Theresa Russell is an American actress who began her career in a supporting role in Elia Kazan's The Last Tycoon (1976), playing the daughter of a prominent film executive. In 1978, she starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in the critically acclaimed crime drama Straight Time, following a lead role in the CBS miniseries Blind Ambition, portraying the wife of U.S. White House Counsel John Dean.
Her next role was a lead in English filmmaker Nicolas Roeg's controversial thriller Bad Timing (1980), which earned critical praise, in which Russell portrayed an American woman in Vienna who enters a dysfunctional relationship with a psychoanalyst. Bad Timing marked the first of six projects Russell and Roeg would collaborate on following their marriage in 1982; subsequent collaborations include the drama Eureka (1983); the experimental alternate history film Insignificance (1985), in which Russell portrayed Marilyn Monroe; and the dramas Track 29 (1989) and Cold Heaven (1991).
Russell had a mainstream commercial breakthrough portraying a serial killer in Bob Rafelson's neo-noir film Black Widow (1987). Other roles from this time included the crime drama Physical Evidence (1989), co-starring Burt Reynolds, and Sondra Locke's thriller Impulse (1990). In 1991, Russell starred as a prostitute in Ken Russell's satirical drama Whore, followed by Steven Soderbergh's experimental black-and-white feature, Kafka, co-starring Jeremy Irons.
After appearing in a number of independent films in the mid-1990s, Russell had a supporting role in the commercially successful neo-noir Wild Things (1998), and the critically acclaimed drama The Believer (2001). In 2005, she had a supporting role on the HBO miniseries Empire Falls, followed by a minor part in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 (2007).
| Year | Title | Role | Director(s) | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | data-sort-value="Last Tycoon" | The Last Tycoon | Cecilia Brady | [1] | ||
| 1978 | Straight Time | Jenny Mercer | [2] | |||
| 1980 | Bad Timing | Milena Flaherty | ||||
| 1982 | Tenebre | Anne (voice) | English version, dubbing voice for Daria Nicolodi | [3] | ||
| 1983 | Eureka | Tracy McCann Maillot Van Horn | [4] | |||
| 1984 | data-sort-value="Razor's Edge" | The Razor's Edge | Sophie MacDonald | [5] | ||
| 1985 | Insignificance | The Actress | [6] | |||
| 1987 | Black Widow | Catharine Petersen | [7] | |||
| 1987 | Aria | King Zog | Segment: Un ballo in maschera | |||
| 1988 | Track 29 | Linda Henry | [8] | |||
| 1989 | Physical Evidence | Jenny Hudson | [9] | |||
| 1990 | Impulse | Lottie Mason | [10] | |||
| 1991 | Whore | Liz | [11] | |||
| 1991 | Cold Heaven | Marie Davenport | [12] | |||
| 1991 | Kafka | Gabriela | [13] | |||
| 1993 | Thicker Than Water | Debbie / Jo | Television film | |||
| 1994 | Being Human | The Storyteller | ||||
| 1995 | Trade-Off | Jackie Daniels | Television film | |||
| 1995 | Hotel Paradise | Short film | ||||
| 1995 | data-sort-value="Spy Within" | The Spy Within | Mary Ann Curran | |||
| 1995 | data-sort-value="Young Connecticut" | A Young Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court | Morgan le Fay | |||
| 1995 | data-sort-value="Grotesque" | The Grotesque | Lady Harriet Coal | Alternate titles: Grave Indiscretion; Gentlemen Don't Eat Poets | ||
| 1996 | Once You Meet a Stranger | Margo Anthony | Television film | |||
| 1996 | Public Enemies | Kate "Ma" Barker | [14] | |||
| 1996 | Catherine Morgan | |||||
| 1998 | Wild Things | Sandra Van Ryan | [15] | |||
| 1998 | Running Woman | Emily Russo | ||||
| 2000 | Luckytown | Stella | ||||
| 2001 | The Believer | Lina Moebius | [16] | |||
| 2001 | Earth vs. the Spider | Trixie Grillo | Television film | [17] | ||
| 2002 | data-sort-value="House Next" | The House Next Door | Helen Schmidt | |||
| 2002 | Passionada | Lois Vargas | ||||
| 2002 | Now & Forever | Dori Wilson | ||||
| 2002 | Project Viper | Dr. Nancy Burnham | Television film | |||
| 2003 | Love Comes Softly | Sarah Graham | Television film | |||
| 2003 | Chasing Alice | Television film | ||||
| 2003 | Water Under the Bridge | Jackie O'Connor | ||||
| 2003 | data-sort-value="Box" | The Box | Dora Baker | |||
| 2005 | Blind Injustice | Joanna Bartlett | Television film | |||
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Emma Marko | [18] | |||
| 2007 | On the Doll | Diane | [19] | |||
| 2008 | Chinaman's Chance: America's Other Slaves | Mrs. Williams | ||||
| 2008 | Jolene | Aunt Kay | [20] | |||
| 2008 | Dark World | Nicole | ||||
| 2009 | He's Just Not That into You | Mrs. Marks | Scenes deleted | |||
| 2009 | 16 to Life | Louise | ||||
| 2011 | Rid of Me | Mrs. Lockwood | ||||
| 2011 | Born to Ride | Frances Callahan | ||||
| 2011 | 1 Out of 7 | Lexi's Mom | ||||
| 2012 | data-sort-value="Legends of Nethia" | The Legends of Nethiah | Nethiah's Mother | |||
| 2012 | Liz & Dick | Sara Taylor | Television film | |||
| 2014 | Moving Mountains | Trish Bragg | ||||
| 2014 | data-sort-value="Winter Rose" | A Winter Rose | Rachal Love | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Blind Ambition | Maureen Dean | Miniseries, 1 episode |
| 1993 | A Woman's Guide to Adultery | Rose | Miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 1999 | G vs E | Reesa Tussel | Episode: "To Be or Not to Be Evil" |
| 2000 | Nash Bridges | Ellen Holiday / Sarah Williams | Episodes: "Jackpot: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 2002 | Glory Days | Hazel Walker | Main role, 9 episodes |
| 2005 | Empire Falls | Charlene | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Regina Reid | Episode: "On Fire" | |
| 2007 | American Heiress | Jordan Wakefield | Recurring role, 14 episodes |
| 2009 | Fringe | Rebecca Kibner | Episode: "Momentum Deferred" |
| 2010 | Cold Case | Rachel Malone (2010) | Episode: "One Fall" |
| 2012–2013 | Delete | Fiona | Miniseries, 2 episodes |