Who is Ari Graynor? Everything you need to know about the versatile actress

Ari Graynor has recently gained prominence for her role as defense attorney Leslie Abramson in Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. She was born on April 27, 1983, making her 41 years old as of writing.

Ari Graynore comes from a Jewish background, with her father, Greg Graynor, originally being a Roman Catholic who went on to convert to Judaism.

Ari Graynor first came into prominence thanks to her role as Caitlin Rucker on The Sopranos. Caitlin was Meadow Soprano's roommate at Columbia University and suffered from manic-depressive disorder. She has claimed to Stephen Colbert that she went to prom with Joseph Kennedy III, who'd become a congressman.

Aside from The Sopranos, Ari is also known for her role of Rachel Dunham, younger sister of main character Olivia Dunham, in Fringe, and Juliette Danielle in The Disaster Artist.

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Ari Graynor has been a screen actor since 2001

Ari Graynor's role on The Sopranos was her television and screen acting debut. Her film acting debut came with the 2003 neo-noir release Mystic River, where she played Eve Pigeon and starred alongside Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, and Lawrence Fishburne.

Her role in Fox's Fringe ran for about a year from 2009-2010, where she played the recurring role of Rachel Dunham, Olivia Dunham's younger sister. She also starred in the leading role of CBS's adaptation of Bad Teacher, playing the leading character Meredith Davis. The show was canceled after one season.

Her television roles also include playing Jessie Doyle on Veronica Mars, the pop star Elvina on CSI: Miami, Ella Pierce on Numbers, and minor voice roles on American Dad. She also guest-starred in American Dad's sister show, Family Guy, as Kitty Hawk Woman.

More recently, Ari Graynor has starred as a series regular in the Apple TV+ series Surface, which is a physiological thriller created by Veronica West.

Ari stars alongside the lead actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the role of Caroline. The series has Gugu play the role of Sophie Ellis, who loses her memories after surviving a su*cide attempt and tries to piece together what happened in her life.

Ari Graynor also gained considerable prominence for her role in The Disaster Artist, a biopic covering the infamously troubled production of Tommy Wiseau's The Room. She played Juliette Daniels, who was the actor assigned to the role of the female lead and vamp, Lisa.

Outside of film and television, Ari has also worked on stage productions, starring in Broadway shows such as the Donald Maruiles-penned Brooklyn Boy, and 2006's The Little Dog Laughed, penned by Douglas Carter Beane.

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Ari Graynor plays Leslie Abramson in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story

Ari Graynor's most recent role is as defense attorney Leslie Abramson in Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Leslie defended Lyle and Erik after they were charged with murder for killing their own parents.

The defense argued that Lyle and Erik committed the murders as a reaction to the grave physical, emotional, and s*xual abuse they suffered at the hands of their parents. The prosecutors, on the other hand, argued that the murders were motivated by greed, with the brothers committing the murders to gain control of the family's estate.

Aside from her work defending the Menendez brothers, Leslie is also a published author, having authored the book The Defense Is Ready: Life in the Trenches of Criminal Law. She also represented Phil Spector for a brief period of time while he was being tried for the murder of Lana Clarkson.

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Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is currently streaming on Netflix in all regions.