Anne Dudek Movies
The classically beautiful, Massachusetts-born actress Anne Dudek received formal training in a number of theatrical masterworks, including the lead in a Chicago production of Iphigenia in Taurus, staged by JoAnne Akalaitis, before transitioning to supporting roles in filmed work. After a 2001 guest spot on ER, Dudek played Lisa Silk, daughter of racially masked professor Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins) in Robert Benton's thoughtful drama The Human Stain (2003). Dudek offered a memorable comic turn as snooty heiress Tiffany Wilson in the Wayans Brothers farce White Chicks (2004), and guest spots on such series programs as Six Feet Under (in 2003) and Desperate Housewives (in 2004), then scored her highest billing to date as Lorraine in Brad Silberling's 10 Items or Less (2006), starring Morgan Freeman.That same year, Dudek landed a plum role in Kurt Voelker's nutty, ensemble-driven farce, Park. In 2007, the actress scored several memorable and notably diverse supporting roles on the small screen: a '60s housewife on the critically acclaimed AMC drama Mad Men; one of the wives of the scheming Alby Grant on the HBO polygamist drama Big Love; and one of Dr. Gregory House's (Hugh Laurie) possible new employees at the start of the hit medical drama House's fourth season. Her ambitious character on the latter show, dubbed by House as "Cutthroat Bitch," was ultimately not chosen for his elite medical team, but she returned later in the season as the love interest of his best friend, Dr. Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard).
Over the next several years, Dudek would land starring roles on still more successful shows like Big Love and Covert Affairs. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
The debut season of Matthew Weiner's intense and stylish drama follows the lives of Madison Avenue advertising executives (so-called "Mad Men") in 1960. The series centers on Don Draper (Jon Hamm), the dashing and brilliant creative director for ad agency Sterling Cooper (Season 1 accounts include Richard Nixon's presidential campaign and, appropriately, Lucky Strike, given the cigarettes are smoked in nearly every scene). Don's charms extend well outside of the boardroom and into the bedroom: The married man has a free-spirited lover, Midge Daniels (Rosemarie DeWitt), who's his polar opposite, and a second mistress, Rachel Menken (Maggie Siff), a client whose independence challenges Don's views on women. Don's wife, Betty (January Jones), meanwhile, dutifully fulfills her role as housewife. But when she develops a mysterious ailment that causes her to lose feeling in her hands, she's sent to a psychiatrist to work through her problems. Over at Sterling Cooper, new secretary Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) tries to adjust to life in the boys club with guidance from seen-it-all bombshell secretary Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks). Young account exec Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) also has his eyes on Peggy and quickly begins pursuing her, despite his upcoming nuptials. There's even more bad behavior at the office from skirt chasers Ken Cosgrove (Aaron Staton) and Paul Kinsey (Michael Gladis), loving but imperfect Harry Crane (Rich Sommer) and stuck-in-the-closet art director Sal Romano (Bryan Batt). Partner Roger Sterling (John Slattery) does little to set an example for his employees as he happily indulges in an array of vices and an affair with Joan. Senior partner Bertram Cooper (Robert Morse) is mostly out of touch with the staff, preferring to remain within the sanctuary of his giant office. In the midst of this workplace frivolity, Don learns that the picture-perfect life he's created for himself could be threatened by a secret from his past. ~ Brie Hearn, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, (more)
During his fourth season, the dyspeptic medical detective (Hugh Laurie) is consumed by his search for a new team of associates to replace Foreman and Cameron (Omar Epps, Jennifer Morrison), who quit on him, and Chase (Jesse Spencer), whom he fired. The winnowing process begins with an unmanageable 40 applicants, so House gives them numbers and behaves like Simon Cowell, MD: firing people arbitrarily (by where they are sitting, at one point) and ordering others to wash his car. Eventually, he narrows the field to Jeffrey Cole (Edi Gathegi), Amber Volakis (Anne Dudek), Chris Taub (Peter Jacobson), Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn) and "Thirteen" (Olivia Wilde). He also hires a CIA doctor (Michael Michele) who doesn't want the job---only to fire her when she reconsiders. House dismisses Cole and Volakis (also known as "cutthroat bitch") as well, but she