Diane Venora recently starred opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Michael Mann's hit thriller "Heat," earning kudos from critics and audiences for her portrayal of the promiscuous, pill-popping Justine, caught in the vortex of a troubled marriage. She can currently be seen co-starring opposite Anthony Hopkins in the Merchant/Ivory production "Surviving Picasso," playing the famed artist's last wife. Her critically-lauded performance in Clint Eastwood's biographical feature of jazz great Charlie Parker, "Bird," opposite Forest Whitaker, earned her a Golden Globe nomination and the New York Film Critics Award. Other film credits include "The Cotton Club," "Ironweed," "F/X" "Three Wishes" and the recent "The Substitute."
After graduating from Juilliard, the Connecticut native performed extensively on the stage. Some of her credits include "The Country's Wife" (at The Lobe Drama Center), "The Three Sisters" (with the Princeton Acting Ensemble), "Penguin Touquet" (directed by Richard Foreman at the Public Theatre), "Miss Julie" (at Lincoln Center), James Lapine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Winter's Tale" (at the New York Shakespeare Festival), "Uncle Vanya" (at La Mama), "The Seagull" (with Joanne Woodward), and "Peer Gynt" and "The School For Scandal" (both at the Williamstown Theatre). Venora has also starred in two different productions of "Hamlet," playing the title role in one and Ophelia to Kevin Kline's melancholy Dane in the other. She is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Circle Repertory Company.
On television, Venora appeared in a recurring role in the Emmy-winning series "Chicago Hope," and starred in the ABC series "Thunder Alley" with Ed Asner, and the PBS Great Performances production of "Hamlet."
Venora can currently be seen in "The Jackal" opposite Richard Gere and Bruce Willis for director Michael Caton-Jones.