Darby Stanchfield
Stanchfield in Washington, DC. on May 3, 2014
Born
Darby Leigh Stanchfield

(1971-04-29) April 29, 1971 (age 52)
Kodiak, Alaska, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Puget Sound (BA)
OccupationActress
Years active2000–present
SpouseJoseph Gallegos (m. 2009)
Websitedarbystanchfield.com

Darby Leigh Stanchfield (born April 29, 1971)[1] is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Abby Whelan in the ABC political drama series Scandal (2012–2018). Stanchfield is also known for roles as April Green in the CBS post-apocalyptic drama series Jericho (2006–07), and as Helen Bishop in the AMC period drama series Mad Men (2007–08). In 2020, she began starring as Nina Locke in the Netflix fantasy horror series Locke & Key.

Early life

Stanchfield was born and raised in Kodiak, Alaska, where her father was a commercial fisherman. She later moved to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, and finally Mercer Island, near Seattle. She attended the University of Puget Sound, graduating in 1993 with a degree in Communications and a minor in theater. She graduated from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.[2]

Career

2000—2011

Stanchfield began her career in theater, and made her television debut in an episode of CBS crime drama, Diagnosis: Murder in 2000.[2] She later appeared in a number of television shows, including dramas Angel, Monk, American Dreams, Strong Medicine, Without a Trace, Nip/Tuck, Bones, Cold Case, and The Mentalist, and well as sitcoms That '80s Show, It's All Relative and How I Met Your Mother. In feature films, she had the female lead role opposite Josh Duhamel in the 2004 adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and co-starred as Nathan Fillion's character wife in the comedy-drama Waitress (2007).[2] She later has appeared in a number of independent films.

From 2006 to 2007, Stanchfield was a regular cast member in the CBS post-apocalyptic drama series Jericho as April Green. In 2007 she played Amelia Joffe (replacing Annie Wersching for two weeks in May) in the ABC daytime soap opera, General Hospital.[1][2][3] She later was cast in the recurring role as Helen Bishop on Mad Men, appearing on five episodes.[4] She also played Shannon Gibbs, Mark Harmon's character's first wife, in the CBS procedural NCIS appearing in seven episodes from 2006 to 2015. Stanchfield also guest starred as Meredith, the title character's first ex-wife, on the ABC comedy-drama series Castle in 2009 and in 2013.[5]

Stanchfield at El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles in October 2008

2012—present

In March 2011, Shonda Rhimes cast Stanchfield in her political drama series Scandal.[6] Before Scandal, Stanchfield had guest role on Shonda Rhimes' Private Practice in 2008. The series debuted on ABC on April 5, 2012.[7][8] She plays the role of Abby Whelan, the investigator in the lead character firm, and later the White House Press Secretary.[9][10] The series ran for seven seasons and 124 episodes ending in 2018.[11] In 2017, she directed all six episodes of Gladiator Wanted, a web series that debuted prior to the sixth-season premiere and features Guillermo Diaz as Huck, Katie Lowes as Quinn, Cornelius Smith Jr. as Marcus and George Newbern as Charlie.[12] In 2018, she directed one episode of the final season titled "The Noise".[13]

During her Scandal years, Stanchfield co-starred in a number of films. She appeared in the crime horror thriller Carnage Park (2016),[14][15] that premiered at Sundance Film Festival, and co-starred opposite Raza Jaffrey and Stana Katic in The Rendezvous (2017).[16] She starred alongside Emily Bett Rickards and Meaghan Rath in the mystery-horror The Clinic.[17] In 2018, she was cast as a lead character's mother in the drama Justine.[18] She also played lead character's mother in the 2020 romance drama film Stargirl directed by Julia Hart.[19]

On January 30, 2019, it was announced that Stanchfield had been cast in the series regular role of Nina Locke on the Netflix supernatural drama series Locke & Key.[20] The first season premiered on February 7, 2020 to positive reviews from critics.[21]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2005 The Picture of Dorian Gray Sibyl Vane
2007 Waitress Francine Pomatter
2008 The Square Root of 2 Rachel Lehrer First film with Darby Stanchfield as a lead role
2008 The Sacrifice Loretta Johnson Monaco International Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress
2009 Open House Beth Dunne Short film
2011 Clay Woman Short film
2011 Finding Hope Loretta
2011 The Guest Room Karen
2011 Fixing Pete Cynthia
2015 Loserville Evelyn MacDonald
2016 Carnage Park Ellen San Diego
2016 The Rendezvous Ruthie
2018 The Clinic Emily
2019 Justine Alison Green
2020 Stargirl Gloria Borlock
2020 Mosquito Clementine Bell
2023 Willie and Me Rebecca

