Molly Parker

In 2002, Molly Parker married Matt Bissonnette, who is a director, writer, and producer. They separated in 2009 and ended their marriage in 2012. They have a son, William Strummer Bissonnette, who was born on October 13, 2006.

Molly Parker was born on June 30, 1972 in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, near Vancouver. She was raised on a farm in Pitt Meadows, where her parents owned a seafood store.

At the age of three, she started attending ballet classes, which she continued till the age of 17. She also attended the Royal Winnipeg Ballet of Canada. When she was 14, she realized her passion for acting and began taking part in high school plays and the local drama club productions.

She joined her actor uncle’s agency at the age of 15 and went to auditions, which she found to be fun. Gradually, over the next few years, she began getting small roles in television series and films in the United States as well as in Canada.

After receiving acting scholarships and grants, she enrolled herself for a three-year course with Mel Austin Tuck at Gastown Actors' Studio in Vancouver. Simultaneously, she took voice and singing lessons.

During the initial phase of her career, Molly Parker bagged some guest roles in TV series like ‘Neon Rider’ and ‘Outer Limits.’ In 1995, she portrayed Alice Ramsey in the episode ‘The Wrath of Kali’ of ‘Highlander: The Series’.

Her breakthrough role came when she got to play the role of the daughter of a lesbian military officer in the 1995 television movie ‘Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story’. Aired on NBC, the movie bagged multiple awards.

Also in 1995, she appeared in the television movie ‘Ebbie’, where she played the niece of Susan Lucci's character “Scrooge.” The movie was aired on Lifetime television. It was a retelling of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens, with a female character in place of the original Ebenezer Scrooge.

Molly Parker’s role in the film ‘Kissed’ (1996) changed her career. Her cinematographer friend had asked her to audition for a role in one of his low-budget films. This audition led to her meeting with ‘Kissed’s director, Lynne Stopkewich. The film was about a woman who is a necrophiliac. She not only agreed to work in the film but also became a good friend of Stopkewich.

Her performance in ‘Kissed’ was critically acclaimed and it opened up many opportunities for her. Egg Pictures approached her for the lead role in the film ‘Waking the Dead’, a love story by writer-director Keith Gordon.

One of Molly Parker’s best known films is ‘Kissed’, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. It was based on Barbara Gowdy's short story ‘We So Seldom Look On Love’. Molly Parker played the role of Sandra Larson, a woman who goes to study embalming at a mortuary school, and finds herself sexually attracted to the corpses. The film also stars Peter Outerbridge as Matt.

The film ‘Kissed’ earned a special jury citation and was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Ltd. in the United States. Molly won the Genie Award for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role and was featured on the cover of ‘Variety.’

Critics praised her performance as a lap dancer in the 2001 film ‘The Center of the World’. Directed by Wayne Wang, it also starred Peter Sarsgaard, who played a millionaire who hires the lap dancer played by Molly to stay with him in Las Vegas for three days. The film was screened at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for best female lead for her performance in the film.