About: Acting Career

 
 

Acting Career

Alicia Witt has had a career spanning nearly 4 decades, starting with her acting debut at age 7 as Alia in David Lynch's classic ‘Dune’.

Last year Alicia Witt joined Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black” for its seventh and final season as Zelda. In 2020, Witt will be seen in both the romantic comedy Modern Persuasion, leading the cast in this modern-day adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and the feature film I Care a Lot, opposite Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage, which debuted at the Toronto Film Festival this September. Alicia will also be seen this fall starring in her eighth annual  Hallmark Christmas movie, ‘Christmas Tree Lane’; she serves as executive producer, story writer and performs two of her original songs in the film as well, which will also be out this fall. Witt received rave reviews for her role as Paula on Season Six of AMC’s hit series “The Walking Dead.” Other recent TV includes ABC’s “Nashville” as country music star Autumn Chase; Fox TV’s The Exorcist; horror anthology Lore on Amazon; cult favorite “Supernatural” on The CW; and returning to David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” on Showtime, reprising her role from the original series. 

Alicia is also well known for her work on Emmy-award winning FX series ‘Justified’ with Timothy Olyphant. Alicia played Wendy Crowe, the smart and sexy paralegal sister of crime lord Daryl Crowe (Michael Rapaport) who takes matters into her own hands to bring him to justice in the Season 5 finale. In 2013, Alicia appeared opposite Peter Bogdanovich and Cheryl Hines in the independent family dramedy 'Cold Turkey', in a performance which NY Daily News critic David Edelstein hailed as one of the best of 2013. Also released in 2013 was the film 'I Do', which had a nationwide theatrical release after screening at 25 festivals worldwide and winning 10 awards. Alicia has two songs featured in this film as well. 

A classically trained pianist and a singer-songwriter, Witt released her newest album, 15,000 Days, with Grammy Award-winning producer Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Norah Jones, Ingrid Michaelson, Tom Waits, James Bay).  She released her first full-length studio album, Revisionary History, in 2015.  She has opened for Ben Folds Five, Jimmy Webb, and John Fullbright. She completed a 19 city US tour last year and has played all over the world, including at the Grand Ole Opry in her hometown of Nashville. Witt is currently co-producing her next album, with producers Jordan Lehning and Bill Reynolds.

Other credits include the 2012 Samuel Goldwyn film 'Cowgirls n Angels', with James Cromwell, and Seasons 4 and 5 of the Emmy award winning Friday Night Lights on NBC. Alicia starred opposite Al Pacino in the 2008 feature film '88 Minutes' for director Jon Avnet. That same year she played Detective Nola Falacci opposite Chris Noth on NBC’s 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' for half a season, taking over for Julianne Nicholson while she was on maternity leave. Witt has also appeared in Paramount’s 'Last Holiday' with Queen Latifah and Timothy Hutton, and New Line’s critically acclaimed film ‘The Upside of Anger’, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, opposite Joan Allen & Kevin Costner. She also starred in Warner Bros’ hit romantic comedy, 'Two Weeks Notice', opposite Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock.

Witt appeared on-stage in fall 2006 at London’s Royal Court Theatre in Terry Johnson’s 'Piano/Forte'. She made her West End debut with Neil LaBute's 'The Shape of Things'. She was also seen on stage in 'Dissonance' at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. In April 2015, Alicia took the stage at the Gramercy Theatre for the 24 Hour Musicals off Broadway, for the 4th time; she has participated in the 24 Hour Plays on Broadway numerous times as well. Most recently, she appeared at the Geffen Playhouse in Neil Labute’s ‘Reasons to Be Pretty.’

In 1994, Witt appeared in the critically acclaimed 'Fun', which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. The film, directed by Rafal Zielinski, depicts a tale of two disturbed young girls whose quest for fun leads them to murder. Witt received the “Special Jury Recognition” Award at Sundance and a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award. In 1998, she starred in Columbia Tristar’s hit horror movie, 'Urban Legend'. On television, Witt starred for four seasons as Cybill Shepherd's daughter Zoey on the hit CBS sitcom ‘Cybill’. She also guest starred on the phenomenally successful HBO series, ‘The Sopranos’, and the Emmy award winning ‘Ally McBeal’, in which she sang with Randy Newman. Witt combined her acting talents with her skills as a pianist in the romantic comedy, 'Playing Mona Lisa'. 

Alicia made her directorial debut with the short film 'Belinda’s Swan Song', which she also wrote. The film premiered at the 2006 Rhode Island International Film Festival and was screened at 9 additional festivals around the world, including the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. 

She also appeared in 'Mr. Holland’s Opus', opposite Richard Dreyfuss, as clarinet player Gertrude, as well as 'Four Rooms' (Miramax) with Tim Roth, Madonna, and Lili Taylor, and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Allison Anders, Robert Rodriguez, and Alexandre Rockwell. She was also seen in the John Waters film 'Cecil B. Demented', with Stephen Dorff and Melanie Griffith, as well as director Cameron Crowe’s 'Vanilla Sky', opposite Tom Cruise. Other film credits include 'Bongwater' opposite Luke Wilson; Mike Figgis’ 'Liebstraum'; 'Bodies, Rest and Motion', starring Tim Roth and Bridget Fonda; ‘Peep World’ with Sarah Silverman, Michael C. Hall and Rainn Wilson; and critically acclaimed short ‘The Pond’ with David Morse.