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Diagnosis: Murder Nora Episode: "Hot House"
2001 Angel Denise Episode: "Happy Anniversary"
2002 That '80s Show Spokesmodel #1 Episode: "Road Trip"
2002 American Dreams Amy Episode: "The Fighting Irish"
2003 Monk Erin Hammond Episode: "Mr. Monk Goes to the Ballgame"
2004 It's All Relative Jordan F. Episode: "Who's Camping Now"
2004 Good Girls Don't... Redhead Episode: "Whatever Happened to Jane's Baby?"
2004 Strong Medicine Hilary Davis Episode: "Code"
2004 Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus Store Clerk Television film
2005 Without a Trace Kim Episode: "End Game"
2005 24 Shari Episode: "Day 4: 5:00 a.m.-6:00 a.m."
2005 The Inside New Girl Episode: "New Girl in Town"
2005 Nip/Tuck Aimee Bolton Episode: "Tommy Bolton"
2006 Campus Ladies Mikka Episode: "Night of the Condom"[22]
2006–07 Jericho April Green 15 episodes
2006–15 NCIS Shannon Gibbs 7 episodes
2007 Bones Connie Lopata Episode: "The Bodies in the Book"
2007 General Hospital Amelia Joffe 10 episodes[22]
2007 Cold Case Melissa Carter Episode: "Thick as Thieves"[22]
2007 Exes and Ohs Sienna 3 episodes
2007–08 Mad Men Helen Bishop 5 episodes[23]
2008 Private Practice Tess Milford Episode: "Tempting Faith"[22]
2009 Exes & Ohs Sienna Episode: "Fish in a Barrel"
2009 The Mentalist Stevie Caid Episode: "Paint It Red"
2009 Ghost Whisperer Greer Clarkson Episode: "Delusions of Grandview"[22]
2009 Life Ella Holden Episode: "Initiative 38"
2009 CSI: NY Dawn Higgins Episode: "It Happened to Me"
2009, 2013 Castle Meredith Episodes: "Always Buy Retail" and "Significant Others"[22]
2010 How I Met Your Mother Marissa Heller Episode: "Robots Versus Wrestlers"[22]
2011 CSI: Miami Linda Hill Episode: "F-T-F"
2011 Burn Notice Sadie Forte Episode: "Eye for an Eye"
2012–2018 Scandal Abby Whelan Series regular, 120 episodes
TV Guide Award for Fan Favorite Cast in a Drama Series (2013)
2020–2022 Locke & Key Nina Locke Main role; 28 episodes

Web

Year Title Role Notes
2017 Gladiator Wanted N/A Director, 6 episodes

References

  1. ^ a b "Darby Stanchfield Biography". Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "Darby Stanchfield: Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  3. ^ "Amelia Joffe Played by Annie Wersching on General Hospital - Soaps.com". Archived from the original on February 19, 2011. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  4. ^ "Bustle". Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  5. ^ Sandra Gonzalez (January 4, 2013). "'Castle' sneak peek: 'Scandal' star returns to crash Castle and Beckett's sleepover -- EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  6. ^ Nellie Andreeva (March 4, 2011). "Bruce Greenwood Among Latest ABC Pilot Castings". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  7. ^ Tierney Bricker (May 13, 2011). "ABC picks up 'Charlie's Angels', 'Good Christian Belles', and ten more". Zap2it. Archived from the original on May 5, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  8. ^ Tambay Obenson (February 1, 2013). "ABC's 'Scandal' Dominates At 10pm w/ Its 2nd Highest Rating Ever". IndieWire. Archived from the original on February 6, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  9. ^ "Scandal's Shonda Rhimes Reveals Harrison's Fate, Talks Season of Abby". TV Guide. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  10. ^ Lesley Goldberg (November 6, 2014). "'Scandal's' Darby Stanchfield on". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  11. ^ "Darby Stanchfield: 'Scandal' Ending 'Does Not Disappoint'". March 14, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  12. ^ "'Scandal' Sets Darby Stanchfield-Directed Web Series Ahead of Season 6 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. January 19, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  13. ^ "'Scandal' Star Darby Stanchfield to Direct Final Season Episode (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. August 4, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  14. ^ Anthony D'Alessandro (May 5, 2015). "Cannes: 'Carnage Park' Horror Pic Casts Ashley Bell, Darby Stanchfield - Deadline". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  15. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (February 7, 2016). "Film Review: 'Carnage Park'". Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  16. ^ Ali Jaafar (July 2, 2015). "Stana Katic & Raza Jaffrey Star In Amin Matalqa's 'The Rendezvous'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  17. ^ Brent Lang (April 25, 2016). "Darby Stanchfield, Emily Bett Rickards Join 'Slumber'". Variety. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  18. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (March 23, 2018). "'Scandal's Darby Stanchfield & Daisy Prescott Cast In 'Justine'". Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  19. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (September 18, 2018). "'Breaking Bad' & 'Better Call Saul' Actor Giancarlo Esposito Joins Disney's 'Stargirl'".
  20. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (January 30, 2019). "'Locke & 'Key': 'Scandal' Alumna Darby Stanchfield To Star In Netflix Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  21. ^ "Locke & Key: Season 1" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g "Darby Stanchfield". imdb.com. IMDb. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  23. ^ Grubbs, Jefferson (April 17, 2014). "Fun Fact: 'Scandal's Darby Stanchfield Played an Important 'Mad Men' Character". bustle.com. Bustle. Retrieved November 27, 2017.

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