Greta Gerwig

Actress, screenwriter and film director Greta Gerwig graduated with a degree in English and philosophy in 2006 from Barnard College in New York City. While Gerwig is most well-known for directing films, she originally wanted to be a playwright but was not admitted to playwriting MFA programs.

Gerwig also has many acting credits to her name in films like The House of the Devil, No Strings Attached, 20th Century Women, Jackie and 2012’s Frances Ha, which she cowrote with Noah Baumbach, whom she later married in 2023. The couple shares two sons, born in 2019 and 2023.

Gerwig’s directorial debut was 2008’s Nights and Weekends, which she codirected and starred in along with Joe Swanberg. However, her first time directing solo was 2017’s Lady Bird, starring Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet and Lucas Hedges. The film, inspired by her own Catholic school experience in Sacramento, California, also scored Gerwig her first two Oscar nominations, in Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. She went on to direct Little Women, reuniting Ronan and Chalamet and stars Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Meryl Streep, earning her another Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

She became a blockbuster success when she directed Barbie, one of the biggest movies of 2023 and a cultural phenomenon, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Gerwig received her fourth Oscar, this time for Best Adapted Screenplay, shared with her husband, Baumbach. Although the film lost to American Fiction, many consider it a huge snub, especially since she was not nominated for Best Director.