Caitlin FitzGerald is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for her roles as Libby Masters in the Showtime drama Masters of Sex (2013–2016) and Simone in Starz series Sweetbitter (2018–2019).

Caitlin FitzGerald
FitzGerald in 2014
OccupationActress
Years active2008–present
Spouse
(m. 2020)
Children1

Early life

edit

FitzGerald was raised in Camden, Maine.[1] Her father, Des FitzGerald, an Irish American, is the former CEO of the ContiSea unit of the multinational corporation ContiGroup and the founder of Ducktrap River Fish Farm Inc.[2][3] Her mother, Pam Allen, is the author of Knitting for Dummies and the founder of the yarn company Quince & Co.[1][4] FitzGerald first developed an interest in acting as a child and performed in many community theatre and school productions.[5] She was a boarding student and 2002 graduate [6] of Concord Academy in Massachusetts.[7][8] She later graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied drama at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.[5] FitzGerald also spent time studying Shakespeare at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.[9]

Career

edit

FitzGerald has appeared in Love Simple, It's Complicated, Gossip Girl, Whit Stillman's Damsels in Distress,[10] Blue Bloods, UnREAL and Newlyweds.[11]

 
FitzGerald at PaleyFest in March 2014

In 2010, FitzGerald starred in a production of Hedda Gabler. The play was performed in a private house in New York City to an audience of just twenty-five people. FitzGerald was excited to play "the greatest part written for a woman that isn’t Shakespeare".[12] Ben Brantley of The New York Times said of her performance: "All legs, eyes and cheekbones, with a face that seems made for cinematic close-ups, she’s a hypnotic pleasure to look at." However, he felt she had insufficient gravitas, often bringing to mind "a newly transferred, intimidatingly classy high school senior, perhaps, who is so beyond being merely popular".[13]

In 2010 she also played the role of Benita in "After Hours", the 10th episode of the 1st season of the CBS crime drama Blue Bloods.

In 2012, FitzGerald starred in and co-wrote the screenplay for the independent film Like the Water, set in Maine. The film focuses on the death of a childhood friend, inspired by the sudden death of FitzGerald's Riley School classmate Sabrina Seelig.[14][failed verification] She also co-starred that year in The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, reuniting with director Ed Burns. In 2013, she starred as Liv in the independent romantic comedy ensemble Mutual Friends directed by Matthew Watts.[15]

FitzGerald starred in the Showtime period drama Masters of Sex. Indiewire has described her character as one of the most underrated in television: "Libby Masters is a character who could easily have come across as insipid instead of likable and poignant ... FitzGerald fully conveys Libby's willowy fragility, her fairly sheltered outlook and girlishness – she sometimes calls her husband 'Daddy'—while making it clear she isn't a simple stand-in for conservative values or cluelessness ... FitzGerald makes Libby's perceptiveness and her transparency clear."[16]

In 2015, she appeared in the indie comedy Adult Beginners from director Ross Katz as Kat, the girlfriend of Jake (Nick Kroll) who dumps him after his tech startup fails and he moves back to his family home. Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale co-star.[17]

In June 2017, FitzGerald joined the cast of Robert Krzykowski's film The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot, co-starring with Sam Elliott and Aidan Turner.

In 2018, she starred in Season 3 of UnREAL. She played Serena, the star of the fictional reality show Everlasting - mirroring a concept similar to The Bachelorette.

Personal life

edit

In 2017, FitzGerald met actor Aidan Turner. They married in August 2020,[18] and she gave birth to their son in January 2022.[19] They have an 18th-century house in East London.[20][21]

Filmography

edit

Film

edit
Year Title Role Notes
2008 A Jersey Christmas Wellesley
2009 Taking Woodstock Young woman
My Last Day with You Ashley
Love Simple Keith
It's Complicated Lauren Adler
2011 Dirty Movie Bank teller
Damsels in Distress Priss
Newlyweds Katie
2012 The Fitzgerald Family Christmas Connie Fitzgerald
Like the Water Charlie McRill also co-writer
2013 Mutual Friends Liv
2014 Adult Beginners Kat
2015 Manhattan Romance Theresa
2016 Always Shine Beth
Mercy Melissa
2017 The Show Sylvia originally titled This Is Your Death
All I Wish Alison originally titled A Little Something for Your Birthday
Mrs. Drake short, FitzGerald's directorial debut
2018 The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot Maxine
2020 The Trial of the Chicago 7 Daphne O'Connor
2024 Lost on a Mountain in Maine Ruth Fendler
TBA Above the Below Brooks


