Rya Kihlstedt

Rya Kihlstedt was born on August 5, 1969, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She pursued her passion for theater, graduating from Skidmore College in 1991 with a major in theater arts. Kihlstedt then established herself in stage performances before transitioning to screen. Her film debut was in 1993, starring opposite Rutger Hauer in “Arctic Blue.” She later gained recognition with her role as Alice Ribbons in the 1997 family comedy “Home Alone 3,” followed by an appearance in the 1998 science-fiction film “Deep Impact.” In the same year, she co-starred with Carla Gugino in the independent film “Jaded” and appeared with Peter Gallagher in the television film “Brave New World,” based on Aldous Huxley’s novel.

Kihlstedt took a hiatus from acting between 2001 and 2009 to focus on raising her two children. She returned to acting in 2009, appearing in “Women in Trouble” and its sequel, “Elektra Luxx,” both alongside Carla Gugino. Over the next few years, she guest-starred in numerous television series, including “Covert Affairs,” “Criminal Minds,” “NCIS,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” and “Drop Dead Diva.” In 2011, she secured a recurring role as Dr. Michelle Ross in the Showtime crime drama “Dexter.” From 2012 to 2013, Kihlstedt portrayed Marilyn Rhodes, a powerful record producer, in the ABC musical drama “Nashville.”

Her career progressed with significant roles in genre television. In 2015, she starred in the independent horror film “The Atticus Institute.” From 2015 to 2016, she was a series regular as Erica Kravid in the NBC science fiction miniseries “Heroes Reborn.” Kihlstedt also played Caroline, Tig Notaro’s mother, in the Amazon Video series “One Mississippi.” More recently, she has taken on roles such as Ally Allston in “Superman & Lois” (2022), the Fourth Sister in “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (2022), and Kate Laswell in the “Call of Duty” video game series, with voice roles in “Star Wars: Tales of the Empire” (2024) and an upcoming role in “Final Destination: Bloodlines” (2025).