Joanna P. Adler is an American actress, known for her roles in Off-Broadway plays. She won an Obie Award in 1995. In 2014, she starred in the second season of the Lifetime television series Devious Maids.
Adler graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and pursued a master's degree in Performance Studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Before completing her thesis, she began her professional acting career working with the internationally renowned theater collaborative, Mabou Mines.[1] She continued to work in New York City's off-Broadway theater community, most notably in the title role of Richard Foreman's Obie Award-winning play Benita Canova, John Guare's Lydie Breeze, and Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told.
In 1995, Adler won an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress, for her role in the off-Broadway play The Boys in the Basement.[2] [3] She made her Broadway debut in Terrence McNally's Deuce, directed by Michael Blakemore. On television, she has guest-starred in Sex and the City, Law & Order, , 30 Rock, The Good Wife, and The Blacklist, and has had recurring roles on Gravity, Are We There Yet?, and Orange Is The New Black.[4]
In December 2013, it was announced that Adler had been cast as a series regular for the second season of the Lifetime television comedy-drama series Devious Maids[5] as Opal, a new maid who is secretive and conniving.[5] In 2018, she appeared in FX's in a recurring role as Mary Ann Schillaci Cunanan, mother of serial killer Andrew Cunanan, who was portrayed by Darren Criss.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | The Five Spot | Neurotic Girl | |
| 1996 | The Proprietor | New York - F. Freemder | |
| 1997 | Ties to Rachel | Deke | |
| 1998 | A Perfect Murder | Vyczowski | |
| 1998 | Side Streets | Policewoman | |
| 1998 | The Silent Love of the Fish | The Boy | Short film |
| 1999 | Just the Ticket | Vickie | |
| 1999 | A Fish in the Bathtub | Heather | |
| 2000 | Down to You | Piercing Woman | |
| 2000 | Drop Back Ten | McCue's Bartender | |
| 2001 | Trigger Happy | Katja | |
| 2003 | The Event | Gaby | |
| 2003 | School of Rock | Summer's Mother | |
| 2004 | Book of Love | Melissa | |
| 2004 | Boutique | Cordelia | Short film |
| 2004 | My Mom and Dad | Betty | Short film |
| 2006 | Shut Up and Sing | Sheila | |
| 2006 | The Big Bad Swim | Dr. Gaskill | |
| 2010 | An Invisible Sign | Lisa's Mom | |
| 2013 | Dinner@40 | Abby | Short film |
| 2014 | Revenge of the Green Dragons | Prosecutor Gwen Shore | |
| 2014 | 5 Flights Up | Boy's Mother | |
| 2014 | Kill Me | Waitress | Short film |
| 2016 | Almost Paris | Lauren | |
| 2018 | Alex Strangelove | Holly Truelove | |
| 2018 | Can You Ever Forgive Me? | Arlene | |
| 2020 | An American Pickle | Professor Kim Ecklund | |
| 2021 | Tick, Tick... Boom! | Molly | |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Sex and the City | Syd | Episode: "Bay of Married Pigs" | |
| 2000 | Cosby | Dr. Ball | Episode: "The Song Remains the Same" | |
| 2008 | New Amsterdam | Tech | Episode: "Soldier's Heart" | |
| 2008 | Anna Nobile | Episode: "Legacy" | ||
| 2009 | The Unusuals | Jennifer Goodman | Episode: "42" | |
| 2009 | Ugly Betty | Wedding Planner | Episode: "In the Stars" | |
| 2006, 2010 | Sarah Gallagher / Persephone James | Episodes: "Informed" and "Savior" | ||
| 2002, 2009, 2010 | Law & Order | Barbara Speight / Amber Woods | Episodes: "Missing", "Great Satan" and "Love Eternal" | |
| 2010 | Gravity | Sissy Rosenblum | Recurring role, 4 episodes | |
| 2010, 2011 | 30 Rock | Donna Straunk | Episodes: "When It Rains, It Pours" and "It's Never Too Late for Now" | |
| 2012 | The Good Wife | Miss Ledger | Episode: "Don't Haze Me, Bro" | |
| 2012 | Chicago Fire | Sondra Sherman | Episode: "One Minute" | |
| 2011–2012 | Are We There Yet? | Mrs. Phillips | Recurring role, 9 episodes | |
| 2006–2013 | The Venture Bros. | Myra Brandish (voice) | 7 episodes | |
| 2013, 2015 | Orange Is the New Black | Chaplain Royce | Recurring role, 4 episodes | |
| 2014 | Devious Maids | Opal Sinclair | Series regular, 13 episodes | |
| 2016 | The Tick | Dr. Creek | Episode: "The Tick" (pilot) | |
| 2017 | The Blacklist | Kathryn Nemec | Episode: "Requiem" | |
| 2017 | The Sinner | Detective Farmer | 3 episodes | |
| 2018 | Mary Ann Cunanan | Recurring | ||
| 2019 | The Resident | Dawn Long | 1 episode "Flesh of the Flesh (3x02)" | |
| 2022 | Billions | Alaska Faire | Episode: "Succession" |