Annette Bening

Annette Bening

Acting
Born May 29, 1958
From Topeka, Kansas, USA

Annette Carol Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. With a career spanning over four decades, she is known for her versatile work across screen and stage. Bening has received numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for five Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award, making her one of the few artists nominated for the Triple Crown of Acting without winning. A graduate of San Francisco State University and the American Conservatory Theater, Bening started her career on stage with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival company in 1980, and played Lady Macbeth in 1984 at the American Conservatory Theater. She made her Broadway debut in the Tina Howe play Coastal Disturbances (1987), for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Making her film debut in 1988, she gained further recognition for her role in The Grifters (1990), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination. This acclaim continued throughout the 1990s and 2000s with further Oscar-nominated performances in the comedy-dramas American Beauty (1999) and Being Julia (2004), which respectively won her the BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Actress. Bening's performance as the title character in the British television film Mrs. Harris (2005) earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. In the following decades, Bening received two additional Oscar nominations for her leading roles as a lesbian mother in The Kids Are All Right (2010) and swimmer Diana Nyad in the Netflix biographical film Nyad (2023), the former of which also won her a Golden Globe. She returned to Broadway in the revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons (2019), earning another Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Play. Her other roles during this period include the films 20th Century Women (2016), Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017), Captain Marvel (2019), and Death on the Nile (2022), and the miniseries Apples Never Fall (2024). Description above from the Wikipedia article Annette Bening, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Filmography — Acting

The Bride!
6.2
2026

The Bride!

Dr. Euphronius

Captain Marvel
6.8
2019

Captain Marvel

Supreme Intelligence / Dr. Wendy Lawson

American Beauty
8.0
1999

American Beauty

Carolyn Burnham

Death on the Nile
6.4
2022

Death on the Nile

Euphemia Bouc

Mars Attacks!
6.4
1996

Mars Attacks!

Barbara Land

The Siege
6.3
1998

The Siege

Elise Kraft / Sharon Bridger

Open Range
7.2
2003

Open Range

Sue Barlow

The Report
7.0
2019

The Report

Dianne Feinstein

Ruby Sparks
7.1
2012

Ruby Sparks

Gertrude

Jerry & Marge Go Large
7.4
2022

Jerry & Marge Go Large

Marge Selbee

Bugsy
6.3
1991

Bugsy

Virginia Hill

The Great Outdoors
6.5
1988

The Great Outdoors

Kate Craig

The Seagull
5.4
2018

The Seagull

Irina Arkadina

The American President
6.5
1995

The American President

Sydney Ellen Wade

The Grifters
6.5
1990

The Grifters

Myra Langtry

NYAD
7.1
2023

NYAD

Diana Nyad

Ginger & Rosa
6.0
2012

Ginger & Rosa

Bella

Hope Gap
6.4
2019

Hope Gap

Grace

20th Century Women
7.3
2016

20th Century Women

Dorothea

Regarding Henry
6.5
1991

Regarding Henry

Sarah Turner

Valmont
6.7
1989

Valmont

Merteuil

Danny Collins
6.7
2015

Danny Collins

Mary Sinclair

Life Itself
7.2
2018

Life Itself

Dr. Cait Morris

What Planet Are You From?
5.4
2000

What Planet Are You From?

Susan Anderson

The Women
5.1
2008

The Women

Sylvie Fowler

Love Affair
5.4
1994

Love Affair

Terry McKay

Guilty by Suspicion
6.5
1991

Guilty by Suspicion

Ruth Merrill

Rules Don't Apply
5.7
2016

Rules Don't Apply

Lucy Mabrey

Mother and Child
6.6
2009

Mother and Child

Karen

Richard III
6.8
1995

Richard III

Queen Elizabeth

Postcards from the Edge
6.6
1990

Postcards from the Edge

Evelyn Ames

In Dreams
5.5
1999

In Dreams

Claire Cooper

The Kids Are All Right
6.6
2010

The Kids Are All Right

Nic

Being Julia
6.4
2004

Being Julia

Julia Lambert

Girl Most Likely
5.6
2012

Girl Most Likely

Zelda

Mrs. Harris
5.7
2006

Mrs. Harris

Jean Harris

Poolman
4.4
2024

Poolman

Diane Espilnade

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
6.4
2017

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

Gloria Grahame

Running with Scissors
5.8
2006

Running with Scissors

Deirdre Burroughs

Georgetown
5.9
2019

Georgetown

Amanda Brecht

The Face of Love
6.1
2013

The Face of Love

Nikki Lostorm

And the Oscar Goes To...
6.9
2014

And the Oscar Goes To...

Self - Interviewee

The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006

The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays

Holly Dancer (segment "Coastal Disturbances")

PoliWood
6.5
2009

PoliWood

Self

Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!
7.0
1994

Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!

Self (archive footage)

Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
5.4
2018

Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal

Self (archive footage)

American Beauty: Look Closer...
7.6
2000

American Beauty: Look Closer...

Self

A Night at the Academy Museum
7.0
2021

A Night at the Academy Museum

Self

Behind the Lines

Behind the Lines

Narrator (voice)

Who Needs Sleep?
6.8
2006

Who Needs Sleep?

Self

Forever Hollywood
8.0
1999

Forever Hollywood

Self

Rob Reiner – Scenes from a Life
2025

Rob Reiner – Scenes from a Life

Self

Hostage
1.0
1988

Hostage

Jill

14 Women
8.0
2007

14 Women

Narrator (voice)

The Search
6.8
2014

The Search

Helen

Miloš Forman: What Doesn't Kill You…
6.5
2009

Miloš Forman: What Doesn't Kill You…

Self

Beyond the 'Open Range'
2004

Beyond the 'Open Range'

Self

Manhunt for Claude Dallas
4.0
1986

Manhunt for Claude Dallas

Ann Tillman

The Directors: Milos Forman
2000

The Directors: Milos Forman

Self

Heightened Scrutiny
8.0
2025

Heightened Scrutiny

Self

Turn of Mind

Dr. Jennifer White

In Love

The Road to Damascus: The Reinvention of Bugsy Siegel
2006

The Road to Damascus: The Reinvention of Bugsy Siegel

Self

42.6 Years

Ruthie

The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts
7.6
2019

The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts

Narrator (voice)

Sesame Street: Cookie Monster's Best Bites
2004

Sesame Street: Cookie Monster's Best Bites

Self (archive footage)