Early work After graduating from the Yale School of Drama, Clarkson was cast in a 1986
Broadway production of
The House of Blue Leaves as a replacement in the role of Corrinna Stroller. The following year, she made her feature film debut in
Brian De Palma's
The Untouchables (1987), portraying Catherine Ness, the wife of US Treasury
Prohibition agent Eliot Ness (
Kevin Costner). In 1998, Clarkson had a small role in the critically acclaimed independent romantic comedy
Playing by Heart, portraying a woman at a bar who listens to a false story told by a man (
Dennis Quaid) as part of his improv class. In 1999, Clarkson appeared in a supporting role as an ailing wife of a prison warden in
The Green Mile, which was nominated for a
Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble Cast. Next, she portrayed a single mother in the drama
The Safety of Objects (2001), and had a supporting role opposite
Jack Nicholson in the
Sean Penn-directed thriller
The Pledge (2001), playing the mother of a murder victim. She also had a leading role in the independent
horror film Wendigo (2001), directed by
Larry Fessenden, and in the comedy
Welcome to Collinwood (2002). Between 2002 and 2005, Clarkson had a guest-starring role on the
HBO drama series
Six Feet Under, playing
Sarah O'Connor, the artist sister of
Ruth Fisher. For her portrayal, she won two
Primetime Emmy Awards for
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, in 2002 and 2005, respectively. Clarkson appeared in multiple
independent films in 2003, including
The Baroness and the Pig; the critically acclaimed indie film
The Station Agent, playing an artist who befriends a diminutive man (
Peter Dinklage) who suddenly appears as a town resident living in a local train depot;
Pieces of April, in which she portrayed a mother dying of
cancer who travels to visit her estranged daughter (
Katie Holmes) for
Thanksgiving; among others. Her performance in
Pieces of April earned her a Sundance Special Jury Prize, as well as nominations for the
Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, the
Golden Globe Award for
Best Supporting Actress, and the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Following these critical successes, Clarkson had a lead role opposite
Kurt Russell in the sports docudrama
Miracle (2004), about the U.S. hockey team defeating the heavily favored Soviets in the 1980 Olympics, and played the wife of a news correspondent (
Robert Downey Jr.) in
George Clooney's historical drama
Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), about the conflict between journalist
Edward R. Murrow and
Joseph McCarthy. She then starred as the wife of a Hollywood studio executive in the independent drama
The Dying Gaul (2005). 2006 saw the release of
The Woods, a supernatural horror film shot in 2003 in which she portrayed the headmistress of a girls' boarding school. The same year, she portrayed Sadie Burke in ''
All the King's Men'', set in her native New Orleans. premiere of
Whatever Works In 2007, she had a supporting role in the romantic comedy
No Reservations, as well as in the comedy-drama
Lars and the Real Girl, in which she portrayed a psychiatrist treating a man in love with a
sex doll. She subsequently co-starred with
Ben Kingsley in the drama
Elegy (2008), and had supporting roles in two
Woody Allen films: 2008's
Vicky Cristina Barcelona, portraying an unhappy housewife, and 2009's
Whatever Works. In 2008, producer
Gerald Peary approached Clarkson to do the
voice-over for the documentary film
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism. Says Peary, "She agreed to do the narration... And she was so nice, and so cooperative, and so prepared, and so intelligent. And one of the key reasons she wanted to do the movie was that she regularly reads criticism, and has a genuine respect for
film criticism. Clarkson returned to New Orleans on January 17, 2009 for the reopening of the
Mahalia Jackson Theatre for the Performing Arts. She served as master of ceremonies for a gala featuring
Plácido Domingo in concert with the
New Orleans Opera, conducted by Robert Lyall. She also made a cameo appearance in the
Saturday Night Live Digital Short "Motherlover" on May 9, 2009. The video featured
Andy Samberg,
Justin Timberlake, and
Susan Sarandon. She reprised the role on May 21, 2011, in the digital short "
3-Way (The Golden Rule)".
Mainstream success In 2010, Clarkson appeared opposite
Leonardo DiCaprio in the
Martin Scorsese-directed thriller
Shutter Island, playing a woman escaped from a psychiatric institution. Recounting being cast in the part, Clarkson said: "I got the call that every actor lives for. 'Patty, Martin Scorsese is thinking of casting you in his new movie.' And I do what I call the little 'Martin Scorsese dance' around my apartment. I think I was in my underwear or pajamas. It's a call you live for. Then I hear back, 'But it's just one scene.' So then I'm dancing a little lower. Then I hear, 'It's you and Leonardo DiCaprio in a cave,' and then I'm dancing again." Clarkson subsequently had roles in two independent films:
Legendary and
Main Street (both 2010), before appearing in two mainstream comedies directed by
Will Gluck:
Easy A (2010), as the mother of a troubled high school student (
Emma Stone), and as the mother of an executive recruiter (
Mila Kunis) in
Friends with Benefits (2011). She also appeared in the romantic drama
One Day (2011) as the mother of a college student in Scotland (portrayed by
Jim Sturgess), and guest-starred on two episodes of the comedy series
Parks and Recreation. at the 2017
Berlin International Film Festival premiere of
The Party In 2014, Clarkson returned to Broadway portraying
Madge Kendal opposite
Bradley Cooper in a production of
The Elephant Man, which earned her a
Tony Award nomination for
Best Featured Actress in a Play. The same year, she starred opposite Ben Kingsley in the comedy-drama film
Learning to Drive, portraying Wendy, a depressed middle-aged New York book critic learning to drive from a
Sikh man. John Patterson of
The Guardian praised her performance, writing: "Clarkson gives us every ounce of Wendy's desperation and self-loathing, and every shade of them as well. She has always been a miraculous performer." She subsequently reprised the role in both sequels:
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), and
Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018). Clarkson starred in the
ensemble drama
The Party in 2017, directed by
Sally Potter, for which she won a
British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. The same year, she co-starred with
Emily Mortimer and
Bill Nighy in
The Bookshop, a period drama set in 1959
Suffolk involving two women vying to acquire a building for their own respective businesses. She also guest-starred on the fifth and sixth seasons (2017–2018) of the
Netflix political drama series
House of Cards, portraying Jane Davis, a
United States Department of Commerce official. She subsequently starred in the science fiction film
Jonathan, involving two brothers who alternately share a single body, and the psychological horror film
Delirium, which was released directly-to-DVD. Clarkson starred opposite
Amy Adams in the psychological drama
miniseries Sharp Objects (2018), portraying the wealthy mother of an alcoholic reporter (Adams) investigating a murder in their
Missouri town. For her performance in the series, Clarkson won a Golden Globe Award for
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film. In 2023, Clarkson assumed the lead role in the espionage thriller series
Gray, co-produced by
AGC Television and
Lionsgate Films. The series chronicles CIA operative Cornelia Gray's return to her former life after two decades in hiding, amidst revelations of a mole within the spy network she once belonged to. ==Personal life==