Christina Rene Hendricks
,
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Birthday
1975-05-03
Occupation
Actress
Spouse(s)
Geoffrey Arend (2009–present)
Years Active
1999–present
Biography
Christina Rene Hendricks is an American actress and former model. Her accolades include six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Critics' Choice Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. A 2010 poll of female readers taken by Esquire magazine named her "the sexiest woman in the world," and she was voted Best Looking Woman in America by the publication the same year.
Born in Tennessee, Hendricks was raised in Portland, Oregon and Twin Falls, Idaho, where she became active in local theater. After completing high school in Virginia, Hendricks relocated to New York City and pursued a career as a model following her entry into a Seventeen cover contest. She continued to work internationally as a model for over a decade before transitioning into acting.
Hendricks had recurring roles in several television series, including Beggars and Choosers (2001–2002) and Kevin Hill (2004–2005) before being cast as Joan Holloway on the AMC period drama series Mad Men in 2007, of which she remained a main cast member until the series' conclusion in 2015. She received critical acclaim for her role on the series, including six Emmy Award nominations and multiple Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Ensemble. While starring on Mad Men, Hendricks also began appearing in films, receiving critical notice for her performance in Nicolas Winding Refn's thriller Drive (2011), Sally Potter's Ginger & Rosa (2012), and Lost River (2014).
Following the conclusion of Mad Men, Hendricks starred in the comedy series Another Period from 2015 to 2016, and in the SundanceTV drama series Hap and Leonard (2016). She reunited with Refn for a supporting role in his thriller film The Neon Demon (2016), followed by roles in the comedy Fist Fight (also 2016), and the horror film The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018). She returned to television with a recurring role on the anthology series The Romanoffs (2018–present), and on the NBC comedy-crime series Good Girls (2018–present).
After high school, Hendricks worked as a receptionist and shampoo girl at a salon before entering a competition to appear on the cover of Seventeen magazine. This resulted in her signing with a IMG Models, after which she moved to New York City at age 18, forgoing her pre-acceptance into Virginia Commonwealth University's drama school.
Hendricks began modeling in New York, London, and Japan between the ages of 18 and 27 before transitioning into appearing in commercials. Hendricks lived in London for around a year during this period, residing with two friends who were working there as teachers. In her early twenties, Hendricks relocated with her mother and brother to Los Angeles, California. Initially, Hendricks pursued a career working in the administrative sector of the music business, but was dissuaded by friends, and instead continued working as a model before auditioning for acting roles. She appeared in commercials for Carl's Jr. and Dr. Pepper, and also starred in the music video for Everclear's "One Hit Wonder" (1997).
She made her television début in the MTV anthology series Undressed. Her first starring role was as an intern on Beggars and Choosers, a Showtime comedy series focused on a group of young professionals. The series filmed in Vancouver, and ran from 1999 to 2001. During this time, she also had a guest role on the series Angel in 2000. Hendricks subsequently appeared in the television film The Big Time (2002), and had recurring guest roles on ER (2002), The Court (2003), and Firefly (2002–2003).
After a guest appearance on Tru Calling, Hendricks was cast as Nicolette Ray in the legal drama Kevin Hill, which ran between 2004 and 2005.
She played Joan Holloway on the AMC series Mad Men as the office manager of advertising agency Sterling Cooper & Partners, providing mentoring to a group of women who must deal with the come-ons and callousness of professional advertising executives. Her performance has received critical praise, resulting in six Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series over the course of its seven seasons.
Also in 2007, Hendricks made her feature film debut in La Cucina, a drama film that premiered on Showtime in December 2009, and which stars Hendricks as a writer. The same year, she starred in the thriller film South of Pico, and appeared in four episodes of the NBC series Life (2007–2008) in the recurring role of Olivia, detective Charlie Crews' soon-to-be stepmother and Ted Earley's love interest.
On October 11, 2009, Hendricks married actor Geoffrey Arend. In 2010, she appeared in the musical video for "The Ghost Inside" by Broken Bells,
She appeared in a supporting role in the action-thriller Drive (2011), directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, alongside Carey Mulligan and Ryan Gosling. The following year, she was cast in a supporting role in Sally Potter's drama film Ginger & Rosa, playing the countercultural mother of a teenager growing up in the 1960s. In 2013, Hendricks appeared onstage in a production of Stephen Sondheim's Company at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts opposite Martha Plimpton and Stephen Colbert.
In 2014, she played the lead character in Gosling's directorial debut Lost River, a fantasy film set in Detroit. The film received mixed reviews. The following year, she starred in the novel adaptation Dark Places (2015) opposite Charlize Theron. After the conclusion of Mad Men in 2015, Hendricks starred as a prostitute in two seasons of the Comedy Central series Another Period (2015–2016), set during the early 20th century.
In 2016, she appeared as one of the leads in Refn's thriller film The Neon Demon, portraying a modeling agent. Critical response to the film was polarized, though the French film magazine Cahiers du cinéma named it the third-best film of 2016. The same year, she starred in six episodes of the series Hap and Leonard, playing the ex-wife of investigator Hap Collins.
In 2018, she was seen in home-invasion based horror film The Strangers: Prey at Night, playing the matriarch of a family under siege by killers. Upon release, the film received generally unfavorable reviews from critics, though The Guardian's Benjamin Lee praised Hendricks' performance. It was a commercial success, however, grossing $30 million.
In 2018, Hendricks returned to television in the Amazon Prime series The Romanoffs, reuniting with Mad Men creater Matthew Weiner. She was cast as one of the leads on the NBC comedy crime series Good Girls, playing a woman who attempts to gain financial control of her life by holding up a grocery store. The show was renewed for a third season in 2019. In late 2018, Hendricks starred opposite Sienna Miller in the drama American Woman, portraying a woman helping her sister raise her family in rural Pennsylvania. She also supplied the voice of Gabby Gabby, the antagonist in the Disney/Pixar animated sequel Toy Story 4 (2019).
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