Mary Willa "Mamie" Gummer (born August 3, 1983) is an American actress. She starred in the title role of The CW series Emily Owens, M.D. (2012–2013), and played the recurring role of Nancy Crozier on The Good Wife (2010–2015) and its spin-off, The Good Fight (2018). She has also appeared in the films Evening (2007), Side Effects (2013), Cake (2014), and Ricki and the Flash (2015). Gummer was nominated for the 2016 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for the original production of Ugly Lies the Bone. She is a daughter of Don Gummer and Meryl Streep.
Early life and education Gummer was born in New York City and is the eldest daughter of actress Meryl Streep and sculptor Don Gummer. She grew up in Salisbury, Connecticut, and also spent five years in Los Angeles with her older brother, Henry Wolfe Gummer, and younger sisters, actresses Grace Gummer and Louisa Jacobson.
Gummer attended Miss Porter's School, and graduated from the Kent School in Kent, Connecticut, before continuing her studies in theater and communications at Northwestern University, graduating in 2005.
Career As a toddler, she appeared with her mother in Heartburn (credited under the name Natalie Stern to avoid press scrutiny). Twenty months old at the time of filming, she received a positive review in The New York Times. After graduating from college in 2005, she made her off-Broadway debut alongside Michael C. Hall in the premiere of Noah Haidle's Mr. Marmalade, for which she won a Theatre World Award. In 2007, she received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for her performance in Theresa Rebeck's The Water's Edge.
Gummer made her motion-picture debut as an adult with a minor role in Lasse Hallström's The Hoax (2006), starring Richard Gere. In 2007, she starred with her mother in Michael Cunningham's film adaptation of Susan Minot's novel Evening, playing her mother as a young woman. The film, directed by Lajos Koltai, featured Vanessa Redgrave, Glenn Close, and Claire Danes. She portrayed Sally Adams in the 2008 HBO mini series John Adams, which details the life of the second President of the United States. She made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award–nominated revival of Les liaisons dangereuses in 2008, for which she received critical praise. She also guest-starred on the CBS legal drama The Good Wife in the season 1 episode "Bad" portraying Nancy Crozier. Her character returned in season 2 episodes "Cleaning House" and "Getting Off".
In 2010, she starred in The Lightkeepers with Richard Dreyfuss, Tom Wisdom, Blythe Danner and Bruce Dern.
Starting in 2011, she starred in the ABC medical show Off the Map with Zach Gilford and Valerie Cruz.
In April 2011, she starred with Hamish Linklater and Alison Fraser in the Off-Broadway production of The School For Lies written by David Ives, directed by Walter Bobbie, and produced by Classic Stage Company.
In 2012, she starred in The CW's Emily Owens, M.D. The series was canceled early during its first season, but the network continued to air the rest of its 13-episode order.
Starting in 2015, she began a featured role in the WGN America series Manhattan.
From October to December 2015, she starred in the original production of the play Ugly Lies the Bone for the Roundabout Theater Company, and received a 2016 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Play for her performance.
On February 1, 2016, it was announced that Gummer had joined the cast of the Amazon series The Collection as a series regular in the role of Helen Sabine.
Gummer played Lucy Purcell, a mother of two children who finds herself involved in a crime, in the third season of HBO's anthology drama True Detective.
Personal life After a year and a half of dating, Gummer became engaged to actor Benjamin Walker in October 2009. They married in July 2011 at her parents' home in Connecticut, and resided in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York City. In March 2013, it was announced that Gummer and Walker had amicably separated.
She became engaged to writer Mehar Sethi (born Meharban Singh Sethi) in August 2018 and was revealed to be pregnant with her first child in December 2018. They were married in February 2019. The same month, Gummer gave birth to a son. A daughter was born in 2021. On February 6, 2025, Gummer and her second husband Sethi filed for divorce after they were separated in 2023.
Gummer has been involved with charities such as Women's Refugee Commission and the Nomi Network.
Filmography
Film YearTitleRoleNotes1986HeartburnAnnie FormanCredited as Natalie Stern2003ReservationsHostessShort film2006DanaThe Devil Wears PradaStarbucks employeeDeleted scene2007EveningLila WittenbornAll Saints DayLilyShort film2008Stop-LossJeanieJulie Corleone2009Taking WoodstockTishaRuth2010CoachStellaTwelve ThirtyMauraEmily2013MelSide EffectsKayla Millbank2014CakeBonnieEcho ParkSophie2015The End of the TourJulieRicki and the FlashJulie Brummel2018An Actor PreparesAnnabelleOut of BlueJennifer Rockwell2021SeparationMaggie Vahn
Television YearTitleRoleNotes2008John AdamsSally Smith Adams3 episodes2010–2015Nancy Crozier8 episodes2011Off the MapDr. Mina Minard13 episodesGemmaEpisode: "In Case of Exposure"2012Maxine Cooper3 episodes2012–2013Emily Owens, M.D.Emily Owens13 episodes2014ElementaryMargaret BrayEpisode: "Terra Pericolosa"2015ManhattanNora6 episodes2016The CollectionHelen Sabine8 episodes2018–2021The Good FightNancy Crozier2 episodes2018Robot ChickenCarly (voice)Episode: "No Wait, He Has a Cane"2018Castle RockMatthew Deaver's MotherEpisode: "Henry Deaver"2019True DetectiveLucy Purcell4 episodes2020–2025Blood of ZeusElectra (voice)9 episodes2020The Right StuffJerrie Cobb2022DMZRoseMiniseries2025We Were LiarsCarrie Sinclair
Theater
YearTitleRoleNotes2003Northwestern University Theater200412 Volt HeartNorthwestern University Theater2004Bananas ShaughnessyNorthwestern University Theater2005–2006Mr. MarmaladeLucyLaura Pels Theatre, NYC2006EricaSecond Stage Theatre, NYC2007Sophie TuckermanWilliamstown Theatre Festival2007Desdemona: A Play about a HandkerchiefPlaywrights Horizons Mainstage Theatre2008Les Liaisons DangereusesCécile VolangesAmerican Airlines Theatre2008Hunting and GatheringBessPrimary Stages, NYC2009Uncle VanyaSonya SerebryakovaClassic Stage Company, NYC2011The School for LiesCelimeneClassic Stage Company, NYC2015Ugly Lies the BoneJessRoundabout Theatre, NYC2017The SiegelAliceSouth Coast Repertory, LA2018Our Very Own Carlin McCulloughCynGeffen Playhouse Theater, LA
Awards and nominations YearWorkAssociationAwardResult2006Mr. MarmaladeTheatre World AwardBest Supporting ActressWon2007The Water's EdgeLucille Lortel AwardOutstanding Featured ActressNominated2009Uncle VanyaLucille Lortel AwardOutstanding Featured ActressNominated2016Ugly Lies the BoneDrama Desk AwardOutstanding Actress in a PlayNominated
References
External links
Backstage.com PaperMag Broadway.com