Melora Walters

Melora Walters (born October 21, 1959) is an American actress and filmmaker. Her diverse performances span across multiple movies, television shows, and filming genres. She gained fame for her starring roles as Wanda Henrickson on HBO's Big Love (2006–2010) and Kathy Kone on Hulu's PEN15 (2019–2021). A frequent collaborator with Paul Thomas Anderson, she earned two Screen Actors Guild nominations for her valuable contribution in Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999). Her filmography boasts of motion pictures like Dead Poets Society (1989), Eraser (1996), Matchstick Men, Cold Mountain (both 2003), The Butterfly Effect (2004), Short Term 12 (2013), Cam, Venom (both 2018), and Offseason (2021). Walters also ventured into directing, with Waterlily Jaguar (2018) and Drowning (2019), both of which she wrote and co-produced.

Starting her career debut with a small part in the 1988 film Underground, Walters went on to play Gloria, a school student, in Peter Weir's critically acclaimed Dead Poets Society (1989). Her roles in various features throughout the early-mid 1990s, such as Beethoven (1992), Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994), the commercially successful Eraser (1996) led to her professional partnership with Paul Thomas Anderson. Walters earned praise for her performance in his subsequent films Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999), delivering a 'superlative' portrayal of drug addict Claudia in the latter. Walters was named Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Door Film Festival for her role in Doubting Thomas (2018). On television, she guest-starred on series such as Roseanne, Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, CSI, Desperate Housewives, Californication, The Mentalist, NCIS, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and American Gigolo.