Carla Gugino


Carla Gugino is an American actress. After appearing in Troop Beverly Hills and This Boy's Life, she received recognition for her starring roles as Ingrid Cortez in the Spy Kids trilogy, Rebecca Hutman in Night At The Museum, Laurie Roberts in American Gangster, Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre in Watchmen, Dr. Vera Gorski in Sucker Punch, Emma Gaines in San Andreas, and Jessie Burlingame in Gerald's Game.
Gugino also starred as the lead character in the crime drama series Karen Sisco, the science fiction series Threshold, the supernatural horror series The Haunting of Hill House, and the crime drama series Jett.

Early life

Gugino was born in Sarasota, Florida, to Carl Gugino, an orthodontist of Italian descent, and a mother of English-Irish descent described as "Bohemian." Her parents separated when she was two, after which she travelled between her father and half-brother Carl Jr.'s home in Sarasota, and her Paradise, California, home, to which her mother moved her when she was four.
She has said of her upbringing, "I lived in a tepee in Northern California and a van in Big Sur. With my dad, I lived in a beautiful house with a swimming pool and a tennis court and went to Europe for the summers. So I feel like I lived two childhoods." She worked as a teenage fashion model, and took acting classes at the suggestion of her aunt, former Let's Make a Deal spokesmodel Carol Merrill. She eventually came to support herself, and with her parents' support, was legally emancipated by the time she was 16.

Career

Gugino's television work during the late 1980s and early 1990s included appearances on Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Who's the Boss?, ALF, Doogie Howser, M.D., The Wonder Years and a recurring role on Falcon Crest.
In film, Gugino appeared in the Shelley Long film Troop Beverly Hills, and co-starred with Pauly Shore in the 1993 romantic comedy Son in Law. She later appeared in the video to Bon Jovi's 1994 song "Always".
In 1995, Gugino appeared as Nan St. George with Greg Wise and James Frain in the BBC miniseries The Buccaneers, an adaptation of Edith Wharton's last novel.
After playing Michael J. Fox's love interest, Ashley Schaeffer, during the first season of the sitcom Spin City in 1996, Gugino starred with Nicolas Cage in Brian De Palma's Snake Eyes, and in Judas Kiss, which she also co-produced. She appeared as Dr. Gina Simon during the 1999–2000 final season of Chicago Hope.
In 2001, she appeared as family matriarch Ingrid Cortez in the first Spy Kids film. That same year she appeared as Jet Li's love interest in the martial arts action thriller The One.
She starred in two short-lived TV series: ABC's Elmore Leonard crime drama Karen Sisco in 2003, and CBS' science fiction series Threshold in 2005. That same year, Gugino appeared as Lucille in the feature film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel Sin City. The following year, she appeared in the film Night at the Museum.
Gugino appeared in the Roundabout Theatre Company play After the Fall opposite Six Feet Unders Peter Krause. In late 2006, she appeared in an Off-Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer opposite Blythe Danner.
Gugino appeared as Amanda, Vincent Chase's agent, in a dozen episodes of the cable television series Entourage. Gugino appeared nude in the May 2007 issue of Allure. That same year she appeared in the action-horror film ' and the feature film American Gangster. The following year, she played the female lead in the thriller Righteous Kill, opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
Gugino starred in Chicago's Goodman Theater production of Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms from January 17 to February 17, 2009, in the role of Abby. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times praised Gugino's performance, saying, "Ms. Gugino displays a depth and range of expression that I cannot imagine any other actress achieving with such blazing honesty and wrenching truth. She is simply magnificent." During the first three months of 2009, three feature films premiered featuring Gugino: the thriller The Unborn, the film Watchmen, in which she played Sally Jupiter, and the adventure remake Race to Witch Mountain, in which she starred opposite Dwayne Johnson. That April, she received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Play for her performance in Desire Under the Elms. Later, in November of that year, she appeared as a pornographic actress in the comedy film Women in Trouble, which spawned a sequel in 2010, Elektra Luxx, titled after her character.
In 2011, Gugino appeared as Madame Vera Gorsky in Zack Snyder's action-fantasy film Sucker Punch alongside Abbie Cornish and Emily Browning. Gugino sang a duet with co-star Oscar Isaac, which appeared in the end credits and in the film's soundtrack. She also guest starred on the fourth season of Californication as Abby Rhodes, Hank Moody's attorney and love interest.
In mid-2012, Gugino had a lead role as Susan Berg, a Washington, D.C., investigative reporter, on the USA Network's miniseries Political Animals.
In 2015, Gugino had a lead role in the disaster film San Andreas'', in which she once again starred opposite Dwayne Johnson.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Accolades

In 2009, Gugino was honored by the National Italian American Foundation. During the Foundation's 34th Anniversary Gala in Washington, D.C., she received NIAF's Special Achievement Award for Entertainment, presented by her close friend, actress Connie Britton.
YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
1999Blockbuster Entertainment AwardFavorite Supporting Actress – SuspenseSnake Eyes
2005Golden Schmoes AwardBest T&A of the YearSin City
2006Gold Derby AwardEnsemble Cast Sin City
2007Capri-Hollywood Film Festival AwardCapri Italian-American Award
2007Online Film & Television Association AwardBest Guest Actress in a Comedy SeriesEntourage
2008Alliance of Women Film Journalists AwardMost Egregious Age Difference Between the Leading Man and the Love Interest Righteous Kill
2008Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureAmerican Gangster
2009Scream AwardBest Supporting ActressWatchmen
2011Teen Choice AwardChoice Movie Actress – ActionFaster
2015Los Angeles Independent Film Festival AwardBest ActressTell-Tale
2017Fright Meter AwardBest ActressGerald's Game
2019Saturn AwardsBest Actress in a Streaming PresentationThe Haunting of Hill House