Early life and education

Keener was born in Miami, Florida in 1959 (though some sources say 1960), the third of five children of Evelyn (née Jamiel) and Jim Keener, a manager of an automotive store. She is of Irish descent on her father's side and of Lebanese descent on her mother's. Keener was raised Roman Catholic and attended Catholic schools. She attended Monsignor Edward Pace High School.

Keener's sister, Elizabeth Keener, is also an actress. Her brother Michael was a Catholic priest for many years, serving at St. Peter and Paul in Miami.

Keener attended Wheaton College, in Norton, Massachusetts, where she lived with an aunt in order to save on room and board, feeling out of place among her more privileged peers. Keener majored in English and history, enrolling in a theater course only when she was unable to get into a photography class. Her first theatrical production was the Wendy Wasserstein play, Uncommon Women and Others, during her Junior year at Wheaton. She graduated with her B.A. from Wheaton College in 1983.

Career

Keener had a supporting role as Lt. Cricket Sideris in the television series Ohara about an Asian-American detective. The series ran from January 1987 to May 1988.

Her first film appearance was one line in About Last Night... (1986). Although she struggled professionally over the next few years one low-quality project had an unexpected dividend. Keener met her future husband, actor Dermot Mulroney in 1987 while working on Survival Quest (1989), after Mulroney became stuck while attempting to scale a cliff.

She also guest-starred as an artist on an episode of Seinfeld called "The Letter". She played Jerry's girlfriend, an artist who painted a famous portrait of Kramer. Keener then earned her first starring role in Johnny Suede with the then unknown Brad Pitt. Her performance gained critical acclaim and earned her her first Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead. She went on to work with director Tom Dicillo, again, in Living in Oblivion (1995). Two years later, she was once again nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her performance in Walking and Talking, an independent cult-comedy film directed by Nicole Holofcener.

In 2000, Keener earned her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Being John Malkovich, directed by Spike Jonze. In 2001, she worked with director Nicole Holofcener in Lovely and Amazing garnering her a third Independent Spirit Award nomination. In 2002, she co-starred with Edward Norton in the off-Broadway revival of Burn This and the film Death to Smoochy. She also took part in the film Full Frontal, and S1m0ne alongside Al Pacino.

In 2005, she starred in the political thriller The Interpreter, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, with Daniel Day-Lewis and played the love interest of Steve Carell in Judd Apatow's The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Keener's performance as writer Harper Lee in Capote (also 2005) earned her several awards and nominations, including her second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 2006, she starred in the film Friends with Money, directed by Nicole Holofcener.

In 2007, Keener played Jan Burres in Sean Penn's critically acclaimed film Into the Wild, based on Jon Krakauer's best-selling book of the same name. In 2008, her film An American Crime, the true story of Gertrude Baniszewski, a middle-aged mother who tortured and killed Sylvia Likens in her Indiana home, was aired on Showtime. Keener plays Baniszewski and her portrayal earned her an Emmy nomination in the Best Actress in a TV Mini-Series or Movie category. In 2008, Keener portrayed Philip Seymour Hoffman's wife Adele in Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York. She collaborated with Hoffman as husband and wife again in the 2012 film A Late Quartet. Keener played the title character's mother in the 2010 film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, based on the series of books by Rick Riordan.

Keener starred in the six-episode HBO miniseries Show Me a Hero, based on the 1999 nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin. It aired in August 2015.

In 2016, Keener starred in the independent film Unless.

Personal life

Keener married actor Dermot Mulroney in 1990. They have a son, Clyde, born in 1999. Mulroney filed for divorce in June, 2007, citing irreconcilable differences and the divorce became final on December 19, 2007.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	About Last Night...	Cocktail Waitress
1989	Survival Quest	Cheryl
1990	Catchfire	Trucker's girl
1991	Switch	Steve's Secretary
	Johnny Suede	Yvonne	Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
	Thelma & Louise	Hal's wife	Scenes cut
1992	The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag	Suzanne
1993	The Cemetery Club	Ester's Daughter
1995	Living in Oblivion	Nicole Springer
1996	Walking and Talking	Amelia	Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
	Boys	Jilly
	Box of Moonlight	Floatie Dupre
1997	The Real Blonde	Mary
1998	Out of Sight	Adele Delisi
	Your Friends & Neighbors	Terri
1999	8mm	Amy Welles
	Simpatico	Cecilia
	Being John Malkovich	Maxine Lund	Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated—Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2001	Lovely & Amazing	Michelle Marks	Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2002	Adaptation	Herself	Cameo
	Full Frontal	Lee
	Death to Smoochy	Nora Wells
	S1m0ne	Elaine Christian
2005	The Ballad of Jack and Rose	Kathleen	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
	The Interpreter	Dot	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
	The 40-Year-Old Virgin	Trish Piedmont	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
	Capote	Nelle Harper Lee	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
2006	Friends with Money	Christine
2007	An American Crime	Gertrude Baniszewski	TV Movie Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
	Into the Wild	Jan Burres	Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2008	Hamlet 2	Brie Marschz
	What Just Happened	Lou Tarnow
	Synecdoche, New York	Adele Lack	Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award
	Genova	Barbara
2009	The Soloist	Mary Weston
	Where the Wild Things Are	Connie	also associate producer Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress
2010	Please Give	Kate	Nominated—Comedy Film Award for Best Leading Actress Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
	Cyrus	Jamie
	Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief	Sally Jackson
	Trust	Lynn Cameron
2011	The Oranges	Paige Walling
	Peace, Love & Misunderstanding	Diane
	Maladies	Catherine
2012	A Late Quartet	Juliette Gelbart
2013	The Croods	Ugga	Voice
	Enough Said	Marianne
	Captain Phillips	Andrea Phillips
	Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa	Ellie
2014	War Story	Lee	also producer
	Begin Again	Miriam
	Elephant Song	Susan Peterson
2015	Accidental Love	Rep. Pam Hendrickson
	Show Me a Hero	Mary Dorman	TV miniseries
	We Don't Belong Here	Nancy Green	Completed
2016	November Criminals	Fiona
2017	Get Out		Filming

[ Source: Wikipedia ]