Biography
Dianne Evelyn Wiest (born March 28, 1946) is an American actress. She has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award, and has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.
Known For
Complete Filmography

Apartment 7A
2024
as Minnie Castevet
A struggling young dancer finds herself drawn in by dark forces when a peculiar, well-connected older couple promise her a shot at fame.

Scene Partners
2023
as Meryl Kowalski
Winter, 1985. 75-year-old Meryl ditches ice-cold Milwaukee for sunny Los Angeles, hell-bent on becoming a movie star. She’s got big dreams, a little m...

My Father's Dragon
2022
as Iris the Rhinoceros (voice)
Struggling to cope after a move to the city with his mother, Elmer runs away in search of Wild Island and a young dragon who waits to be rescued. Elme...

I Care a Lot
2021
as Jennifer Peterson
A court-appointed legal guardian defrauds her older clients and traps them under her care. But her latest mark comes with some unexpected baggage.

Let Them All Talk
2020
as Susan
A celebrated author takes a journey with some old friends to have some fun and heal old wounds. Her nephew comes along to wrangle the ladies and finds...

The Mule
2018
as Mary
Earl Stone, a man in his eighties, is broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he is offered a job that simply requires him to drive....

Always at The Carlyle
2018
as Self
The iconic Carlyle hotel has been an international destination for a particular jet set as well as a favorite haunt of the most discernible New Yorker...

Five Nights in Maine
2016
as Lucinda
A young African American man, reeling from the tragic loss of his wife, travels to rural Maine to seek answers from his estranged mother-in-law, who i...

Sisters
2015
as Deana Ellis
Two disconnected sisters are summoned to clean out their childhood bedrooms before their parents sell their family home.

Rasheeda Speaking
2015
as Ileen
This tense workplace thriller examines the realities of so-called “post-racial” America. Co-workers are driven apart by the machinations of their boss...

The Humbling
2014
as Carol
Following a breakdown and suicide attempt, an aging actor becomes involved with a much younger woman but soon finds that it's difficult to keep pace w...

The Odd Life of Timothy Green
2012
as Ms. Bernice Crudstaff
A childless couple bury a box in their backyard, containing all of their wishes for an infant. Soon, a child is born, though Timothy Green is not all ...

Darling Companion
2012
as Penny
The story of a woman who loves her dog more than her husband. And then her husband loses the dog.

Woody Allen: A Documentary
2011
as Self
An intense portrait of the iconic filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician Woody Allen: his life, family and friends; his writing and directing...

The Big Year
2011
as Brenda Harris
Three fanatical bird-watchers spend an entire year competing to spot the highest number of species as El Nino sends an extraordinary variety of rare b...

Rabbit Hole
2010
as Nat
Life for a happy couple is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident.

Rage
2009
as Miss Roth
A schoolboy uses his cellphone camera to shoot intimate interviews with people working at a New York fashion house and secretly posts them on the inte...

Synecdoche, New York
2008
as Ellen Bascomb / Millicent Weems
A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as ...

Passengers
2008
as Toni
After a plane crash, a young therapist, Claire, is assigned by her mentor to counsel the flight's five survivors. When they share their recollections ...

Dan in Real Life
2007
as Nana
Advice columnist Dan Burns is an expert on relationships, but somehow struggles to succeed as a brother, a son and a single parent to three precocious...

Dedication
2007
as Carol
A modern love story in which a misanthropic, emotionally complex author of a hit children's book is forced to team with a beautiful illustrator after ...

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
2006
as Dito's Mother
Dito Montiel, a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother, asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls...

Robots
2005
as Mrs. Copperbottom (voice)
Rodney Copperbottom is a young robot inventor who dreams of making the world a better place, until the evil Ratchet takes over Bigweld Industries. Now...

Category 6: Day of Destruction
2004
as Shirley Abbott
Three tornadoes converge to wreak havoc on Chicago, disrupting the power grid and creating the worst super-storm in history: a category 6 twister.

Thank You, Doctor Rey
2004
as Elisabeth Beaumont
A gay young man is recruited into an illicit love triangle to watch a much older man’s sexual liaison, but ends up witnessing what turns out to be his...

The Blackwater Lightship
2004
as Lily
A man in the final stages of AIDS is cared for by his sister and mother and grandmother.

I Am Sam
2001
as Annie Cassell
Sam, a neurodivergent man, has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy on his own. ...

Not Afraid, Not Afraid
2001
as Paula
After being abandoned by her husband after 28 years, an overbearing, self-centered psychologist embarks on a quest to revisit her past loves, accompan...

The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
1999
as Sarah McClellan
In the small Southern community of Twin Pines, GA, lives Noah Dearborn, a master craftsman and farmer who cherishes his solitude almost as much as the...

