Steve Jobs is full of familiar faces, like Michael Fassbender as the Apple CEO, Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, and Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak. The newest drama from writer Aaron Sorkin and director Danny Boyle is already garnering awards buzz, partly due to its huge group of stars and filmmakers. It's clear that Steve Jobs attracted many Hollywood names to the project, but that doesn't mean that everyone in the film is an established celebrity. This is perhaps most evident in the case of the actress playing Chrisann Brenna, Jobs' high-school girlfriend and mother of his child. If you're wondering who plays Chrisann in Steve Jobs and can't put a name to the face, know that it's none other than up-and-coming actress Katherine Waterston.
Waterston, already an accomplished actress, is just starting to earn serious buzz as a movie star. The daughter of Law & Order's Sam Waterston, she's no stranger to the acting game, though she has done a bulk of her work on the stage rather than in a studio. Still, seeing Waterston on the big screen often comes with that nagging feeling that you've seen her somewhere before — and that's probably because you have.
Over the course of the last 10 years, Waterston, 34, has slowly built up her resume in Hollywood, with roles in Michael Clayton, Taking Woodstock and HBO's Boardwalk Empire. Last year, she earned rave reviews for her work in Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice — her first truly major starring role. Waterston was cast after Anderson saw her in a little known 2007 indie film called The Babysitters, and the actress still seems in awe of her newfound stardom.
"I have been an enormous fan of Paul's work from the beginning, since I saw Sidney when I was in high school," Waterston said in an interview with Deadline. "So it's kind of just out of this world. And then you get to do all your scenes with Joaquin Phoenix. Are you kidding me? And this is a job? You're going to pay me to do this? Outrageous. It's really beyond."
Taking a crucial, yet supporting role in Steve Jobs is just the next step in Waterston's journey to become a major Hollywood player. Case in point: soon after landing the role of Chrisann in Steve Jobs, Waterston was cast in the highly anticipated Harry Potter spinoff, Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them . Waterston will play one of the female leads in the newest magical franchise from J.K. Rowling, acting opposite Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne. In the film, Waterston will star as Porpentina (aka Tina), a New York City witch who works with Newt Scamander (Redmayne).
In addition to Steve Jobs, Waterston can be seen alongside Elisabeth Moss in Queen of Earth, a mind-bending indie drama, and in this month's Manhattan Romance. The actress has a busy slate ahead, but perhaps it's only a hint of the success to come.
