Cristin Milioti


Cristin Milioti is an American actress and singer. She is best known for playing the titular Mother on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother from 2013 to 2014, and for her work in theater productions such as That Face, Stunning, and the Tony Award-winning musical Once, for which she won a Grammy Award and was nominated for a Tony Award. She has also played Teresa Petrillo Belfort in the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, and Betsy Solverson in the second season of Fargo.

Early life

Milioti was born on August 16, 1985 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She is of Italian descent, and calls her family "Olive Garden Italian." In middle school, she found her love of acting at Long Lake Camp for the Arts in Long Lake, New York. She graduated in 2003 from Cherry Hill High School East, where she began performing in school plays. She took acting classes at New York University, but dropped out during her freshman year.

Career

Milioti's first acting roles were bit parts in national advertising campaign ads, notably one for the Ford Edge. She also appeared in television programs such as 30 Rock and films such as Greetings from the Shore. Milioti is also known for her stage performances. In 2007, she appeared on Broadway as Alice Ashbrook in Helen Edmundson's award-winning adaptation of Jamila Gavin's novel Coram Boy. She was the 2010 star of That Face, receiving a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress for her work in Stunning. In 2012, she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for her work in Once, a play in which she had performed from 2011 to 2013. Her Once performance, with fellow principal soloist Steve Kazee, earned the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. She also read aloud a short story for the 2011 This American Life episode "Adventure". In 2012 she appeared on several songs of Glen Hansard's debut album Rhythm and Repose.
In 2013, Milioti was cast in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother as the titular Mother, appearing for the first time in the season eight finale titled "Something New", and was promoted to a series regular for the show's ninth and final season. Milioti portrayed Jordan Belfort's first wife, Teresa Petrillo, in the 2013 Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street. In February 2014, she was cast as Zelda, the female lead on NBC's comedy A to Z which premiered that October and aired for one season of 13 episodes. In 2015, she co-starred on the second season of FX's Fargo as Betsy Solverson, the cancer-stricken wife of state trooper Lou Solverson and mother of future deputy Molly Solverson. In 2017, Milioti appeared in the fourth season of the sci-fi anthology show Black Mirror as Nanette Cole in the episode "USS Callister".
In 2020 Milioti starred in the critically acclaimed sci-fi/comedy Palm Springs, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and on Hulu in July.

Credits

Film

Television

Stage

YearTitleRoleVenue
2006The Lieutenant of InishmoreMairead Lyceum Theatre
2007Coram BoyAlice AshbrookImperial Theatre
2007The Devil's DiscipleEssieIrish Repertory Theatre
2008CrookedLaney
2008Some Americans AbroadKatie Taylor
2009The Heart is a Lonely HunterMick KellyNew York Theatre Workshop
2009StunningLilyLincoln Center Theater
2010The Little FoxesAlexandraNew York Theatre Workshop
2010That FaceMiaManhattan Theatre Club
2011OnceGirlAmerican Repertory Theatre
2011OnceGirlNew York Theatre Workshop
2012–13OnceGirlBernard B. Jacobs Theatre
2015–16LazarusEllyNew York Theatre Workshop
2017After The BlastAnnaLincoln Center Theater

Awards and nominations