Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966 in Dallas, Texas) is an American actress and singer.
From 1984 to 1988, she starred in the Soap Opera Santa Barbara, which earned her multiple Daytime Emmy nominations. She made the transition to film, starring in The Princess Bride, Forrest Gump (earning her a Golden Globe Award nomination), Toys, Message in a Bottle, Unbreakable, The Conspirator, Moneyball and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She also appears as Claire Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and for which she won the Golden Globe in 2014 for best actress in a TV series (drama), making her the first actress to win a Golden Globe for an online-only web television series.
From 1996 to 2010, she was married to actor Sean Penn, with whom she has two children.
Selected filmography:
- Santa Barbara (1984-1988) as Kelly Capwell
- The Princess Bride (1987) as Buttercup/the Princess Bride
- Toys (1992) as Gwen Tyler
- Forrest Gump (1994) as Jenny Curran
- The Crossing Guard (1995) as Jojo
- Moll Flanders (1996) as Moll Flanders
- Hurlyburly (1998) as Darlene
- Message in a Bottle (1999) Theresa Osborne
- How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2000) Melanie McGowan
- Unbreakable (2000) as Audrey Dunn
- The Pledge (2001) as Lori
- The Last Castle (2001) as Rosalie Irwin
- White Oleander (2002) as Starr
- The Singing Detective (2003) as Nicola / Nina
- Breaking and Entering (2006) as Liv Ullman
- Hounddog (2007) as Stranger Lady
- Beowulf (2007) as Wealthow
- What Just Happened (2008) as Kelly
- State of Play (2009) as Anne Collins
- A Christmas Carol (2009) as Fan / Belle
- The Conspirator (2010) as Mary Surratt
- Moneyball as Sharon
- Enlightened (2011) as Sandy
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) as Erika Berger
- House of Cards (2013 — 2018) as Claire Underwood
- A Most Wanted Man (2014) as Martha Sullivan
- The Congress (2015) as herself
- DC Extended Universe as Antiope
- Wonder Woman (2017)
- Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
- Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
- Blade Runner 2049 (2017) as Lieutenant Joshi
- Land (2021) as Edee Holzer
- Damsel (2024) as Queen Isabelle
She provides examples of:
- Adam Westing: She plays a version of herself fallen on hard times in The Congress.
- Career Resurrection: House of Cards (US) helped bring Wright back into the spotlight, putting her near the center of Netflix's first-ever widely seen television show and earning her a Golden Globe and several Emmy nominations. The result had an effect on her film work as well, with Wright getting cast in big-budget blockbusters like Wonder Woman (2017) and Blade Runner 2049.
- Directed by Cast Member: Directed a few episodes of House of Cards (US).
- Everyone Loves Blondes: She occasionally plays Ms. Fanservice characters.
- Fake Nationality: She played a fake German in Beowulf (2007), and a fake German Swede in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
- Star-Making Role: For mainstream audiences, Forrest Gump. For many, the
Cult Classic The Princess Bride. - What Could Have Been:
- She backed out of the role of Maid Marian in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves upon discovering that she was pregnant with her first child.
- She turned down the role of Dr. Chase Meridian in Batman Forever.
- She had to back out of the role of Abby McDeere in The Firm upon discovering that she was pregnant with her second child.
