Amy Brenneman divides her time evenly between acting, producing and political activism.

She earned a degree in Comparative Religion at Harvard, with a specialty in Indo-Tibetan Religion, studying sacred dance and indigenous ritual in Kathmandu.  She was a founding member of the Cornerstone Theater Company, which specializes in site-specific community-based theater on themes of social justice.  Amy performed alongside local performers as (among others):  Juliet in ROMEO & JULIET (Port Gibson, Mississippi), Natasha in THREE SISTERS (Montgomery, West Virginia), Clytemnestra in THE OREISTEIA (Schurz, Nevada), and Solveig in PEER GYNT (Eastport, Maine).

Other theater:  CSC Rep, Lincoln Center Theater, LA Theater Works, LATC, Word Theater, Williamstown Theater Festival, En Garde Arts, Spark, and The American Repertory Theater.  She played Saint Joan at Yale Rep and starred in the world premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Rapture Blister Burn at Playwrights Horizons and the Geffen Theater. Additionally, she starred in the world premiere of John Pollono’s Rules of Seconds and most recently Power of Sail opposite Bryan Cranston at the Geffen. 

Amy co-created, wrote, and starred in Mouth Wide Open (The Yard, American Repertory Theater) and Overcome (The Yard).  

Amy created, executive produced, and starred in “Judging Amy” (two TV Guide Awards, three Golden Globe nominations, Producer’s Guild Nomination, three Emmy Award nominations, People’s Choice SAG nomination) based on the work of her mother, the Honorable Judge Frederica Brenneman.  Other television: “NYPD Blue” (2 Emmy nominations, SAG award), “Frasier,” “Heartbeat” (exec producer), “Goliath,” “VEEP,” “Private Practice,” “The Leftovers,” (Peabody Award, Critic’s Choice nomination), “Tell Me Your Secrets,” and “Shining Girls” opposite Elisabeth Moss.  She is currently starring in “The Old Man” on Hulu with Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow.  

Film credits include CASPER, FEAR, DAYLIGHT, HEAT, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB, PEEL, THE LOOK OF LOVE, and WORDS AND PICTURES opposite Clive Owen.  Amy has a long collaboration with Rodrigo Garcia, with whom she worked on NINE LIVES, THINGS YOU CAN TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT HER and MOTHER AND CHILD.

Amy produced and directed the documentary “The Way the World Should Be” about the trailblazing work of the CHIME Institute and its mission of inclusive education.  She created and hosts the podcast “The Challengers,” now in its third season.

She has taught drama and creative process at Harvard and UCLA, among others.  She has also directed theater at Sierra Canyon School and the CHIME Charter school, which specializes in educating children of all abilities.  

For her activist work, Amy has been honored by Women in Film, The Brady Center, the League of Women Voters, the California State Assembly, the National Children’s Alliance, the Chime Institute, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the Help Group, the Producer’s Guild of America, among others. She traveled to Peru as an ambassador for CARE and currently serves on the Creative Council for the Center for Reproductive Rights. In 2016, she was part of the amicus brief for the Supreme Court case Whole Women’s v. Hellerstedt and received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from The Feminist Majority for her ongoing commitment to reproductive rights. In 2019 Amy received the Change Agent Award from En Garde Arts in New York.  She has served as the keynote speaker for NARAL, Cal-Tash, The Council for Exceptional Children, and on the steps Supreme Court. 

Amy splits her time between Los Angeles and West Tisbury, MA.  She is married to writer/director Brad Silberling and has two children, Charlotte and Bodhi.