Night	Nominated
	Gemini Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series	The Pillars of the Earth	Won
2013	Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film	Goon	Nominated
2014	Virtuoso Award	Best Breakthrough Performances	Cooties	Won

References

1. "Alison Pill Biography". The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
2. "Alison Pill Biography (1985–)". Retrieved July 14, 2015.
3. "Teen Vogue's Holiday Soiree". WWD Eye Scoop. December 12, 2008. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
4. Mechling, Lauren (June 4, 2007). "Star material". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
5. Pupo, Mark (July 23, 2010). "Jagged Little Pill: Toronto's Alison Pill lets loose in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World". Toronto Life. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
6. "Alison Pill". New York Post. August 2010.
7. "Alison Pill Biography". articlebio.com. 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
8. "Alison Pill biography". Tribute Entertainment Media Group. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
9. "Alison Pill Biography". BuddyTV. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
10. Kaye, Kimberly (February 16, 2010). "What's Up, Alison Pill". Broadway.com. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
11. Pill performing with Erin Hill
12. "Interview with Pill". believermag.com. February 2013. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
13. "Woman in Deep". South by Southwest. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
14. Woods, Kevin. "Cooties to open Stanley Film Festival; hits theaters/VOD in September - Horror Movie News | Arrow in the Head". Joblo. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
15. Chang, Justin (February 3, 2016). "Film Review: 'Hail, Caesar!'". Variety. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
16. Kroll, Justin (January 6, 2016). "Alison Pill to Co-Star With Jessica Chastain in Gun Control Drama 'Miss Sloane'". Variety. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
17. "Celebraty Weddings We Can't Wait For – Alison Pill & Jay Baruchel" E! News
18. "Exclusive: Alison Pill, Jay Baruchel Call Off Engagement" Us Weekly. Retrieved March 4, 2013
19. "Alison Pill Engaged to Actor Joshua Leonard: See Her Engagement Ring!". Us Magazine. January 3, 2015.
20. "Alison Pill Marries Joshua Leonard in Yellow Wedding Dress: See Photos From the Newsroom Star's Nuptials". Us Weekly. May 25, 2015.
21. Pill, Alison (July 18, 2016). "This is happening... Baby lady 2016. @thejoshualeonard". Instagram. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
22. Juneau, Jen (November 25, 2016). "Joshua Leonard and Alison Pill Welcome Daughter Wilder Grace". People. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
23. "None of the Above". Jenny Lyn Bader. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
24. Sommer, Elyse (2004). "The Distance From Here, a CurtainUp review". CurtainUp. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
25. Isherwood, Charles (February 25, 2005). "Seeking the Lost Song of a Lost Rock Star". The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
26. "The Lieutenant of Inishmore". The Broadway League. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
27. Brantley, Ben (April 11, 2005). "Sorting Through the Wreckage of a Love Most Foul". The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
28. "Mauritius". The Broadway League. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
29. "The Miracle Worker". The Broadway League. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
30. Brantley, Ben (May 17, 2010). "Two Ex-Cellmates Disoriented by Time". The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
31. "The House of Blue Leaves". The Broadway League. October 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
32. "Wait Until Dark". Jenny Lyn Bader. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
33. "The House That Jake Built with Alison Pill, Katie Lowes and more...". JONATHAN CAREN – Playwright TV/Film. Retrieved July 14, 2015.

External links

• Alison Pill at the Internet Movie Database
• Alison Pill at Northernstars.ca
• Alison Pill profile in The New York Observer