Laura Benanti
Acting • Born 1979-07-15
Biography
Laura Benanti (born July 15, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Over the course of her Broadway career, she has received five Tony Award nominations. She played Louise in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, winning the 2008 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2016 she starred in She Loves Me as Amalia Balash, which was televised. She played Elsa Schräder in the 2013 NBC television production of The Sound of Music Live!, appeared as Sadie Stone in Nashville in 2014 and 2015 and that same year began playing twin sisters Alura and Astra in the TV series Supergirl. Beginning in 2017, Benanti appeared as Edie Randall in the TBS comedy The Detour. Since 2016, she has had a recurring role as First Lady Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Filmography
56 credits
She Loves Me: Behind the Curtain
Movie • 2017
Self
Take the Lead
Movie • 2006
Tina
tick, tick... BOOM!
Movie • 2021
Judy
Meskada
Movie • 2010
Allison Connor
Reopening: The Broadway Revival
Movie • 2022
Self
Goodrich
Movie • 2024
Naomi
Sondheim! The Birthday Concert
Movie • 2010
Self
The Sound of Music Live!
Movie • 2013
Baroness Elsa Schrader
Becoming Benanti: The Role of a Lifetime
Movie • 2022
Self (pre-recorded video)
No Hard Feelings
Movie • 2023
Allison Becker
The Shade
Movie • 2024
Renee Beckman
Falling for Grace
Movie • 2006
Alexandra
She Loves Me
Movie • 2016
Amalia
Stephen Colbert's Live Election Night Democracy's Series Finale
Movie • 2016
Melania Trump
Everything's Going to Be Great
Movie • 2025
Tallulah Bankhead
Tangled: Before Ever After
Movie • 2017
Lady Caine (voice)
Broadway's Lost Treasures III: The Best of The Tony Awards
Movie • 2005
Cinderella (segment "Into the Woods") (archive footage)
Worth
Movie • 2021
Karen Donato
Here Today
Movie • 2021
Francine
Laura Benanti: Live From the West Side
Movie • 2020
Homeschool Musical: Class of 2020
Movie • 2020
Self - Host
Russian Broadway Shut Down
Movie • 2014
Sophia
Kinda Pregnant
Movie • 2025
Daisy's Mom
The Ditch
Movie
Parade in Concert
Movie • 2015
Lucille Frank
Eli Stone
TV • 2008
Beth Keller
Starved
TV • 2005
Billie Frasier
Tamron Hall
TV • 2019
Self - Guest
Supergirl
TV • 2015
Alura Zor-El / Astra
Younger
TV • 2015
Quinn Tyler
Go On
TV • 2012
Lauren Schneider
The Playboy Club
TV • 2011
Bunny Carol-Lynne
Elementary
TV • 2012
Anne Barker
Gossip Girl
TV • 2021
Kiki Hope
Ziwe
TV • 2021
Fake Ziwe
Ziwe
TV • 2021
Jane
Supergirl
TV • 2015
Alura Zor-El
Slugfest
TV • 2021
Louise Simonson
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
TV • 1999
Maria Grazie
The Good Wife
TV • 2009
Renata Ellard
The Gilded Age
TV • 2022
Susan Blane
Match Game
TV • 2016
Self - Panelist
Would I Lie to You?
TV • 2022
Self
Life on Mars
TV • 2008
Denise Carling
The Detour
TV • 2016
Edie
Stars in the House
TV • 2020
Self
Stars in the House
TV • 2020
Self - Host
Ziwe
TV • 2021
Elsbeth
TV • 2024
Nadine Clay
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Melania Trump
The $100,000 Pyramid
TV • 2016
Royal Pains
TV • 2009
Shelby Shackelford
Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure
TV • 2017
Lady Caine (voice)
Mayor of Kingstown
TV • 2021
Cindy Stephens
Beat Bobby Flay
TV • 2013
Self
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Self - Guest