Early life

Tripplehorn was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the daughter of Suzanne (née Ferguson) and Tom Tripplehorn, who was once a guitarist with Gary Lewis & the Playboys. Her parents divorced when she was two years old. She graduated from Edison High School in 1981 and spent one semester studying at the University of Tulsa. She performed on the local television shows Creature Feature (1982-83) and Night Shift (1983). Tripplehorn then attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division as a member of Group 19 (1986-90), which also included Laura Linney.

Career

Tripplehorn began her career on stage. She appeared Off-Broadway in John Patrick Shanley's The Big Funk in 1990, then co-starred with Val Kilmer in a 1993 production of John Ford's 1630s play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. She has also been on Broadway in Anton Chekov's Three Sisters opposite Amy Irving and Lili Taylor. In 1992, Tripplehorn made her film debut, in a supporting role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct. opposite Michael Douglas. The following year, she starred as Abby McDeere opposite Tom Cruise in The Firm and in 1995 had another female lead role alongside Kevin Costner in Waterworld. As lead actress, Tripplehorn starred in the 1997 box-office bomb romantic drama, 'Til There Was You. The next few years she had supporting roles in small films, including Office Killer, Monument Ave., and Sliding Doors; and in 1999 starred opposite Hugh Grant in the British romantic comedy Mickey Blue Eyes. She also starred opposite Madonna in the 2002 flop film Swept Away.

In 2006, Tripplehorn was cast in a leading role as Barbara Henrickson in the HBO drama series Big Love, opposite Bill Paxton. This is regarded as the most successful role of her career. In 2009, she played the role of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the HBO movie Grey Gardens. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for this performance. In 2011, she appeared in Five, a movie on the Lifetime television network. In July 2012, Tripplehorn joined the cast of CBS procedural Criminal Minds in season eight, replacing Paget Brewster's character Emily Prentiss. She received a six-figure salary per episode of Criminal Minds. Tripplehorn left the series after two seasons and Jennifer Love Hewitt replaced her as a new agent.

Personal life

Tripplehorn had a long-term relationship with actor Ben Stiller (1990-1996). She married actor Leland Orser in 2000. They have a son. Tripplehorn's grandmother, Jean Neely, appeared in the film Reality Bites.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Basic Instinct	Dr. Beth Garner
1993	Night We Never Met, TheThe Night We Never Met	Pastel
1993	Firm, TheThe Firm	Abby McDeere
1994	Reality Bites	Cheryl Goode	Uncredited
1995	Waterworld	Helen
1997	'Til There Was You	Gwen Moss
1997	Office Killer	Norah Reed
1998	Monument Ave.	Annie
1998	Sliding Doors	Lydia
1998	Very Bad Things	Lois Berkow
1999	Mickey Blue Eyes	Gina Vitale
2000	Steal This Movie!	Johanna Lawrenson
2000	Timecode	Lauren Hathaway
2000	Paranoid	Rachel
2000	Relative Values	Miranda Frayle / Freda Birch
2002	Brother's Keeper	Lucinda Pond
2002	Swept Away	Marina
2005	Amateurs, TheThe Amateurs	Thelma
2007	Trap, TheThe Trap	Maggie	Short film
2008	Winged Creatures	Doris Hagen
2010	Crazy on the Outside	Angela Papadopolous
2010	Morning	Alice
2013	A Perfect Man	Nina

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Perfect Tribute, TheThe Perfect Tribute	Julia	Movie
1992	Ben Stiller Show, TheThe Ben Stiller Show	The Wilson Woman / Goo	3 episodes
1996	Mr. Show with Bob and David	Stone Throwing Singer in 'Jeepers Creepers'	Episode: "The Biggest Failure in Broadway History"
1997	Old Man	Addie Rebecca Brice	Movie
2003	Word of Honor	Maj. Karen Harper	Movie
2003	Frasier	Chelsea	Episode: "Trophy Girlfriend"
2006-11	Big Love	Barbara Henrickson	Series regular (53 episodes) Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama (2006 & 2007)
2009	Grey Gardens	Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis	Movie Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
2011	Five	Pearl	Movie
2012	New Girl	Ouli	Episodes: "Kids" and "Tomatoes"
2012	Blue	Vera	Episode: "A Decent Girl"
2012	Electric City	Hope Chatsworth (voice)	Web-series; 20 episodes
2012-14	Criminal Minds	Dr. Alex Blake	Series regular (48 episodes)

In popular media

The original Tripplehorn couple in the 2010 movie Date Night chooses their false name because they are big fans of the actress. In the series Six Feet Under characters David and Keith attend a brunch where, during a game of Leading Ladies, Keith fails to guess that "he" is Jeanne Tripplehorn.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]