Television

edit
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Anna / Natalie Bleers Episode: "Wildlife"
2009 Mercy Erika Episode: "Hope You're Good, Smiley Face"
2010 How to Make It in America Rachel's friend Episode: "Paper, Denim + Dollars"
Blue Bloods Benita Episode: "After Hours"
2011 Gossip Girl Epperly Lawrence Recurring role, 3 episodes
2013–2016 Masters of Sex Libby Masters Main role, 46 episodes
2014 Project Runway Herself Guest Judge, 1 episode
2015 The Walker Maggie Recurring role, 2 episodes
2016 New Girl Diane Episode: "Return to Sender"
Rectify Chloe Recurring role, 7 episodes
2017 Code Black Dr. Gretchen Kerr Recurring role, 2 episodes
2018 Unreal Serena Main role, 10 episodes
2018–2019 Sweetbitter Simone Main role, 13 episodes
Succession Tabitha Hayes Recurring role, 9 episodes
2021–2022 Station Eleven Elizabeth Miniseries, recurring role, 4 episodes
2022 Inventing Anna Mags Recurring role, 3 episodes
Our Time Stella Cooper TV movie
TBA We Were Liars Penny Sinclair

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Camden Actress Comes Home to Shoot a Movie – Free Press Online". freepressonline.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  2. ^ "Maine's venture capital fund hires well-known entrepreneur to mentor companies". The Bangor Daily News. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  3. ^ "Maine's Mentor". October, 2016. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  4. ^ "Issues". Down East. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Nojan Aminosharei. "Caitlin Fitzgerald". ELLE. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  6. ^ "CA Magazine, Spring 2016". www.issuu.com. May 19, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  7. ^ "Concord Academy: CA Alumna in Golden Globe-Nominated Film". concordacademy.org. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  8. ^ "Sexual Healing". Aritzia.com. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  9. ^ "Masters Of Sex: Caitlin FitzGerald On Libby's Marriage Struggles". Access Hollywood. November 17, 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  10. ^ Craig Skinner. "Whit Stillman Interview: Damsels in Distress, British Accents and Musical Choreography". HeyUGuys. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  11. ^ "Ed Burns calls it 'liberating' to make 'Newlyweds,' a Tribeca romantic comedy filmed on $9,000". New York Daily News. January 12, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  12. ^ Philip Boroff (August 10, 2010). "Secret Set, Streep's Movie Kid Make 'Hedda' Hotter Than Pacino". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  13. ^ Brantley, Ben (August 29, 2010). "An Angry Hedda Gabler in an East Village Town House". The New York Times.
  14. ^ Hartocollis, Anemona (July 28, 2012). "The Short Life and Lonely Death of Sabrina Seelig". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Eric Eidelstein (June 9, 2014). "Exclusive: FilmBuff to Release 'Mutual Friends' Across Di – Indiewire". Indiewire. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  16. ^ Alison Willmore (December 6, 2013). "Critic's Picks: The 8 Most Underappreciated Supporting Ac – Indiewire". Indiewire. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  17. ^ "Colm Feore Joins 'Painkillers'; Caitlin FitzGerald Cast in 'Brother's Keeper'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  18. ^ "The Suspect's Aidan Turner reveals details on intimate Italian wedding". HELLO!. September 7, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  19. ^ "Family man Aidan Turner on focusing on the most important things". independent. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  20. ^ Conti, Samantha (August 1, 2017). "Pole Position: 'Poldark's' Aidan Turner on Stage, Screen — and Ross". WWD. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  21. ^ Curtis, Nick (February 8, 2023). "Aidan Turner on his new West End show Lemons Lemons Lemons... and returning to Poldark (or not)". Evening Standard. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
edit