Following her 'Pollock' win, Harden became an in-demand central player in acclaimed dramas like 'Space Cowboys' (2000), 'Mystic River' (2003) and 'Into the Wild' (2007), although such genre fare as the adaptation of the Stephen King novella 'The Mist' (2007) also proved easily within the versatile actress' wheelhouse.

She began her career playing the gun-toting moll Verna Bernbaum in the Coen Brothers' ode to 1930s gangsters films, 'Miller's Crossing' (1990) prior to earning Tony nominations for performances in stage productions that included Tony Kushner's 'Angels in America' in 1993. Academy Award-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden took home an Oscar statuette for her portrayal of artist Lee Krasner in the biopic 'Pollock' (2000), although by then the raven-haired actress - who often drew comparisons to screen goddess Ava Gardner - had already earned a solid reputation on Broadway.