Debra Messing

Debra Lynn Messing (born August 15, 1968) is an American actress.

In 1990, after graduating summa cum laude from Brandeis with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts, Messing gained admission to the elite Grad Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, which accepts 16 new students annually.

She earned a Master of Fine Arts after three years.

In 1993, Messing won acclaim for her performance as Harper in the pre-Broadway workshop production of Tony Kushner's play Angels in America: Perestroika.

Subsequently, she appeared in several episodes of the television series NYPD Blue during 1994 and 1995.

After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Messing starred in the shortlived television series, Ned and Stacey on Fox (1995–1997), and Prey on ABC (1998).

Messing's film work includes A Walk in the Clouds (1995), Jesus (1999), The Mothman Prophecies (2002), Hollywood Ending (2002), Along Came Polly (2004), The Wedding Date (2005), Lucky You (2007), The Women (2008), Nothing Like the Holidays (2008), Searching (2018), and 13: The Musical (2022).

In 1995, Messing made her film debut in Alfonso Arau's A Walk in the Clouds playing the unfaithful wife of main character Paul Sutton (Keanu Reeves).

This exposure led Fox to make her the co-star of the television sitcom Ned & Stacey.

The series lasted for two seasons, from 1995 to 1997.

Messing appeared as Jerry Seinfeld's romantic interest in two episodes of the series Seinfeld: "The Wait Out" in 1996 and "The Yada Yada" in 1997.

Messing turned down a starring role in another television sitcom to appear in Donald Margulies's two-character play Collected Stories, which opened at the off-Broadway Manhattan Theatre Club.

She also co-starred in the Tom Arnold vehicle McHale's Navy in 1997.

She achieved her breakthrough role as Grace Adler, an interior designer, on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she received seven Golden Globe Award nominations and five Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, winning once, in 2003.

In 1998, Messing played a lead role as the bioanthropologist Sloan Parker on ABC's dramatic science-fiction television series Prey.

During this time, her agent approached her with the pilot script for the television show Will & Grace.

Messing was inclined to take some time off, but the script intrigued her, and she auditioned for the role of Grace Adler, beating Nicollette Sheridan, who later guest-starred on the show as Grace's romantic rival.

Will & Grace became a ratings success, and Messing received critical acclaim for her performance.

Director Woody Allen cast Messing in a supporting role in his film Hollywood Ending (2002).

Her film roles since include Richard Gere's ill-fated wife in the supernatural thriller The Mothman Prophecies (2002) and a supporting role as an unfaithful bride in Along Came Polly (2004).

She has also lent her voice to animated films such as Garfield (2004) and Open Season (2006).

Messing was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Sandra (née Simons), who worked as a professional singer, banker, and travel and real estate agent, and Brian Messing, a sales executive for a costume jewelry packaging manufacturer.

Messing is Jewish and had a Bat Mitzvah ceremony.

Her Jewish ancestors emigrated from Poland and Russia.

When Messing was three, she moved with her parents and her older brother, Brett, to East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

While Messing's parents encouraged her dream of becoming an actress, they also urged her to complete a liberal arts education before deciding on acting as a career.

Following their advice, she attended Brandeis University, where, at her parents' request, three-quarters of her courses were not theater-related.

The Wedding Date (2005) was Messing's first leading role in a high-profile film.

It received mixed reviews but performed fairly well at the box office.

Messing was featured as a judge on the season finale of the second season of Bravo's reality show Project Runway.

Also in 2005, along with Megan Mullally, she was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award in recognition of her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.

From 2007 to 2008, Messing starred as Molly Kagan, the ex-wife of a Hollywood film mogul, on the television miniseries The Starter Wife, for which she received two Golden Globe nominations, a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

She also starred in the television miniseries The Starter Wife (2007), which was nominated for ten Emmy Awards, including one for Messing for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie.

In 2008, Messing reprised her role as Molly Kagan in the television series The Starter Wife, consisting of 10 episodes.

In early 2010, Messing starred in the ABC comedy pilot Wright vs. Wrong for the 2010–2011 primetime season, but ABC did not pick-up the pilot.

In July 2011, Messing was ranked no. 22 on the TV Guide Network special, Funniest Women on TV.

In February 2011, producers announced that Messing would star in a new NBC musical pilot called Smash for the 2011–2012 primetime season.

In May 2011, it was reported that NBC picked up the show as a series for the 2011–2012 season.

Thereafter, she appeared as Broadway playwright Julia Houston on the NBC musical drama Smash (2012–2013) and as homicide detective Laura Diamond on the NBC police-procedural comedy The Mysteries of Laura (2014–2016).

From 2017 to 2020, Messing reprised her role as Grace Adler on NBC's three season revival of Will & Grace, garnering a ninth Golden Globe nomination for her performance.