Summary
English theater actressLisa O’Harehas appeared in several notable television shows since 2010, usually in key roles. O’Hare has had a long winding journey to American television. She began her career as a ballet dancer, and quickly moved into musical theater, with starring roles inMary Poppins,The Sound of Music,My Fair Lady, andA Gentleman’s Guideto Love and Murder, the last of which won the Tony Award for Best Musical. It was not until 2010 that O’Hare appeared inher first television role in an episode ofThe Closer.
Since then, O’Hare has steadily performed in a handful of TV shows, increasingly playing more important and notable characters in some renowned series. Despite over a decade in the television industry, O’Hare has yet to make the jump to movies. She continues to act on stage, and it may be that theater is simply the actress' top priority, with only enough time for the occasional television performance. Even in her smaller parts,O’Hare’s comfort in front of the camera is obvious, and she creates a memorable character every time she appears.
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Lisa O’Hare’s First And Last Episode
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Last Woman Standing
The first TV role of Lisa O’Hare’s career came inThe Closer, season 6, episode 9, “Last Woman Standing”, as Jenny, a very minor part in the Kyra Sedgwick-led police procedural.The Closerfollows LAPD Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Sedgwick), a CIA-trained interrogator who is known for getting information out of even the most hardened criminals. The series lasted for seven seasons and earned seven Emmy nominations and six Golden Globe nominations, winning once at each ceremony.
While it was not a particularly big role,a named character in an episode of a popular TNT series is an impressive start to any career. One-episode appearances are likely an easy way for O’Hare to dip her toe into American TV while still remaining active on the stage, as many of her roles afterward have been smaller one-episode performances in notable shows.
The Closer
Cast
The Closer was a popular crime drama that ran for seven seasons between 2005 and 2012. The series centers on the Priority Homicide Division in Los Angeles. Working as the Deputy Police Chief, Brenda Johnson has the unique skill of getting confessions out of suspects. Kyra Sedgwick stars as Brenda Leigh Johnson alongside JK Simmons and Corey Reynolds.
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Breakup
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heartis a Cartoon Network children’s series about an adventurous young cat, Mao Mao (Parker Simmons), who, on his travels, stumbles across the cozy village of Pure Heart Valley. He and his friends, Badgerclops, a cyborg badger (Griffith Kimmins), and Adorabat (Lika Leong), a bat with a peg leg, set out to protect their village from the forces of evil. In season 1, episode 6, “Breakup”, Mao Mao encounters the villainous Thicket Thieves gang, one of which is voiced by Lisa O’Hare.
Ratracer is O’Hare’s first and only voice acting performance and, in just one episode,she gives the rat with a wheel for legs personality and energy. Despite Ratracer’s name, she more closely resembles an armadillo than a rat. It’s a small performance, but if O’Hare intends to continue acting in theater, voice acting roles may be a good way for her to remain involved with television and still have enough time to be up on stage.
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The Gang Is Satirized and Doesn’t Like It
Lisa O’Hare appears as a minor but recurring character in three episodes ofThe Good Fightin season 4. It was the first role after her major performance inNew Amsterdam, and while it may have been a step down in terms of significance,The Good Fightwas still a popular showand an important series for O’Hare’s filmography. She plays a gatekeeper for STR Laurie, a powerful and antagonistic international law firm in the later seasons ofThe Good Fight.
It’s actually one of O’Hare’s longest runs on a television show, as she usually seems to prefer playing one-episode characters. This part indicates that O’Hare has an interest in continuing to work in television.STR Laurie Gatekeeper inThe Good Fightis just another chance to showcase her talentsto showrunners and ensure audiences don’t soon forget about her.
the good fight
The Good Fight was created for the streaming service CBS All Access and was created by Michelle King, Robert King, and Phil Alden Robinson. The series ran for six seasons between 2017 and 2022. As a direct sequel to The Good Wife, the series follows the trials and tribulations of lawyer Maia Rindell.
Jailbreak
Undercoversis a 2010 spy series fromStar WarsandStar Trekdirector J.J. Abramsthat never had a real chance to get off the ground, considering it only lasted for one season and the final two episodes never even aired in the United States. In the series, Steven (Boris Kodjoe) and Samantha Bloom (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) have left the CIA to open a catering business but are unexpectedly roped back in and have to balance their undercover operations with their new business.
Lisa O’Hare appears in episode 4, “Jailbreak”, as a double-crossing Irish wife, Marie Murphy, when Samantha and Steven are sent to Dublin to find a CIA hard drive that’s gone missing.Marie’s role is small, but O’Hare is clearly having a lot of fun with the part. While this was not the most successful of Abrams' ventures,Undercoversis still an enjoyable ride and a piece of O’Hare’s first impressive year acting on screen.
