Tara Mallen is an American actress, director, and producer based in Chicago. She is a founding member and Producing Artistic Director of the Rivendell Theatre Ensemble and has appeared extensively in Chicago theater as well as in film and television. [1]
Mallen is a founding member and Producing Artistic Director of the Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, a Chicago-based theater company focused on new work and women driven storytelling. [2] She has both produced and performed in numerous Rivendell productions, including Wrens, My Simple City, Holy Days, The Clink, and Faulkner's Bicycle.
She has also appeared in productions associated with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, including the Jeff nominated world premiere productions of The Walls and Self Defense, or, The Death of Some Salesmen, which were presented as part of Steppenwolf's Visiting Theater Initiative. [2]
Mallen received a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Wrens and was later nominated for Best Actress in a Principal Role for My Simple City.
In film and television, Mallen has appeared in Steven Soderbergh's film Contagion (2011), the Starz series Boss, and the NBC series Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. .
In 2024, she starred in the independent feature Ghostlight (2024) along with her real life husband and daughter [3] , which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Mallen graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Brooklyn College. [2]
Mallen is married to actor Keith Kupferer. The couple has one child. [3]