Amy Madigan Movies and TV Shows: A Complete Career Guide for the 2026 Oscar Winner
Fresh off her Best Supporting Actress Oscar win tonight for Weapons, Amy Madigan's 44-year filmography is getting a long overdue second look. A powerful presence famous for her strong, unglamorous characters, Madigan started off as a rock musician before making her big-screen debut as a pregnant teenage inmate in Love Child in 1982 with Beau Bridges. Here is a look at her full career journey.
Amy Madigan Movies: The Essential Films
Madigan met and married Ed Harris when they played adulterous lovers in Places in the Heart in 1984, and earned her first Oscar nomination as Gene Hackman's angry daughter in Twice in a Lifetime in 1985.
Her other major film credits include Love Letters (1984), Alamo Bay (1985), Nowhere to Hide (1987), Uncle Buck (1989), Field of Dreams (1989), Female Perversions (1996), Pollock (2000), and Gone Baby Gone (2007).
| Year | Film | Role / Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Love Child | Film debut |
| 1984 | Places in the Heart | Met husband Ed Harris on set |
| 1985 | Twice in a Lifetime | First Oscar nomination |
| 1986 | Streets of Fire | Career breakthrough |
| 1989 | Field of Dreams | Kevin Costner's wife |
| 1989 | Uncle Buck | John Candy's girlfriend |
| 2000 | Pollock | Ed Harris directed |
| 2007 | Gone Baby Gone | Ben Affleck directed |
| 2021 | Antlers | Scott Cooper horror film |
| 2025 | Weapons | Oscar-winning role as Aunt Gladys |
Amy Madigan TV Shows: The Key Roles
On television, Madigan had the supporting role of Iris Crowe/Irina — sister of villain Justin Crowe — in HBO's cult series Carnivàle from 2003 to 2005. In 2008 she played Dr. Katharine Wyatt on Grey's Anatomy, and then guest-starred on TNT's crime drama Saving Grace.
Madigan portrayed Sarah Weddington in the television film Roe vs. Wade in 1989, a role for which she won the Golden Globe Award and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
Her television appearances also span Law and Order, ER, Criminal Minds, Fringe, How to Get Away With Murder, Grace and Frankie, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, and Memphis Beat.
The Lean Years — And Her Own Words on It
When talking about her career in a 2010 interview, a journalist described the reality Madigan lived: "Like so many actresses older than 50, she has had difficulties finding meaningful roles." Madigan herself said: "My husband works a lot more than I do. You know what the situation is. The reality is you have to make your peace with it sometimes even when you have a depressive day."
In a 2025 New York Times interview, she reflected: "Opportunities as an older actress are less and you just hope that something finds you so you can find it. And I don't take it for granted, because you can go up and then you can go all the way down, as we know."
Stage Career and Other Work
On stage, Madigan acted in the Off-Broadway production of The Lucky Spot in 1987 — earning a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Play — and a 1992 Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire in the role of Stella Kowalski.
In 2016 she starred as Halie in the revival of Sam Shepard's Buried Child for The New Group, which later moved to London's West End at Trafalgar Studios.
Weapons — The Role That Changed Everything
Madigan's performance in Weapons as Aunt Gladys earned her the SAG Award, Critics Choice Award, and New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress before she capped it all with tonight's Oscar — 40 years after her first nomination for Twice in a Lifetime, setting the all-time record for the longest gap between Oscar nominations for an actress.