doesn't go away. Instead, she starts a relationship with Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard). Meanwhile, House's sexually tense love-hate relationship with Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) intensifies, and Foreman, Cameron and Chase all return to Princeton/Plainsboro, although only Foreman returns to House's team. And through it all, House continues to perform his unique brand of medicine. In one episode, he diagnoses a psychiatrist (Mira Sorvino) who is stranded in an Antarctic research station via Webcam. And in another he kidnaps an unbelieving soap star (Jason Lewis) after noticing disturbing symptoms while watching him on television. ~ Paul Droesch, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hugh Laurie, Lisa Edelstein, (more)
An aging Hollywood icon whose fear of failure has caused his once-luminous star to smoulder strikes up an unlikely friendship with an acid-tongued checkout clerk while researching his latest role in City of Angels and Moonlight Mile director Brad Silberling's intimate drama. Crippled by his own all-consuming fears, the man who was once Hollywood's hottest icon (Morgan Freeman) is forced to consider a role in a low-budget independent after a series of more lucrative prospects wither away on the vine. When his driver abandons him during a trip to Carson to research his upcoming role, the onetime showbiz supernova strikes up a lively conversation with Scarlet (Paz Vega), an outspoken check-out girl at a Latino community market. Now, stuck on his own, far from Brentwood, the actor must rely upon the kindness of a common stranger to help him get back on his feet. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Morgan Freeman, Paz Vega, (more)
Set during one afternoon at a Los Angeles, this edgy ensemble sex comedy was the feature debut of director Kurt Voelker. Starring William Baldwin, Ricki Lake, and Cheri Oteri, Park intertwines the lives of several unsuspecting people, including a suicidal woman, a philandering lawyer, his snooping wife, a pair of dog groomers, and a van of aspiring nudists. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- William Baldwin, Anne Dudek, (more)
- 2005
In order to find out if a future world ruled by the Avatars will indeed be a utopia as they claim it will, Piper (Holly Marie Combs) trades powers with Phoebe (Alyssa Milano). Unfortunately, the demon Zankou (Oded Fehr) interrupts the transference process -- and as a result, the girls' powers are dispersed to a wide variety of mortal "innocents," who wreak considerable havoc with their ill-gotten magic skills. Elsewhere, Brody's (Kerr Smith) true intentions are revealed in a violent fashion, prompting Paige (Rose McGowan) to glean "firsthand" information regarding Brody's tortured past. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brian Krause, Dorian Gregory, (more)
When brothers and fellow FBI agents Marcus (Marlon Wayans) and Kevin Copeland (Shawn Wayans) accidentally ruin an otherwise painstakingly executed drug bust, getting back into the good graces of their boss becomes a high-priority assignment in itself. With this in mind, Marcus and Kevin take on a case far beneath their usual standards when they agree to escort socialite sisters Brittany (Maitland Ward) and Tiffany Wilton (Anne Dudek) from a private terminal at JFK Airport to their hotel room in the Hamptons. Once there, two considerably higher-ranking agents will take over the girls' protection. The extra security is no mere perk of wealth, however, as it appears that Brittany and Tiffany have been targeted by a serial kidnapper. The FBI hopes to apprehend the perpetrator by using the girls as bait, unbeknownst to them. The plan may have worked if it weren't for Kevin and Marcus, who manage to let the sisters in on the secret. Understandably, neither of them want any part in the process, so they force the brothers to come up with a radical solution: With the help of an FBI lab scientist, the very much African-American Kevin and Marcus will be transformed into two white women who could pass for Brittany and Tiffany. The agents must keep the charade up long enough to lure the kidnapper, but fooling everyone involved will be the job of their lives. Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, White Chicks also features James King and Lochlyn Munro. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, (more)
- 2004
In memory of their dear departed friend Mary Alice (Brenda Strong), the women of Wisteria Lane go through with her planned dinner party -- at their own peril. An inquisitive nine-year-old may blow the whistle on Gabrielle's (Eva Longoria) trysts with hunky John (Jesse Metcalfe). Susan (Teri Hatcher) leaves nothing to the imagination when confronting her ex-husband, Karl (Richard Burgi). Bree's (Marcia Cross) marriage is rapidly deteriorating, but you'd never know it from her sunny demeanor. And the contents of the box that Mary Alice's husband, Paul (Mark Moses), threw into the river are revealed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2003