Practical Magic
1998
as Aunt Jet
Sally and Gillian Owens, born into a magical family, have mostly avoided witchcraft themselves. But when Gillian's vicious boyfriend, Jimmy Angelov, d...

The Horse Whisperer
1998
as Diane Booker
The mother of a severely traumatized daughter enlists the aid of a unique horse trainer to help the girl's equally injured horse.

Drunks
1997
as Rachel
At the beginning of a nightly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Jim seems particularly troubled. His sponsor encourages him to talk that night, the first ...

The Associate
1996
as Sally Dugan
Laurel Ayres is a businesswoman trying to make it but unfortunately she works at a investment firm where she does all the work but all the senior inve...

The Birdcage
1996
as Louise Keeley
Middle-aged gay life partners, Armand Goldman, a Jewish drag club owner, and Albert, the club's flamboyant star attraction, live in the eclectic commu...

Bullets Over Broadway
1994
as Helen Sinclair
After young playwright, David Shayne obtains funding for his play from gangster Nick Valenti, Nick's girlfriend Olive miraculously lands the role of a...

The Scout
1994
as Doctor H. Aaron
When his star recruit botches a Major League Baseball debut, humiliated talent scout Al Percolo gets banished to rural Mexico, where he finds a potent...

Cops & Robbersons
1994
as Helen Robberson
When the police discover that a mob hitman has moved in next door to the Robbersons, they set up a stakeout in the Robbersons' home. Hard-nosed, tough...

Little Man Tate
1991
as Jane Grierson
Dede is a sole parent trying to bring up her son Fred. When it is discovered that Fred is a genius, she is determined to ensure that Fred has all the ...

The Making of Edward Scissorhands
1990
as Self
Behind the scenes of Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands
1990
as Peg
A small suburban town receives a visit from a castaway unfinished science experiment named Edward.

Cookie
1989
as Lenore
Cookie Voltecki is the illegitimate daughter of mobster Dino Capisco, who has just finished thirteen years in prison. Since being released from jail, ...

Parenthood
1989
as Helen Buckman Lampkin Bowman
The story of the Buckman family and friends, attempting to bring up their children. They suffer/enjoy all the events that occur: estranged relatives, ...

Bright Lights, Big City
1988
as Mother
A disillusioned young writer living in New York City turns to drugs and drinking to block out the memories of his dead mother and estranged wife.

September
1987
as Stephanie
After a suicide attempt, Lane has moved into her country house to recuperate. Her best friend, Stephanie, has come to join her for the summer. Lane's ...

The Lost Boys
1987
as Lucy Emerson
When an unsuspecting town newcomer is drawn to local blood fiends, the Frog brothers and other unlikely heroes gear up to rescue him.

Radio Days
1987
as Aunt Bea
The Narrator tells us how the radio influenced his childhood in the days before TV. In the New York City of the late 1930s to the New Year's Eve 1944,...

Hannah and Her Sisters
1986
as Holly
Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her ...

The Purple Rose of Cairo
1985
as Emma
Cecilia is a waitress in New Jersey, living a dreary life during the Great Depression. Her only escape from her mundane reality is the movie theatre. ...

Falling in Love
1984
as Isabelle
During shopping for Christmas, Frank and Molly run into each other. This fleeting short moment will start to change their lives, when they recognize e...

Footloose
1984
as Vi Moore
When teenager Ren and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he's in for a real case of culture shock after discovering he...
The Face of Rage
1983
as Rebecca Hammil
Filmed in quasi-documentary fashion, the made-for-TV The Face of Rage is set in a rehabilitation facility. Here a group of rapists are required to con...

Independence Day
1983
as Nancy Morgan
Mary Ann Taylor loves the comforts of her hometown in Mercury, Texas. She has a steady job as a waitress in her father's diner, yet she can't help but...

I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can
1982
as Julie Addison
An adaptation of Barbara Gordon's nonfiction account of her addiction to Valium.

It's My Turn
1980
as Gail
A successful but stressed mathematics professor goes to her father's wedding and falls in love with her father's bride's son, a prematurely retired pr...

Out of Our Fathers' House
1978
as Elizabeth Gertrude Stern
Drawn from the diaries and letters of noted feminists, such as women's suffrage founder Elizabeth Cady Stanton and labor organizer "Mother" Mary Jones...

Zalmen, or The Madness of God
1975
as Nina
This play takes place during Yom Kippur in a post-Stalinist Russian synagogue, where a Rabbi waits for a Western acting troupe and gets extremely angr...
Mother Courage
N/A
Estranged sisters whose reunion sets off an emotionally volatile chain of events