Alison Pill

Praised by industry insiders for the discernment of her role choice and her ability to segue without a hitch between theatrical and cinematic assignments, baby-faced Canadian actress Alison Pill tackled a series of low-key supporting roles onscreen before achieving her breakthrough with two filmic evocations. She delivered a compelling portrayal as the young Lorna Luft in the superior Alliance Atlantis telemovie Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001), and then &#8212 on a very different… Show more note &#8212 convincingly played Beth Burns, the goody-two-shoes sister of the title character (Katie Holmes) in the Thanksgiving dramedy Pieces of April (2003). Meanwhile, Pill won coveted stage assignments in such productions as Neil LaBute's +The Distance from Here and Christopher Shinn's +On the Mountain. In 2006, Pill returned to television with a regular role as a marijuana-happy minister's daughter, Grace, in the über-controversial religious series drama The Book of Daniel ; for better or worse, the controversy surrounding that program failed to magnetize an audience, and it folded soon after. Pill followed it up with a small role in the 2007 Steve Carell feature Dan in Real Life . Beginning in 2008, Pill effortlessly alternated between supporting roles in major films and starring roles in TV shows. She played Harvey Milk's campaign advisor opposite Sean Penn in Milk (2008), followed by a main role as a patient on the second season of HBO's In Treatment; Michael Cera's ex-girlfriend in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and Princess Maud on the Starz's miniseries The Pillars of the Earth; and a pair of Woody Allen movies, 2011's Midnight in Paris and 2012's To Rome with Love. Pill then took one of her highest-profile roles yet, a part on Aaron Sorkin's highly anticipated HBO series The Newsroom, playing associate producer Maggie Jordan. ~ Rovi

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