The last two episodes ofUndercoversended up airing in Australia in January 2012.
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A Deadly Affair
Lisa O’Hare appears in theCastleseason 3 premiere as Kitty Canary, the owner of, and occasional performer at, a burlesque club. The comedy crime series follows Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), a mystery author, and Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), a homicide detective, as they put both their skill sets together to solve crimes in New York City. In the season 3 premiere, “A Deadly Affair”, Kate and Castle investigate a murder that leads them to a secret burlesque house owned by Kitty.
It’s the perfect role for O’Hare, who gets to dance and perform on stageas if she were in one of her plays. Castle and Kate spend a good amount of time on the false lead at the burlesque house and O’Hare’s performance ensures the setting never gets boring while they’re there. Season 3 is arguablythe best season ofCastle, and for O’Hare to appear in the premiere boded well for the actress.
Castle
When Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), a famous mystery novelist, finds himself struggling with writer’s block, he begins shadowing edgy NYPD homicide detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) for inspiration. His mind for mystery proves useful to the NYPD, making him Beckett’s unofficial partner, and the pair work to solve various homicides and mysteries throughout the city - despite the fact that the detective can hardly stand the author.
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The Playing House
The Sandmanis a 2022 Netflixadaptation of the comic books by Neil Gaiman. The series follows the character Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), the personification of dreams and nightmares, who has awoken from a century-long slumber to find his kingdom of Dreaming in disarray. As he sets out to fix his home, he meets all manner of strange, dangerous, and fantastical characters. Lisa O’Hare appears in episodes 7, “The Doll House” and 8, “The Playing House”, as Clarice Farrell, Jed’s (Eddie Karanja) foster mother.
Clarice and her husband Barnaby (Sam Hazeldine) are physically and mentally abusive towards Jed, treating him like a slave rather than a son. However, unlike in the comics where Clarice is as cruel as Barnaby, in the show, she is also a victim of her husband and frightened into treating Jed poorly. O’Hare’s chemistry with Hazeldine and Karanja is excellent, and her performance is one of the best of the supporting cast.She gives a character with little to do a lot of depthand makes it clear that while Clarice isn’t innocent, she’s at least sympathetic.
The Sandman
The Sandman is a 2022 adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s iconic comic series. The narrative follows Morpheus, the King of Dreams, who, after years of imprisonment, embarks on a quest across various realms to recover his stolen artifacts and regain his lost power.
Friend or Woe
Lisa O’Hare only appears in one episode ofWednesday, episode 3, “Friend or Woe”, but she makes the most of her time on screen. A spinoff ofThe Addams Familyseries of movies and cartoons,Wednesdayfollows the young, precocious, and macabre Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) as she attends a new school for children like her. In episode 3, some students take a visit to an interactive pilgrim museum on Outreach Day. There, an overzealous museum employee named Arlene (O’Hare) delegates jobs to the children.
Though good-natured for the most part, Arlene gets into an argument with Wednesday when she finds her trespassing in a building being renovated. O’Hare plays the park employee who is trying too hard at their job, exhausting, irritating, but hilarious.Her over-the-top use of 17th-century language leads to a great punchlineafter Wednesday’s constant questions get to be too much. It’s even funnier when Arlene drops the act, saying she doesn’t know anything, she just moved here from Scottsdale.
Wednesday
Wednesday follows the journey of Wednesday Addams as she attends Nevermore Academy, a boarding school for outcasts. Tasked with mastering her psychic abilities, she confronts a series of town murders and a haunting family mystery from 25 years ago, all while managing new social dynamics.
The Island
By far the biggest television role of Lisa O’Hare’s career is as Georgia Goodwin inNew Amsterdam, a recurring cast member in season 1 of the medical drama. Set in the fictional New Amsterdam hospital, a dilapidated but massive public medical center,New Amsterdamfollows an ensemble castof doctors and medical personnel, led by Dr. Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold), who have to fight slow bureaucracy to help their patients.
Georgia was Max’s wife, but at the end of the season, she dies in a tragic car accident, though her fate isn’t revealed until season 2.Max and Georgia’s relationship is one of the strongest parts ofNew Amsterdamand the chemistry between the two is palpable.Lisa O’Hareplays the character as gentle and a source of calm. It’s a delicate performance and one whose sudden absence leaves a big hole inNew Amsterdam.
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam is a medical drama series based on Eric Manheimer’s book Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital. Ryan Eggold stars as Dr. Max Goodwin, the newly appointed medical director of the New Amsterdam Medical Center. Over the course of five seasons, he works tirelessly to bring change to the neglected facility so that it might better care for its patients.
