Kate Mara as Ashley Poet in Class of '09 | FX
Kate Mara
Ashley Poet
"Ashley Poet," portrayed by Kate Mara, worked for many years as a psychiatric nurse in one of the country’s toughest hospitals, trying to pay back the debt she owes to her mother, an extraordinary woman who devoted her life looking after Poet, hiding a sickness of her own. But when Poet doesn’t feel close to the spirit of her mother in the hospital, she decides to accept an unexpected invitation to apply to the FBI. Can someone with no experience of law enforcement bring what is special about her character to the profession, or will the rigors of the profession demand that she relinquish some of her empathy and compassion in order to survive?
Career Highlights
Kate Mara was born and raised in Bedford, New York. She began acting at age 14 in local theater projects. At age 15, Mara made her feature film debut in Random Hearts for director Sydney Pollack.
Mara’s impressive list of film credits include Brokeback Mountain for director Ang Lee in which she portrayed Heath Ledger’s daughter; Transsiberian with Sir Ben Kingsley and Woody Harrelson for director Brad Anderson; We Are Marshall with Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox for director McG; Shooter with Mark Wahlberg for director Antoine Fuqua and Stone of Destiny with Charlie Cox for director Charles Martin Smith.
Mara also appeared in the Academy Award®-nominated film 127 Hours with James Franco and Amber Tamblyn for director Danny Boyle. She co-starred in Transcendence alongside Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Rebecca Hall and Morgan Freeman, which marked the directorial debut of Academy Award-winning cinematographer, Wally Pfister.
In 2015, Mara starred in three films. First audiences saw her as “Sue Storm” in the Fox film Fantastic Four alongside Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan. Then she starred in Captive alongside David Oyelowo, where she portrayed a single mother struggling with a meth addiction in the adaptation of the best-selling book An Unlikely Angel. Mara also starred in director Ridley Scott’s outer space action film The Martian alongside Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain. The film received seven Academy Award nominations.
In 2016, Mara starred in the sci-fi thriller Morgan for director Luke Scott which was released by 20th Century Fox and in the psychological thriller Man Down in which she portrayed “Natalie Drummer,” wife of war veteran “Gabriel Drummer,” played by Shia LaBeouf.
In 2017, audiences saw Mara star in John Curran’s thriller Chappaquiddick in which she played “Mary Jo Kopechne” alongside Jason Clarke and Ed Helms, and Megan Leavey, which is the true story of Marine Corporal Megan Leavey who forms a powerful bond with an aggressive combat dog, Rex. Mara also produced and starred opposite Ellen Page in Tali Shalom-Ezer’s film Mercy.
Most recently, Mara was seen in the women’s rights drama Call Jane, alongside Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver for director Phyllis Nagy. On the small screen, Mara most recently starred in and executive produced the FX limited series A Teacher based on Hannah Fidell’s 2013 film. Fidell penned, directed and executive produced the series. The show was nominated for Best New Scripted Series at the 36th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards. Mara was individually nominated as part of the producing team. Mara received an Emmy® nomination for her role in David Fincher’s critically acclaimed television series House of Cards, in which she co-starred alongside Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.
In 2018, Mara starred in season one of FX’s Pose. Mara also portrayed a mentally unstable ghost alongside Jessica Lange in installment one of Ryan Murphy’s critically acclaimed series American Horror Story for FX.