Lisa (Lili Taylor) has been missing for two weeks, leaving Nate (Peter Krause) to stew and the rest of the family to slowly lose hope. Despite -- or perhaps because of -- her certainty that her daughter-in-law is dead, Ruth (Frances Conroy) plunges into a new romance with George Sibley (James Cromwell), the handsome mourner who comforted her during a recent funeral (see "Death Works Overtime"). The Fisher matriarch even toys with wedding her new beau until she learns of his six previous marriages and decides to proceed more carefully. David (Michael C. Hall), in contrast, decides the time for caution is over. After impulsively sleeping with his friend Patrick (David Hornsby), he dumps Keith (Mathew St. Patrick) and moves out of their apartment. Nate, too, goes in for some reckless sex; he beds Allison Williman (Anne Dudek), the troubled daughter of a serial killer (Graham Beckel) who recently received the death penalty and was buried by Fisher and Diaz. Afterwards, however, Nate feels just as empty and distraught about Lisa as ever. Not that he's ready for comfort -- at least not from Brenda (Rachel Griffiths), who gets an angry brush-off when she turns up at the house to offer her support. But Claire (Lauren Ambrose), who just happens to witness the end of their argument, does receive some assistance from Brenda, who agrees to accompany her on a trip to an abortion clinic. Originally broadcast May 18, 2003, on HBO, "Twilight" marked season three, episode 12 of the made-for-cable drama. Although her character, Bettina, had been absent from the show since mid-season, actress/director Kathy Bates steps in to helm this episode. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- 2003
The tenth and final season of Friends opens with this 45-minute episode, which takes place right after the big kiss in Barbados. Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) are definitely in love; the problem now is how to tell Ross (David Schwimmer). Of course, all the other friends know the whole story, thanks to those paper-thin hotel room walls. Elsewhere, Phoebe's (Lisa Kudrow) relationship with Mike (Paul Rudd) hits another snag in the form of his girlfriend "Precious" (Anne Dudek), and back in New York, Monica (Courteney Cox) goes to outrageous lengths to "tame" her unnaturally poofy hairdo. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Rudd, Aisha Tyler, (more)
For his first film since 1998's Twilight, acclaimed director Robert Benton helmed this tense drama written by Fatal Attraction co-scribe Nicholas Meyer and based on the novel of the same name by Philip Roth. Set in the late '90s at the height of the Clinton sex-scandal, The Human Stain stars Anthony Hopkins as Coleman Silk, a respected professor at a New England college who suddenly finds his life unraveling after a comment he makes about some African-American students is misinterpreted as a racial slur. As the scandal heats up, Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise), a writer researching a biography of Silk, begins to dig deeper and deeper into Silk's life. Eventually, matters are made worse when an affair with a young married janitor named Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman) is exposed. But amid the controversy, Silk must struggle to keep his greatest secret, a secret he's held for the majority of his life, from becoming public. Ed Harris, who previously worked with Benton in 1984's Places in the Heart, also stars. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, (more)
- 2001
This episode marks the final regular ER appearances of Eriq La Salle and Michael Michele. After resorting to desperate measures to retain custody of his son, Reese (Matthew Watkins), Peter Benton (La Salle) realizes that he must make a choice between the boy and his overloaded ER schedule. He opts to take a less demanding job at a clinic in the Chicago suburbs, where his current love, Cleo Finch (Michele), is already working. In other developments, a boy accidentally shot by his mom on Christmas Eve is a cause of great concern amongst the ER staffers; Abby (Maura Tierney) sees Nicole (Julie Delpy) where she didn't expect to see her; the relationship between Weaver (Laura Innes) and Lopez (Lisa Vidal) enters a new phase; and Carter (Noah Wyle) receives startling but not unexpected news about his parents. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
© 2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. © 2013 Rovi Corporation.