Jessica Hecht

“The things that are interesting to us relate to our own aesthetic and also just our own pleasure in life.” Jessica Hecht is an American actress with a distinguished career in film, theater, and television. She began her studies at Connecticut College and later earned a degree in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1987. She made her film debut in Joe's Rotten World (1995), and her most notable film credits include Sideways (2004), Dan in Real Life (2007), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), and The Atlantic City Story (2020). In 2025, she stars in Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut. Hecht is widely recognized for her television roles: she played Susan Bunch on Friends (1994–2000), Gretchen Schwartz on Breaking Bad (2008–2013), and received an Emmy nomination for Special (2019–2021). She has also appeared in The Boys (2022), Tokyo Vice (2022), The Sinner (2017–2021), Succession (2023), and Dickinson (2019–2021), among others. On Broadway, she earned Tony Award nominations for her performances in A View from the Bridge (2010), Summer, 1976 (2023), and Eureka Day (2025). Beyond acting, Hecht founded The Campfire Project, a theater workshop for refugee communities with which she has worked in several countries. She also teaches acting at Williams College and HB Playwrights Studio.