Greta Gerwig

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Greta Gerwig (2018)

Greta Celeste Gerwig (born August 4, 1983 in Sacramento , California ) is an American actress , screenwriter , film director and film producer .

As an actress, she has appeared in productions of the independent " Mumblecore " film movement since the mid-2000s . She also became internationally known through the female lead in the feature film Greenberg (2010). The film Lady Bird , written, directed and produced by Gerwig in 2017, earned her two Oscar nominations in 2018 .

Life

Training and first film roles

Greta Gerwig was born in Sacramento in 1983, where she grew up with a sister. Her father specialized in lending to small and medium-sized businesses, and her mother is a nurse. According to her own statement, she was brought up “very catholic”. Gerwig was enthusiastic about the theater early on, but on the advice of her mother, studied philosophy and English at New York's Barnard College .

While studying, Gerwig wrote plays and founded his own sketch comedy group. Her works have been performed at her university and several theaters. In the summer of 2006 she was a writer-in-residence at Vassar College and at the New York Stage & Film's Powerhouse Theater Festival . At the same time she began to make her own films in the Freundeskreis.

Also in 2006, at the South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas , Gerwig made the acquaintance of the independent filmmaker Joe Swanberg , a representative of the “ Mumblecore ” movement established in the USA in the early 2000s . Similar to the Danish dogma filmmakers, their representatives are characterized by the use of low budgets, handheld cameras, loose film plots and spontaneous dialogues. In the same year Gerwig made her feature film debut under the direction of Swanberg in the tragic comedy LOL (2006), in which she played the part of a girl who sends self-portraits to her admirer on her mobile phone.

Directing debut and success with "Greenberg"

Gerwig with the cast of Greenberg at the Berlinale 2010

American critics first became aware of the actress through Swanberg's third feature film Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007), in which Gerwig also worked on the script. In the drama, she took on the title role of a college graduate who spends a summer in Chicago looking in vain for romantic fulfillment in their relationships. With appearances in the "Mumblecore" films Baghead and Yeast (both 2008) by Jay and Mark Duplass and Mary Bronstein , Gerwig advanced to become the leading actress in the film movement. In the same year she co-directed with Swanberg and wrote the screenplay for the drama Nights and Weekends (2008), in which Gerwig and Swanberg also played the leading roles of a couple who have to have a long-distance relationship.

In 2009 the actress and filmmaker, dubbed an "indie star" by the US industry service The Hollywood Reporter, took on her first leading role in a mainstream production. Director and screenwriter Noah Baumbach became aware of Gerwig through the new series of independent films. He found them “extraordinary” and “very special” and cast them in his tragic comedy Greenberg (2010) alongside Ben Stiller , who was represented in the competition at the 60th Berlin Film Festival . The role of the young housekeeper Florence, who dreams of a career as a singer in an unorganized manner, made Gerwig known to an international audience. German-speaking critics then celebrated the 25-year-old American as a new discovery. Months later, critic AO Scott ( The New York Times ) praised the actress as a possible "authoritative screen heroine of her generation". Gerwig does not seem to play in some scenes and its transparent presentation would be less due to a sophisticated technique than to the lack of any method. Still, Scott compared her portrayal to that of Zoe Kazan ( Exploding Girl , 2009) and Michelle Williams ( Wendy and Lucy , 2008).

In the pilot episode for the spin-off of How I Met Your Mother called How I Met Your Dad should take the leading role. The project was not pursued by the television station CBS.

Oscar nominations for "Lady Bird" and "Little Women"

In 2017, she directed Lady Bird, her first fully self-directed feature film, which she also produced and wrote the script for. Although the script takes up numerous elements of her own youth, Gerwig does not want the film to be understood as an autobiographical work . Lady Bird has received numerous awards including two awards at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards . At the 2018 Academy Awards , the film was nominated in five categories, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay .

As her next film, she wrote the script and directed Little Women , an adaptation of the novel of the same name . The film was released in the United States on December 25, 2019. It was nominated six times at the 2020 Academy Awards, including Gerwig for Best Adapted Screenplay .

Greta Gerwig lives in New York City.

Filmography (selection)

play

  • 2006: Thanks for the Add! (Short film)
  • 2006: LOL
  • 2007: Hannah Takes the Stairs
  • 2008: Baghead
  • 2008: Yeast
  • 2008: Nights and Weekends
  • 2008: Quick Feet, Soft Hands (short film)
  • 2008: I Thought You Finally Completely Lost It
  • 2009: You Wont Miss Me
  • 2009: The House of the Devil
  • 2009: Find me in New York! (Une aventure New-Yorkaise , TV movie)
  • 2009: Family Tree (short film)
  • 2010: Greenberg
  • 2010: Art House
  • 2010: Northern Comfort
  • 2011: Friendship Plus (No Strings Attached)
  • 2011: The Dish And The Spoon
  • 2011: Arthur
  • 2011: Algebra in Love (Damsels in Distress)
  • 2011–2015: China, IL (TV series, 21 episodes)
  • 2012: To Rome With Love
  • 2012: Lola versus the rest of the world (Lola Versus)
  • 2012: Frances Ha
  • 2012: The Corrections (TV movie)
  • 2014: The Final Act (The Humbling)
  • 2014: Eden
  • 2015: Mistress America
  • 2015: Maggie's Plan
  • 2016: Wiener Dog (Wiener-Dog)
  • 2016: The Mindy Project (TV series, episodes 4x25–4x26)
  • 2016: Jackie: The First Lady (Jackie)
  • 2016: Century Women (20th Century Women)
  • 2018: Isle of Dogs - Ataris Reise ( Isle of Dogs , voice of Tracy)

script

Director

production

Awards and nominations

Oscar

Golden Globe Award

Critics' Choice Movie Award

Writers Guild of America Award

  • 2020: Nomination for the best adapted screenplay for Little Women

Web links

Commons : Greta Gerwig  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d cf. Chat interview at sfgate.com, March 19, 2010 (accessed April 4, 2010)
  2. ↑ http://www.derwesten.de/panorama/ich-mag-bizarre-charaktere-aimp-id11411268.html
  3. ↑ Rainer Gansera: This sensitive skin . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , April 1, 2010, p. 12
  4. ↑ cf. Portrait at hannahtakesthestairs.com (English; accessed April 4, 2010)
  5. ↑ a b cf. Biography at allemovie.com (English; accessed April 4, 2010)
  6. ↑ Steven Zeitchik: Actress builds a relationship with Baumbach. In: The Hollywood Reporter , February 10, 2010.
  7. ↑ Dominik Kamalzadeh: The last time that he felt cool. In: the daily newspaper , March 27, 2010 (interview with Noah Baumbach ).
  8. ↑ Anke Westphal: Getting older for beginners. In: Berliner Zeitung , April 1, 2010.
  9. ↑ cf. Scott, AO: No Method To Her Method . In: The New York Times, March 28, 2010, Arts and Leisure Desk, Film, p. 1
  10. ↑ Greta Gerwig takes on the leading role in the How I Met Your Dad spin-off . February 12, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  11. ↑ Kate Erbland: Greta Gerwig Explains How Much of Her Charming Coming-of-Age Film 'Lady Bird' Was Inspired By Her Own Youth . In: indiewire.com of October 6, 2017.
  12. ↑ Marc Malkin: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Bong Joon Ho Among Writers Guild Awards Film Nominees. In: Variety, January 6, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Gerwig, Greta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gerwig, Greta Celeste (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actress, screenwriter, film director and film producer
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1983
PLACE OF BIRTH Sacramento , California , United States