Cara Buono (born March 1, 1971) is an American actress, screenwriter and director best known for her lead role as Dr. Faye Miller in the fourth season of AMC's Mad Men. She is also known for her other roles as Kelli Moltisanti in the sixth season of HBO's The Sopranos, Linda Salvo in the 2006 comedy Artie Lange's Beer League and Karen Wheeler in Netflix original Stranger Things.
She is married to Ethos Water founder, Peter Thum. They reside in Greenwich Village, New York as of August 2010.
Filmography[]
Film[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Gladiator | Dawn |
| Waterland | Judy Dobson | |
| 1994 | The Cowboy Way | Teresa Salazar |
| 1995 | Killer: A Journal of Murder | Esther Lesser |
| Kicking and Screaming | Kate | |
| 1997 | Made Men | Toni-Ann Antonelli |
| 1998 | Next Stop Wonderland | Julie |
| River Red | Rachel | |
| 1999 | Man of the Century | Virginia Clemens |
| Two Ninas | Nina Cohen | |
| Chutney Popcorn | Janis | |
| 2000 | Happy Accidents | Bette |
| Takedown | Christina Painter | |
| Attention Shoppers | Claire Suarez | |
| 2003 | Hulk | Edith Banner |
| 2004 | From Other Worlds | Joanne Schwartzbaum |
| 2006 | Artie Lange's Beer League | Linda Salvo |
| 2007 | Cthulhu | Dannie Marsh |
| 2010 | Betrayed | Amy Waite |
| Stuff | Madeline | |
| 2012 | The Discoverers | Nell |
| 2014 | A Good Marriage | Betty Pike |
| 2015 | Paper Towns | Connie Jacobsen |
| Emily & Tim | Emily Hanratty | |
| 2016 | Half the Perfect World | Sonia |
| 2017 | All Saints | Aimee Spurlock |
| 2018 | Monsters and Men | Stacey |
| The Bad Seed | Angela | |
| 2022 | She Came from the Woods | Heather McCalister |
| 2023 | The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story | Debra Robinson |
| TBA | Things Like This | Margie Kitlin |
Television[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Dream Street | Joann |
| 1991 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Abby Morris |
| 1992 | I'll Fly Away | Diane |
| 1993 | Tribeca | Rose Polito |
| Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story | Tracey Lien | |
| 1995 | The Single Guy | Christie |
| 1996 | New York Undercover | Connie |
| 1996; 1998 | Law & Order | Shelly Taggert; Alice Simonelli |
| 1999 | Deep in My Heart | Young Gerry Cummins |
| 2001 | Family Law | Carly Hanson |
| 2002 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Charlotte Fielding |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Tracy Logan | |
| Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven | Sarah (voice) | |
| 2003 | Miss Match | Michelle Schiff |
| 2004 | Six Months to Live | Alice |
| 2004–2005 | Third Watch | Grace Foster |
| 2006–2007 | The Sopranos | Kelli Moltisanti |
| 2007 | Law & Order | Attorney Shannon |
| Queens Supreme | Bettina Martinelli | |
| The Dead Zone | Sheriff Anna Turner | |
| 2008 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Rachel Zelinsky |
| The Unquiet | Julie Bishop | |
| 2009 | ER | Lisa Salamunovich |
| NCIS | Navy Cdr. Sarah Resnik | |
| 2010 | Mad Men | Faye Miller |
| 2011 | Brothers & Sisters | Rose |
| Hawaii Five-0 | Agent Allison Marsh | |
| A Gifted Man | Carol Gordan | |
| 2012 | Drew Peterson: Untouchable | Kathleen Savio |
| 2013 | Castle | Siobhan O'Doul |
| The Good Wife | Charlene Peterson | |
| 2014 | The Carrie Diaries | Penny |
| Elementary | Sarah Cushing | |
| 2014–2015 | Person of Interest | Martine Rousseau |
| 2015 | The Mysteries of Laura | Julia Davis |
| 2016- | Stranger Things | Karen Wheeler |
| 2017 | The Blacklist: Redemption | Anna Copeland |
| Bull | Amaya Andrews | |
| 2018 | The Romanoffs | Debbie Newman |
| 2019 | God Friended Me | Karen |
| 2019-2021 | Supergirl | Gemma Cooper / Gamemnae |
| 2019 | God Friended Me | Karen |
| 2022 | The Girl from Plainville | Gail Carter |
Official Accounts[]
- Cara Buono Instagram
- Cara Buono Twitter
- Cara Buono Facebook
Trivia[]
- Besides working as an actress, Cara Buono is also a movie producer and scriptwriter.
- She is the only main cast member in Season 3 who doesn't appear in every episode, having only appeared in 6.
- Cara started acting when she was just 12.
- Buono said she knew she wanted to be a part of Stranger Things when she read the script.
- It was Cara's idea that Karen would be drinking wine in season 1 of Stranger Things. She thought the wine would make Karen seem more oblivious to what the kids were getting into.
- She is of Italian descent.