Rabe studied dance for ten years. She was teaching ballet at a summer arts program in Connecticut when she was approached by the program's acting instructor, who asked her to perform a monologue in the final production.[8] She read a monologue from the play Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley.[8] She said, "It was that moment, performing that monologue, that made me think, 'Maybe this is what I wanna do'."[8] She then went on to study acting at Northwestern University, graduating in 2004.[9]
Career
Early years
In 2001, Rabe made her screen debut opposite her mother Jill Clayburgh in the film Never Again. She made her professional stage debut, again opposite her mother, at the Gloucester Stage Company in Massachusetts. She starred in two one-act plays, Speaking Well of the Dead by Israel Horovitz and The Crazy Girl by Frank Pugliese,[10] roles that enabled her to get an Equity Card.[11] In July 2003, she returned to the Gloucester Stage Company to appear in Proof by David Auburn. That year, she also appeared in the film Mona Lisa Smile. After graduating, she moved back to New York. From September 29 through October 2, 2004, she appeared in White Jesus by Deirdre O'Connor,[12] one of a series of one-act plays presented as The Democracy Project from the Naked Angels Theater Company.[13]
In August 2007, Rabe appeared in Crimes of the Heart at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the directorial debut of actress Kathleen Turner.[21] In 2008, the production moved Off-Broadway to the Laura Pels Theatre, where it was staged by the Roundabout Theatre Company and ran from February 14 to April 13.[22] During a rehearsal, a piece of the set fell on Rabe, leaving her with a fractured rib[23] and causing her to miss a week of preview performances; the opening night was changed from February 7 to February 14.[22]
Rabe next starred in The Merchant of Venice, opposite Al Pacino as Shylock, in a performance described as a "smashing break-out".[29] The production transferred to Broadway at the Broadhurst Theater, where it ran from October 19, 2010, to February 20, 2011.[30] For her performance, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.[31] In March 2011, she was cast in the FOX drama pilot Exit Strategy.[32] In July, it was confirmed that FOX had passed on the pilot.[33] Rabe appeared again at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in a production of A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, where she played Nora Helmer.[34]
In August 2011, Rabe got her first regular role on a television series, as Nora Montgomery on the FX horror series American Horror Story. She was later cast in the second season as the nun Sister Mary Eunice McKee (which she reprised in the fourth season). For the second season, she was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries. She was also cast in the third season as a resurgent witch, Misty Day, a role written for her by co-creator Ryan Murphy.[35] In the fifth season, she was a special guest star in the "Devil's Night" episode, playing Aileen Wuornos. In the sixth season, she had a main role as Shelby Miller. Rabe is one of only three actors to appear in the show's first six seasons.[36] In 2019, for the ninth installment of the show, titled 1984, Rabe returned in the recurring role of Lavinia Richter, a distraught mother who haunts Camp Redwood, an idyllic summer retreat with a history of massacre.
On February 14, it was announced that Rabe would appear in Much Ado About Nothing as part of the 2014 Shakespeare in the Park season. The production began on June 3 and ran to July 6.[42] In 2014, she appeared in Pawn Sacrifice, a film biopic about chess player Bobby Fischer, playing Fischer's sister Joan Targ.[43] On February 24, it was announced that Rabe would appear with Thomas Jane and Jessica Alba in horror film The Veil.[44] It was released on January 19, 2016, through video on demand, prior to home-media release on February 2, 2016.[45][46] That day, it was announced that Rabe would star in The Visitors, a drama pilot for ABC.[47] The pilot was later changed to The Whispers and was officially picked up by ABC in May 2014.[48] The series premiered on June 1, 2015[49] and was subsequently cancelled on October 19, 2015 after one season.[50] In May 2016, Rabe was cast in Golden Exits directed by Alex Ross Perry.[51]
In August 2021, Rabe starred in the tenth season of American Horror Story, as Doris Gardner in the first half of the season, and as Amelia Earhart in the second. It was her first time as part of the main cast since Roanoke.[52]
Personal life
In December 2016, it was reported that Rabe was expecting her first child with boyfriend Hamish Linklater. She gave birth to a girl in March 2017.[53][54] In June 2020, they had their second daughter.[55][56] In September 2021, Rabe announced her third pregnancy with Linklater.[57][58] She gave birth in June 2022.[59]
