Biografia
Lily Holleman is deceptive. To see Lily's work opposite her childhood hero Tracey Ullman in the Showtime series Tracey Ullman's State of the Union (2008) (four episodes in the show's three seasons), or as "Lisa" on Showtime's Shameless (2011), or as a guest star on Comedy Central's Key and Peele (2012), is to be certain that she was born to play comedy. Then you see her as the earnest, compassionate and spirited wife of a Navy SEAL on CBS' NCIS: New Orleans (2014), or in a recurring guest-star role as the recovered meth addict and unwed mother fighting for the right to keep her child in John Wells' NBC/TNT police drama Southland (2009), and you begin to realize the range that Lily Holleman possesses.
Lily's feature film work further demonstrates that it's impossible to categorize her. In the college comedy Tenure (2008)(starring Luke Wilson and Gretchen Mol), Lily plays a lovely, enthusiastic coed. In How I Got Lost (2009), a film festival favorite starring Aaron Stanford and Rosemarie DeWitt, Lily plays the tough-as-nails proprietor of a rural gas station. In @urFRENZ (2010), a shattering drama about cyber-bullying, Lily's lead performance as "Catherine" earned her numerous best actress and rising star awards.
Los Angeles theatre audiences know that every time you think you have Lily Holleman figured out, she surprises you. The wide-eyed, teen-aged, pregnant waif "Jewel" in the Boston Court's "Bleed Rail" (for which Lily earned both Ovation and LA Weekly award nominations) might seem like the role she was born to play, but then you see her play the Oscar-winning actor Christopher Walken in "All About Walken" and you quickly change your mind. Her performance is hilarious. And truth be told, it's also somewhat disturbing. When director Sam Gold and playwright Annie Baker brought their Obie-winning Off-Broadway sensation "Circle Mirror Transformation" to Southern California's South Coast Rep, Lily played the pivotal role of "Lauren". Pulitzer-winner Donald Margulies wrote the role of "Miss Glace" in his crowd-pleasing Geffen Theatre production "Coney Island Christmas" specifically for Lily. She has continued her relationship with South Coast Rep by playing "Thelma" (a role originally created by Eva Marie Saint) in a revival of "The Trip to Bountiful" by Horton Foote. This past year, Lily earned rave reviews for her "superbly focused", "delightfully quirky", "slyly nimble" and "stunning" performance as "Bess" in the 25th anniversary production of "Abundance" by Beth Henley.
A native of Washington, D.C., and a graduate of the prestigious National Cathedral School, Lily attended Washington and Lee University, where she earned a degree in Art History and won the John Graham Award in Fine Arts (given annually to the student contributing the most to theater, studio art, music, and art history). She currently serves as both the President and Chairman of the Board of the Los Angeles Breakfast Club, an organization founded in 1925 by many of the giants of the motion picture industry.
Lily will be seen in two forthcoming independent films: the period spoof The Love Witch (2016) and the disturbing dark comedy The Lady Killers (2017), which Lily co-produced. Later this year, she goes before the cameras in the heartfelt character drama Home to Roost.
When you first see Lily Holleman, you might be deceived about the kind of character and performance you're liable to get from her. Unless, of course, what you see when you look at her is ferocity, integrity, innate decency and an insatiable appetite for exploration. If it is, then on second thought, Lily Holleman might not be that deceptive after all.
