is an American actress. DeWitt played Emily Lehman in the Fox television series Standoff (2006–07), co-starring with her future husband Ron Livingston, as well as Charmaine Craine on United States of Tara. She also was the title character in 2008's Rachel Getting Married, garnering several awards and nominations for best supporting actress. She starred as Ryan Gosling's sister Laura Wilder in the Oscar-winning movie La La Land. She also starred in the horror/thriller Poltergeist (2015), a remake of the 1982 film of the same name.
DeWitt lived in Hanover Township, New Jersey, and is a graduate of Whippany Park High School. She performed in several high school productions. She attended the New College at Hofstra University where she received a Bachelor of Arts in creative studies. While at Hofstra University, she also joined Alpha Phi. She had additional training at The Actors Center in New York.
DeWitt played the role of Rachel in the Jonathan Demme-directed movie Rachel Getting Married (2008) alongside Anne Hathaway, for which she won several critics' awards and a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress. Other film credits include Jason Reitman's Men, Women, & Children, Michael Cuesta's Kill the Messenger opposite Jeremy Renner, Gus Van Sant's Promised Land opposite Matt Damon, and Lynn Shelton's Your Sister's Sister opposite Emily Blunt and Mark Duplass. In 2016, DeWitt appeared in Damien Chazelle's musical romance La La Land opposite Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. DeWitt appeared in the indie-thriller Sweet Virginia, directed by Jamie Dagg, which premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. In 2018, DeWitt starred opposite Danny McBride in Arizona.
On television, DeWitt was seen in three seasons of the Showtime comedy series United States of Tara alongside Toni Collette. In addition to her role on United States of Tara, DeWitt also recurred on the AMC series Mad Men, playing Midge Daniels, Don Draper's (Jon Hamm) bohemian mistress, in the show's first season. She appeared in the second episode in the fourth season of the British series Black Mirror for director Jodie Foster.
DeWitt has performed in numerous off-Broadway plays. Most notably, she starred in John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at the Second Stage Theatre;[6] George S. Kaufman's The Butter and Egg Man at the Atlantic Theater Company; and Craig Lucas' Small Tragedy, for which the entire cast won an Obie Award. From May 4–23, 2010, DeWitt appeared in MCC Theater's Off Broadway play Family Week, written by Beth Henley and directed by Jonathan Demme. In its review of the play, the New York Times stated that DeWitt's lead performance "has many affecting moments as the beleaguered Claire."
