About
Helen Hunt has enjoyed a diverse career not only as an award winning actress, but more recently as an accomplished writer, director and producer. As an actress, her extensive and diverse body of work includes roles in film, theater, and television. In 2011, she completed two independent film projects – Steven Bernstein’s “Decoding Annie Parker” with Samantha Morton as well as Ben Lewin’s “The Surrogate” opposite John Hawkes and William H. Macy. “The Surrogate” recently premiered in competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and took home the Audience Award as well as the jury prize for Best Ensemble. Within hours of the premiere the film was sold to indie giant Fox Searchlight for a festival record and is likely to be released in theaters next fall.
Some of Hunt’s recent TV work includes “Mad About You” and the critically acclaimed HBO Miniseries “Empire Falls”. For her role as Jamie Buchman in “Mad About You”, Hunt garnered four Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards (three as lead actress and one as Producer for Best Comedy), and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She was also named “Best Actress” for her role in the film “As Good as it Gets” for which Hunt won a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Oscar.
Hunt has directed television episodes of “Mad About You”; “The Paul Reiser Show” and most recently an upcoming installment of Showtime’s “Californication”. In 2007, she directed her first feature film “Then She Found Me” based on a novel by Elinor Lipma. Hunt also co-wrote, produced, and starred in this critically acclaimed and commercially successful film opposite Colin Firth, Matthew Broderick, and Bette Midler.
Hunt is equally accomplished theater actress who most recently reprised the role of ‘Stage Manager’ in David Cromer’s latest production of Our Town at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica this past January and February. Ms. Hunt first played the role of ‘Stage Manager’ in the 2010 New York production of Our Town at the Barrow Street Theater. Additional theater credits include Twelfth Night (Viola) at Lincoln Center and Life X Three at Circle in the Square Theater. Other theatre credits are Taming of the Shrew at NYSF-Shakespeare in the Park; Been Taken at EST; Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice) at the Shakespeare Center L.A;, The Guys and Methusalem with the Actor’s Gang; The Value of Names at the Skylight Theatre; and Love Letters in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston.
A Los Angeles native, Hunt grew up in an artistic environment. Her father, Gordon Hunt, is a director and respected acting coach. Hunt currently lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Matthew Carnahan, her daughter Makena Lei and her stepson Emmett.
