Constance Shulman

A native of Johnson City, Tennessee,^[3] Shulman is one of seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Lipner Shulman,^[4] a Jewish-American couple who had recently relocated from Fall River, Massachusetts.^[3] She is also the granddaughter of Judge Sadie Lipner Shulman.^[5][1] In 1980, she graduated from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor's degree in both speech and theater.^[6] She moved to New York City to study acting at the Circle in the Square Theatre School and pursue an acting career.^[7] In 1987, Shulman originated the role of Annelle in the first production of Steel Magnolias on Off-Broadway.^[8] In 1989, she made her screen debut in the comedy film Fletch Lives, playing Cindy Mae. She later had supporting parts in films Lost Angels (1989), Men Don't Leave (1990), and Fried Green Tomatoes (1991).

On television, Shulman worked as a voice actress, playing Patti Mayonnaise on Doug from 1991 to 1999.^[9] In the early 1990s, Shulman appeared in a series of Kraft mayonnaise commercials.^[10] She was also a regular cast member in the short-lived 1996 ABC sitcom, The Faculty, playing the best friend of Meredith Baxter's character,^[11] and the Dolly Parton unaired CBS sitcom Heavens to Betsy (1994).^[12] In the late 1990s Shulman left the screen to raise her two children.^[7]

In 2013, Shulman was cast in a recurring role as "Yoga Jones" in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black. Along with the rest of the cast, she received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2015, 2016 and 2017.^[13] She left the series after five seasons in 2017 and appeared in the series finale in 2019. She later appeared in films Nasty Baby (2015) and Most Likely to Murder (2018) and guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Broad City, and The Blacklist.

In 2015, Shulman starred in off-Broadway production of Barbecue receiving Barbecue nomination.^[14] In 2018, Shulman received positive reviews and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play nomination for her performance in the play Bobbie Clearly.^[15][16][17] In 2019 she performed in the Broadway revival of The Rose Tattoo.^[18] In 2021, Shulman starred in the independent films Giving Birth to a Butterfly playing a former actress like Norma Desmond,^[19] and Strawberry Mansion. Both films have received positive reviews from critics.^[20][21] In 2022, she had a recurring role in the HBO Max comedy series, Search Party and later was cast as a series regular in the Showtime comedy The Curse.^[22] In 2023 she starred in the Manhattan Theatre Club production of The Best We Could.^[23]

She is married to fellow actor Reed Birney, and their daughter Gus Birney is an actress.^[24]