Debra Messing

Debra Lynn Messing was born on August 15, 1968 in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to American Jewish parents. When Messing was three, she moved with her parents and her older brother, Brett, to a small town outside Providence, Rhode Island.

As a child, Messing took lessons in dance, singing, and acting. While her parents encouraged her dream of becoming an actress, they also urged her to complete a liberal arts education before deciding on acting as a career. Following their advice, she attended Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. During her junior year, she studied theater at the prestigious London-based British European Studio Group program, an experience that fueled her desire to act.

In 1990, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in theater arts, Messing gained admission to the elite Graduate Acting Program at New York University, where she earned a master's degree in fine arts after three years.

In 1993, Messing won praise for her acting in the pre-Broadway workshop production of Tony Kushner's much-lauded play Angels in America. In 1995, Messing made her film debut with a supporting role in A Walk in the Clouds, a love story directed by Alfonso Arau. This exposure led the Fox network to make her the co-star of the television sitcom, Ned and Stacey. The series lasted for two seasons, from 1995 to 1997. Messing also appeared as Jerry Seinfeld's date in two episodes of the hit television show Seinfeld.

In 1998, Messing had a lead role on ABC's dramatic science-fiction television series "Prey". Meanwhile, Messing's agent had approached her with the pilot script for the television show "Will & Grace". Messing was inclined to take some time off, but the pilot intrigued her, and she received the role of Grace Adler, beating out Nicollette Sheridan, who also auditioned for it and who later guest starred on the show as a romantic rival of Grace's. Will & Grace became a big ratings success, and Messing gained popularity.

Messing was personally picked by director Woody Allen for a small role in his 1998 film Celebrity. Her big-screen roles since include a happily married but ill-fated wife in the supernatural thriller The Mothman Prophecies and a co-starring role in Along Came Polly.

The Wedding Date was Messing's first leading role in a high-profile film. It received mixed reviews but performed fairly well at the box office.