Debra Messing Career Retrospective | SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations

Conversations Career Retrospective with Debra Messing. Moderated by Stacey Wilson Hunt, New York Magazine.

Debra Messing returns to her iconic role as Grace Adler on NBC’s “Will & Grace.” Messing won an Emmy in 2003 and was nominated on five other occasions for her work in “Will & Grace,” as well as also earning six Golden Globe Award nominations on the series that earned a total of 16 Emmys and 83 nominations.

Messing, who recently starred in ABC’s three-hour remake of “Dirty Dancing,” previously, top lined the NBC series “The Mysteries of Laura” for two seasons. In 2012-13, Messing starred in NBC’s “Smash,” a musical drama about the creation of a new Broadway show. She was also Emmy and Golden Globe nominated for the USA Network miniseries “The Starter Wife” in 2007.

On the stage Messing made her Broadway debut inthe 2014 Tony Award-nominated production of John Patrick Shanley’s “Outside Mullingar.” Other theater credits include Donald Marguiles’ Pulitzer Prize finalist “Collected Stories” and Paul Rudnick’s Off-Broadway play “The Naked Truth.”

Messing’s film work includes the box office hit“ Along Came Polly” and “The Wedding Date.” Other films on her resume include“The Women,” “Nothing Like the Holidays,” Woody Allen’s “Hollywood Ending,” “The Mothman Prophecies” and the 2015 indie drama “Like Sunday, Like Rain.”

Messing is the Global Health Ambassador for Population Services International (PSI), which focuses on HIV/AIDS. She has traveled extensively in Africa in this role and in 2010 testified before the House Foreign Affairs sub-committee on Africa and Global Health. She was also a key speaker at the 2012 AIDS conference in Washington, D.C. Other charities Messing supports include HRC (Human Rights Campaign), Everytown for Gun Safety and the Joyful Heart Foundation. She was honored with the Trevor Life Award forher contributions to the LGBT community.

Messing attended Brandeis University and received her Master of Fine Arts from NYU. She resides in New York.