Allison Tolman

Allison Tolman
Tolman in 2014
Born
Allison Cara Tolman

Harris County, Texas, U.S.
Alma materBaylor University (BFA)
OccupationActress
Years active2004–present

Allison Cara Tolman is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Molly Solverson in the first season of the FX television series Fargo,[1] earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, and Alma Fillcot in the second season of the Paramount+ anthology series, Why Women Kill.

Early life and education

Tolman has two older brothers and a younger sister. Her family moved to England when she was a few months old and stayed until she was four years old. She spent the next five years in Oklahoma and West Texas, before moving to Sugar Land, Texas. She started taking acting classes when she was 10 years old at the Fort Bend Community Theatre. She attended Clements High School, graduating in 2000.[2]

She graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatrical performance. After college, she moved to Dallas, where she was one of the founding members of Second Thought Theatre.[3]

In 2009, she moved to Chicago, Illinois, to study performance at The Second City Training Center.[4][5]

Career

In 2014, Tolman starred in the first season of the FX black comedy crime series Fargo. Inspired by the 1996 Coen brothers film of the same name, Fargo starred veteran actors Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman and Bob Odenkirk. Tolman received accolades for her performance as Minnesota police officer Molly Solverson, with Vanity Fair writing that she "calmly and assuredly stole the entire show". For her role, she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries and received Best Actress nominations at the Emmy Awards and for the Golden Globes.[6]

The same year, it was also announced Tolman would have a two-episode guest role on The Mindy Project as Abby Berman, a romance novelist.[7] In 2015, she had a supporting role in Michael Dougherty's comedy horror film Krampus.[8]

Following her breakout role on Fargo, Tolman declined several supporting parts as mothers, wives and best friends, looking for a more unusual role.[6] In 2017, Tolman starred in ABC's Downward Dog, based on the Animal Media Group web series, It was canceled after one season.[9]

She starred in the ABC drama series Emergence, which premiered on September 24, 2019, and was cancelled after one season on May 21, 2020. She also guest starred in NBC's Good Girls.[10]

In 2021, she starred as Alma Filcott in the second season of the drama series Why Women Kill,[11] and played Natalie Green in The Facts of Life portion of the third edition of Live in Front of a Studio Audience.[12]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2009 A Thousand Cocktails Later Mandy Short film
2015 Addicted to Fresno Ruby
The Gift Lucy
Krampus Linda
2017 Barracuda Merle
The House Dawn Mayweather
Killing Gunther Mia
2018 Family Cheryl Stone
The Sisters Brothers Girl Mayfield Saloon
2020 The Last Shift Mrs. Kelly

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Prison Break Nurse Episode: "Scan"
2008 Sordid Lives: The Series Tink 4 episodes
2014–15 Fargo Molly Solverson Main role (season 1),
episode: "Palindrome" (season 2)
2014 The Mindy Project Abby Berman 2 episodes
Hello Ladies: The Movie Kate TV movie
2015 Archer Edie Poovey Episode: "Edie's Wedding" (voice role)
Comedy Bang! Bang! Ellen Episode: "Joseph Gordon-Levitt Wears a Heart T-Shirt and Blue Jeans"
Review Marissa Episode: "Brawl; Blackmail; Glory Hole"
2016 Mad Dogs Rochelle Recurring role
2016, 2018 Drunk History Various 2 episodes
2017 Downward Dog Nan Main role
Mosaic Amy Lambson Recurring role
2017–18 Me, Myself & I Sarah 2 episodes
2017–19 I'm Sorry Jennifer 4 episodes
2018 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Captain Olivia Crawford 2 episodes
2018–19 Good Girls Mary Pat Recurring role (seasons 1–2)
2018 Castle Rock Bridget Strand 2 episodes
2019 The Twilight Zone Maura McGowan Episode: "The Wunderkind"
2019–20 Emergence Jo Evans Main role
2021 Why Women Kill Alma Fillcot Lead role (season 2)
Live in Front of a Studio Audience Natalie Green Episode: "The Facts of Life"
2022 Minx Wanda Episode: "You Happened to Me"
Gaslit Winnie McLendon Recurring role
2023 American Dad! Jessica Episode: "Don't You Be My Neighbor" (voice role)
2024 St. Denis Medical Nurse Alex Main role (upcoming)

References

  1. ^ Nussbaum, Emily (June 23, 2014). "SNOWBOUND: The Minnesota noir of Fargo". The New Yorker.
  2. ^ Maines, Don (April 11, 2014). "Clements grad stars in 'Fargo'". Houston Chronicle.
  3. ^ Thomas, Mike (April 14, 2014). "'Fargo' the place to be for Chicago's Allison Tolman". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  4. ^ Metz, Nina (April 28, 2014). "Allison Tolman is breakout star on Fargo on FX". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  5. ^ Schwindt, Oriana (April 16, 2014). "Fargo Star Allison Tolman Will Thaw Your Icy Heart". TV Guide.
  6. ^ a b Robinson, Joanna (May 17, 2017). "How Fargo Alum Allison Tolman "Tricked" Hollywood into Thinking She Was an Ingenue". Vanity Fair. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  7. ^ Eakin, Marah (August 29, 2014). "The Mindy Project recruits Shonda Rhimes and Fargo's Allison Tolman". The A.V. Club. The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  8. ^ La Vigna, Christopher. "Actors to Lead Dougherty's "KRAMPUS" Flick". Fangoria. Archived from the original on March 7, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  9. ^ Holloway, Daniel (June 23, 2017). "'Downward Dog' Canceled by ABC". Variety. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  10. ^ Fallon, Kevin (September 24, 2019). "Allison Tolman Is Writing Her Own Rules for TV Stardom". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  11. ^ "Allison Tolman". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  12. ^ Cordero, Rosy (November 29, 2021). "Jennifer Aniston, Gabrielle Union, Kathryn Hahn, & Allison Tolman Join 'Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: Facts Of Life'". Deadline. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
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