Celebrity Biographies
Elizabeth Moss
Elisabeth Moss is the actress behind Peggy Olson, one of the most interesting characters in “Mad Men.” Far from pigeonholing her, this role has allowed her to take her career to the next level and win the Golden Globe with the miniseries “Top of the Lake.”
Elisabeth Moss was born in Los Angeles, something that certainly helped fuel her early interest in acting. At the age of eight, she made her on-camera debut with Lucky/Chances , an NBC miniseries. After her, more minor jobs came to her on the small screen, both in series, Johnny Bago or Picket Fences , and in movies for television, Gipsy or My Dear Hostage . In 1999, at the age of 17, she appeared in Girl, Interrupted and began working on The West Wing of the White House : it was a key moment in her career.
Moss participated in all seven seasons of the Aaron Sorkin series, in which she played Patricia Barlet, the third and youngest daughter of President Josiah Barlet. The experience gained and the talent shown in this series allowed her to land one of the most important roles in Mad Men : she would be the secretary Peggy Olson, a woman who manages to rise within her company, who makes her way in a man’s world. The actress managed to create a character with an innocent and weak appearance, but deep down strong and ambitious. Despite not having a striking physique or being one of the most beautiful women in the series, she became the most interesting, a kind of contemporary heroine.
Being pigeonholed in this striking role was a risk that Elisabeth took it upon herself to dissipate: her performance in Top of the Lake , the miniseries created by the Australian Jane Campion , showed that her talent was not temporary and that the girl who gave herself up to meet with Picket Fences had become a great actress. Not surprisingly, her role in this thriller for the small screen earned her her first big award: a Golden Globe.
Despite the fact that she has worked in several films and with renowned filmmakers such as Ron Howard or James Mangold , Elisabeth Moss is a television actress, at least for now. Her two great works, Mad Men and Top of the Lake , have shown us an actress who, despite not having a striking physique, knows how to captivate the public thanks to the strength and determination that she imprints on her characters.