Zoe Perry Bio
Zoe Perry (born September 26, 1983) is an American actress known for work in film, theatre and television. The daughter of actors Laurie Metcalf and Jeff Perry, she made her feature film debut in Deception (2008) and had a supporting role in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008). Perry built a career across stage and screen with recurring television roles on The Family and Scandal before achieving broader recognition as Mary Cooper on Young Sheldon, a role that earned her a Critics’ Choice Television nomination in 2019 and which she later reprised on Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage in 2024.
Early Life and Background
Zoe Perry was born in Chicago, Illinois, to actors Laurie Metcalf and Jeff Perry. Her parents divorced when she was three years old. Her first television appearances were as a young Jackie Harris in flashback scenes on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, playing the same character her mother portrayed on the series.
Perry spent part of her undergraduate years at Boston University before transferring to Northwestern University, where she began performing in college productions as a way to make friends. Her family emphasized waiting until adulthood to pursue acting, a stance that shaped her early approach to the craft and public life.
Path to Celebrity
After completing her university studies, Perry moved to New York to pursue television work and booked small roles, including an appearance on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Homesickness prompted a return to California, where she worked increasingly in theatre and regional productions, developing her stage skills alongside television auditions.
Perry appeared on Broadway in The Other Place in 2013 alongside her mother and continued to take on theatre roles in Los Angeles; in 2015 she performed with her father Jeff Perry and actor Kevin McKidd in Eugene O’Neill’s Anna Christie at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in West Los Angeles. Those stage experiences broadened her range and visibility while she pursued recurring television work.
Zoe Perry Career
Early Career (1992–2008)
Zoe Perry’s recorded career begins in childhood, with credits that place her start in the early 1990s. Early television work included the brief flashback appearances on Roseanne, connecting to her family’s television legacy while she developed skills outside the spotlight during adolescence and college.
Her first credited feature film appearances came in 2008 with roles in Deception and The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond. Those projects marked her transition from guest television parts and stage roles to feature films and set the stage for a return to steady television work in the following decade.
Breakthrough (2016–2024)
Perry re-emerged on national television with a recurring role as Jane on the ABC thriller The Family in 2016, appearing across nine episodes. The following year she took a recurring role on the political drama Scandal, furthering her profile on network television and demonstrating versatility across genres.
Also in 2017, Perry won a high-profile casting as the younger Mary Cooper on the CBS sitcom Young Sheldon, a spin-off of The Big Bang Theory. The part had been portrayed by her mother Laurie Metcalf on The Big Bang Theory, but Zoe Perry secured the Young Sheldon role through auditioning on her own merits. Her performance on Young Sheldon ran from 2017 through the series’ 2024 conclusion and earned her industry recognition, including a Critics’ Choice Television nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2019.
Following Young Sheldon, Perry continued to embody the Mary Cooper character on the spin-off Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, which premiered in 2024, extending the role into a new narrative strand and maintaining her association with a character that connects two generations of performers in her family.
Notable Works and Milestones
Perry’s signature work is her portrayal of Mary Cooper across Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, a role notable for its family connection and for earning her a Critics’ Choice nomination. Other milestones include her 2008 feature film debut, a Broadway appearance alongside Laurie Metcalf, and regional theatre work with established actors such as Jeff Perry and Kevin McKidd.
Zoe Perry Award Nominations
Zoe Perry received a Critics’ Choice Television Awards nomination in 2019 for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Mary Cooper on Young Sheldon. This nomination represents a high-profile industry acknowledgment of her work on network television and stands as a verified national award nomination in her career record.
Zoe Perry Family
Perry is the daughter of actress Laurie Metcalf and actor Jeff Perry. Her parents divorced when she was three years old. The family environment and both parents’ careers in theatre and television shaped her early exposure to performance and informed instances where she worked alongside family members, including a Broadway production with Laurie Metcalf and a regional production with Jeff Perry.
Personal Life
Zoe Perry is married to Gab Taraboulsy; sources indicate the marriage began in 2022. Public records and verified biographical sources do not list children publicly as part of her biography at this time. Perry maintains a professional focus on acting across stage, film and television while keeping a comparatively private personal life.