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Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski (born May 3, 1968), known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress of stage and screen. A graduate of New York's High School of Performing Arts, she is an Academy Award nominee and two-time Tony Award nominee.

Ryan began her professional stage career in 1987 and made her Broadway debut in 1993 as a replacement in the original production of The Sisters Rosensweig. She was featured in season 1 episode 22 of Home Improvement as Jill’s sister going through a relationship spat during Tim’s poker game. She went on to receive Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the 2000 revival of Uncle Vanya and the 2005 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Helene McCready in the 2007 film Gone Baby Gone. The role also earned her a Golden Globe nomination and won her a Critics' Choice Award. Her other films include Changeling (2008), Win Win (2011) and Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014). On television, she played Beadie Russell in HBO's The Wire (2002–2008), Holly Flax in NBC's The Office (2008–2011) and Adele Brousse in HBO's In Treatment (2010). In 2021, she had a main role in the Hulu comedy series Only Murders in the Building.

Early life :

Ryan was born Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski in Flushing, Queens in New York City, the daughter of Pamela (née Ryan), a nurse, and John Dziewiontkowski, a trucking business owner. She is of Polish, Irish, and English descent. Growing up in the 1970s, Ryan and her sister Laura delivered the Daily News by bike. At a young age, Ryan attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center in upstate New York. At 17, she graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts. Hired for the national tour of Biloxi Blues right out of high school, Ryan worked steadily off-Broadway for the next decade. She chose her mother's maiden name as her stage name.