Gus Birney

Gus Birney
Born	Augusta Marsh Birney (1999-07-27) July 27, 1999 (age 25)
Other names	Gus Birney
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2012–present
Parents	Reed Birney (father) Constance Shulman (mother)

Augusta Marsh Birney (born July 27, 1999), known professionally as Gus Birney, is an American actress. She is known for her television roles in The Mist (2017), Dickinson (2019–2021), and Shining Vale (2022–2023).^[1] On stage, she made her Broadway debut in the 2023 revival of The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. She also acted in off-Broadway productions of The Rose Tattoo (2016) and Our Class (2024).

Early life

Birney is the daughter of actors Reed Birney and Constance Shulman.^[2]

Career

Birney made her professional stage debut playing Rosa in the 2016 production of the Tennessee Williams' play The Rose Tattoo at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She acted alongside Marisa Tomei, Christopher Abbott, and Lindsay Mendez.^[3] She made her film debut in the romantic comedy Here and Now (2018) starring Sarah Jessica Parker.^[4] She has since acted in the Charlie Kaufman Netflix psychological drama I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020),^[5] and the Hulu coming-of-age teen comedy Plan B (2021).^[6] She took roles in the science fiction-horror series The Mist (2017), the Netflix superhero series Jessica Jones (2019), and the Netflix comedy series Insatiable (2019). She portrayed Jane Humphreys in the Apple TV+ series Dickinson (2019–2020) starring Hailee Steinfeld.^[7] From 2022 to 2023, she acted in the Apple TV+ satirical comedy horror series Shining Vale earning a Saturn Award for Best Young Actor in a Television Series nomination.

From February to March in 2023 she acted in the off-Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window starring opposite Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.^[8] She played a young prostitute, Gloria Parodus, the sister of Iris (Brosnahan). The production made its transfer to Broadway with Birney joining making it her Broadway debut.^[9] Birney said of the experience, "Doing Sidney Brustein was one of the most transformative experiences of my life, not only as an actor, but as a human being. Anything after feels almost like, "OK, I know I can do this. I just went through something hard, and I have taught my soul how to handle going to a really dark place."^[10] David Gordon of TheatreMania described her performance as being "excellent".^[11] The production was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play losing to the revival of Topdog/Underdog.^[12]

In 2024, she acted in the adaptation of the Polish playwright Tadeusz Slobodzianek's play Our Class at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.^[13] She portrays Dora, a young Jewish mother, one of 10 Polish students in the time leading up to a 1941 pogrom in the village of Jedwabne.^[14] Raven Snook of Time Out described her performance as "heartbreaking".^[15]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Bloody Mary	Victoria	Short film
2018	Here and Now	Lucie
	Whiteboy	Brandy	Short film
	Swallow Grass Snakes	Devin	Short film
2019	Afterdeath		Short film
2020	Darcy	Darcy
	I'm Thinking of Ending Things	Tulsey Town Girl 2/Aunt Eller
	The Man in the Woods	Suzie Hall
2021	Plan B	Megan
	Giving Birth to a Butterfly	Marlene
2023	Happiness for Beginners	Kaylee
	Asleep in My Palm	Millah
	Three Birthdays	Joyce

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	Chicago Med	Ashley Cole	Episode: "Mistaken"
2017	The Mist	Alex Copeland	10 episodes
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Kristi Martin	Episode: "Unintended Consequences"
2018	Instinct	Nicki	Episode: "Secrets and Lies"
	Bull	Penny Spiro	Episode: "Jury Duty"
2019	Jessica Jones	Birdie	Episode: "A.K.A. You're Welcome"
	Blue Bloods	Carrie Ross	Episode: "The Real Deal"
	Insatiable	Jade	Episode: "Ladybomb" Episode: "The Most You Can Be"
2019–2021	Dickinson	Jane Humphreys	17 episodes
2020	The Blacklist	Angela Hendrickson	Episode: "Nyle Hatcher"
2022–2023	Shining Vale	Gaynor Phelps	16 episodes
TBA	Black Rabbit	Mel Whitney	Upcoming miniseries

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Playwright	Venue	Ref.
2016	The Rose Tattoo	Rosa	Tennessee Williams	Williamstown Theatre Festival	[16]
	Connected	Girl Making Out/Jill/Shireen	Lia Romeo	59E59 Theatres, Off-Broadway	[17]
2023	The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window	Gloria Parodus	Lorraine Hansberry	Brooklyn Academy of Music	[18]
				James Earl Jones Theatre, Broadway	[19]
	Paris, ACTORS!	Performer	Hamish Linklater	Reading, Williamstown Theatre Festival	[20]
2024	Our Class	Dora	Tadeusz Slobodzianek	Brooklyn Academy of Music	[21]

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Project Title	Result	Ref.
2022	Saturn Award	Best Young Actor in a Television Series	Shining Vale	Nominated	[22]
2024	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play	Our Class	Pending	[23]

References

1. "Gus Birney | Actress, Producer, Soundtrack". IMDb. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
2. "Interview: After Sidney Brustein on Broadway, Gus Birney Takes Up the Challenge of Our Class". TheatreMania. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
3. "The Rose Tattoo". Abouttheartist. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
4. "Sarah Jessica Parker's 'Here and Now' Asks: What Would You Do if Someone Gave You 14 Months to Live?". The Observer. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
5. "'I'm Thinking of Ending Things': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
6. "Why Megan From Plan B Looks So Familiar". Looper. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
7. "The Real People Behind Dickinson's Fictionalized Literary History". Refinery29. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
8. "'The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window' Stars Rachel Brosnahan and Oscar Isaac Talk Revival of Lorraine Hansberry's 1964 Play". Variety. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
9. "Broadway Revival of Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window Opens April 27". Playbill. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
10. "Our Class at BAM". Abouttheartist. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
11. "Review: Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan in Lorraine Hansberry's Thrilling Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window". TheatreMania. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
12. "Tony Awards 2023: Here's the list of major winners with photos". NPR. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
13. "Our Class at BAM". Abouttheartist. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
14. "Birney stars in the Polish drama, now playing at Brooklyn Academy of Music". TheatreMania. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
15. "Our Class". Time Out. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
16. "The Rose Tattoo". Williamstown Theatre Festival. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
17. "Connected". 59e59 Theatre. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
18. "Gus Birney: Credits". Broadway World. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
19. "Gus Birney – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". ibdb.com. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
20. "Paris, ACTORS!". Williamstown Theatre Festival. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
21. "Our Class". ourclassplay.com. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
22. "Saturn Awards Nominations: 'The Batman', 'Nightmare Alley', 'Spider-Man', 'Better Call Saul' Top List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
23. "Dead Outlaw, Stereophonic Lead 2024 Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations". Theatermania. Retrieved April 23, 2024.