Greta Gerwig Bio: In Her Own Words – Video Exclusive, News, Photos

Greta Celeste Gerwig (born August 4, 1983, age: 34) is an American actress, playwright, director and screenwriter.

She has frequently worked with writer-directors Joe Swanberg and Noah Baumbach.

Gerwig has starred in the films Greenberg (2010), Frances Ha (2013), Mistress America (2015), Maggie’s Plan (2016) and 20th Century Women (2016), among other movies.

GRETA GERWIG BIO: AGE, EARLY CAREER WITH JOE SWANBERG

Gerwig was born in Sacramento, California, to mother Christine, an OB-GYN nurse, and father Gordon, who worked for a credit union. Gerwig has an older brother and sister.

She is of English, Irish and German descent, and grew up as a Unitarian Universalist, a religion characterized by “a search for truth and meaning.”

After attending an all-girls Catholic high school in Sacramento, Gerwig developed an interest in dance and musical theater. However, she ultimately graduated with a dual degree in philosophy and English from Barnard College.

Gerwig initially attempted to pursue a career as a playwright, but switched to acting after she was denied acceptance to playwriting Masters programs. In 2006, while she was still at Barnard, she played a minor role in Swanberg’s independent film LOL.

She also starred in the 2008 horror comedy Baghead, written and directed by the Duplass brothers, Mark and Jay.

Gerwig also starred in and co-wrote with Swanberg the 2007 indie film Hannah Takes The Stairs.

She then went on to act in, co-write and co-direct (also with Swanberg) the 2008 film Nights and Weekends, which co-starred Jay Duplass.

Gerwig then starred in several low-profile films, including the 2009 horror flick The House of the Devil.

Gerwig admitted she was very depressed and miserable in this time of her life.

She was set to start in a spin-off of the TV show How I Met Your Mother called How I Met Your Dad, but it was never picked up for a series.

GRETA GERWIG BIO: LATER SUCCESS WITH NOAH BAUMBACH

In 2010, Gerwig played a main role in Baumbach’s comedy-drama film Greenberg alongside Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans, Brie Larson and Jennifer Jason Leigh. 

Gerwig then co-wrote (with Baumbach) and starred in the movie Frances Ha, a 2013 black-and-white comedy-drama that also starred Adam Driver, Grace Gummer and Josh Hamilton. Gerwig was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for her acting.

In between those films, Gerwig played minor roles in several comedies, including Arthur (2011), No Strings Attached (2011), Lola Versus (2012) and Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love (2012). The latter film co-starred Allen himself, Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page and Roberto Benigni. Gerwig confessed she stole the entire script for this film.

Gerwig’s third film as co-writer with Baumbach, the 2015 comedy Mistress America, received mostly positive reviews. Lola Kirke starred in this movie alongside Gerwig.

Gerwig also starred alongside Al Pacino, Dianne Wiest and Kyra Sedgwick in Barry Levinson’s 2014 comedy The Humbling. 

Her next major role came in Rebecca Miller’s 2016 romantic comedy-drama Maggie’s Plan, which first premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The film co-starred Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph and Travis Fimmel. 

Gerwig also starred in the 2016 Oscar-nominated films Jackie and 20th Century Women. She played a small role in the former and a major role in the latter. The latter film was directed by Mike Mills and also starred Annette Benning, Elle Fanning and Billy Crudup. 

In 2017, Gerwig made her solo directorial debut with the coming-of-age comedy-drama Lady Bird, which she also wrote. The film — which stars Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges and Stephen McKinley Henderson — earned rave reviews (even a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and has received Oscar and other awards buzz. Lady Bird won two major awards at the Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical and Best Leading Actress in a Comedy for Ronan. Gerwig was nominated for Best Director at the Oscars for Lady Bird, thus becoming only the fifth woman to ever received a nod from the Academy in this category.

Gerwig will next star in two films: French director Mia Hansen-Løve’s upcoming film Bergman Island, alongside Mia Wasikowska and John Turturro, and Wes Anderson’s 2018 stop-motion animated film Isle of Dogs, which also features the voices of Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton and Bill Murray. 

GRETA GERWIG: INTERVIEW ON FRANCES HA

In June 2013, Gerwig sat down with uInterview for an exclusive video interview about her black-and-white film Frances Ha, which she co-wrote with Baumbach. The comedy-drama follows a 27-year-old woman who finally has to learn how to depend on herself after her best friend Sophie (Mickey Sumner) moves out of their apartment.

“Noah [Baumbach] and I when we were writing the movie let the character kind of guide us as to what the story was, and who she was, and we really do a lot of exploratory writing, and it’s one of those things that you feel like you almost can’t take credit for because she just appeared on the page in a way then when I acted the part it was like a whole other level of embodying it, and it felt like this kind of crazy physical performance,” Gerwig said of the inspiration behind the script. “But each step she really seemed like this distinct person and this story emerged from who she was.”

Gerwig added that she felt like she could relate to her character and empathize with her struggles.

“Yeah, I mean, we definitely had different trajectories in our 20s but I will say that I very much know what it feels like to struggle [laughs]!” she explained. “Especially, I mean I had more immediate feedback in my early 20s about feeling like I was on the right path even though I wasn’t monetarily successful and… So I didn’t have like — I didn’t feel like I was quite as struggling so hard but I think if you do anything in the arts you always feel very close to it falling apart and not being able to do it so you never lose that fear [laughs] — to be honest.”

Gerwig was also interviewed by uInterview alongside Ellen Page in July 2012 for their film To Rome With Love. 

“It was just the four of us, my section and everyone’s just so wildly talented,” Gerwig said of the Woody Allen movie. “It’s so fun to watch everybody act. But also, there’s a really good hangout vibe going on, sort of unexpected. I mean, I didn’t expect us to necessarily feel like, ‘Oh! We’re just totally yakking it up on the car ride there!’ But it was amazing and so fun.”

GRETA GERWIG BIO: HEIGHT, WEIGHT, RELATIONSHIP WITH NOAH BAUMBACH, QUOTES, SOCIAL MEDIA, NET WORTH

Gerwig is 5-foot-8 and weights 134 pounds. She has been dating Noah Baumbach since late 2011.

She is not active on any social media, as she believes it distracts from her work.

Gerwig’s net worth is estimated at $2 million.

Quotes:

“I think as an actress, I prefer having a character on the page. It allows you to be more invested in actually creating a whole person. It’s easier when you’re not trying to come up with your next line on the spot.”

“A lot of my friends are struggling. A lot of my friends didn’t make movies, which was really hard and sad. I’m good friends with this film collective, Red Bucket, which made Daddy Longlegs and The Pleasure Of Being Robbed. They’re climbing the walls. They’re all making cartoon booklets now, because they can’t raise the funds to make another movie. But I think that when it returns, which it hopefully will, there will be another surge of energy.”

“It feels like when I write, it’s intuitive. This is true of Frances, and it’s true of this [The Funniest Movie Of The Summer].”

On Lady Bird‘s main character: “I never made anyone call me another name. I never had dyed-red hair. She’s so much more wild and outspoken, and I think I was only ever that way in my head. In a way, I felt like I kind of put into her the sheer confidence and the id I find in 8- or 9-year-old girls. They’re just brash, and they don’t know that they should feel anything but great about themselves.”