The Starter Wife, based on the best-selling novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer, chronicles the events of one woman's life following her divorce after years of marriage to a Hollywood studio executive. Debra Messing (Will & Grace, Ned and Stacy) stars in the mini-series. Sara Parriott and Josann McGibbon (Runaway Bride, 3 Men and a Little Lady) wrote the screenplay, and the Emmy-nominated Jon Avnet (Uprising, The Burning Bed, Fried Green Tomatoes) has directed and produced the event.

The mini-series was nominated for ten Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Miniseries, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie (Debra Messing), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Joe Mantegna) and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie (Judy Davis). Davis was the sole winner. Messing was also nominated for a 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or a TV Movie and a 2008 SAG Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie.

Meet the Cast:
Debra Messing as Molly Kagan
In 1993, Messing won praise for her acting in the pre-Broadway workshop production of Tony Kushner's play Angels in America: Perestroika.  Subsequently, she appeared in several episodes of the television series NYPD Blue during 1994 and 1995. In 1995, Messing made her film debut in A Walk in the Clouds. This exposure led the Fox network to make her the co-star of the television sitcom, Ned & Stacey. Messing appeared in two episodes of the series Seinfeld.  She also co-starred in McHale's Navy in 1997.
In 1998, Messing played a lead role in Prey. During this time her agent approached her with the pilot script for the television show Will & Grace. She auditioned and landed the role of Grace Adler. Will & Grace became a ratings success, and Messing gained renown. In 2002, she was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People Magazine. TV Guide picked her as its "Best Dressed Woman" in 2003. Messing was cast in Hollywood Ending. Her film roles since include The Mothman Prophecies (2002) and Along Came Polly (2004). The Wedding Date (2005) was Messing's first leading role in a high-profile film.

Judy Davis as Joan McAllister
First coming to prominence for her role in My Brilliant Career (1979), for which she won BAFTA Awards for Best Actress and Best Newcomer, she also played the lead in such Australian New Wave classics as Winter of Our Dreams (1981) and Heatwave (1982). Her first foray into international film came in 1981 in A Woman Called Golda. In 1984 she was cast in A Passage to India. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She returned to Australian cinema for her next two films, Kangaroo and Hightide. She earned Australian Film Institute Awards for both roles, and a National Society of Film Critics award for Hightide's brief American theatrical run. In 1991 she was featured in Barton Fink, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and in Naked Lunch. She won an Independent Spirit Award for her lively work in Impromptu and returned to E.M. Forster territory in Where Angels Fear to Tread. Also in the One Against the Wind. In 1992 she played a major role in Husbands and Wives. For this performance she earned both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress. Other roles have included On My Own (1993), Children of the Revolution (1996), Deconstructing Harry (1997),Celebrity (1998), Absolute Power (1997), Swimming Upstream (2003), The Break-Up and Marie-Antoinette.
She starred in The Ref (1994). Much of her recent work has been on television, where she has scooped up an impressive collection of Emmy Award nominations. She won her first Emmy in Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story and she picked up subsequent nominations in The Echo of Thunder (1998), Lilly (1999), A Cooler Climate (1999) and The Reagans (2003). She earned a second Emmy, in the 2001 Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. In July 2006, she received her ninth Emmy nomination for her performance in A Little Thing Called Murder. Her tenth nomination came in 2007 for The Starter Wife, Davis went on to win the Emmy. In August 2007 she appeared in an episode of Masters of Science Fiction. In 2004 she starred in and co-directed Victory.

Miranda Otto as Cricket Stewart
Otto's first post-graduation film role in 1991, in The Girl Who Came Late, was her breakthrough role. Her appearance garnered Otto her first Australian Film Institute nomination for "Best Actress" the following year. Otto's next role was in the film The Last Days of Chez Nous. The film earned Otto her second Australian Film Institute nomination, this time for "Best Supporting Actress". In 1993, Otto co-starred in The Nostradamus Kid. A small role in the independent film Sex Is a Four Letter Word followed in 1995.
Otto starred in Love Serenade (1996). In 1996 Otto was cast in Serenade. Otto's first starring roles were in the 1997 films The Well and Doing Time for Patsy Cline. Otto's next project was the romantic comedy Dead Letter Office (1998). In the Winter Dark followed later that year. The film was a critical success in Australia, and Otto was nominated for her fourth Australian Film Institute Award. A small role in the big-budget World War II film The Thin Red Line, led to further film roles outside of Australia, such as in Italy, where she co-starred in La volpe a tre zampe ("The Three-legged Wolf"). Otto's first Hollywood role was in the suspense thriller What Lies Beneath in 2000. In 2001, Otto was cast in Human Nature. That same year, she also appeared in The Way We Live Now. In 2003 Otto starred in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Otto's next project was the Australian television miniseries Through My Eyes: The Lindy Chamberlain Story (2004). At the 2005 Logie Awards, Otto won "Most Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series" for her role. In the same year she starred in War of the Worlds. In 2007.

Chris Diamantopoulos as Rodney Evans
Chris Diamantopoulos (born May 9, 1975) is a Greek Canadian actor. Born in Toronto, Canada, Diamantopoulos portrayed Robin Williams in a television movie about the behind-the-scenes drama during the making of Mork and Mindy. He has guest-starred in several series, including Kevin Hill, Charmed, Nip/Tuck, and Boston Legal. He currently has a recurring role on the Lifetime drama Series State of Mind. He also guest voiced on American Dad! in 2009. Diamantopoulos has reportedly signed on for the eighth season of 24. Diamantopoulos has been married to actress Becki Newton since May 12, 2005.

Peter Jacobson as Kenny Kagan
Jacobson was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Jewish Chicago news anchor Walter Jacobson. He is a 1987 graduate of Brown University and a 1991 graduate of Juilliard. Jacobson has played a recurring role on Law & Order. In 2005, Jacobson starred in the Academy Award-nominated film, Good Night, and Good Luck. He also appeared on Scrubs, CSI: Miami, The Lost Room, The Starter Wife, Transformers and The Midnight Meat Train. More recently he has appeared on House In October 2007, he was confirmed as a regular on the show. He made a guest appearance on USA Network's Royal Pains. Jacobson played Alan, the nebbishy husband of Rachel, played by Brooklyn Decker. He also has a cameo in Tony Scott's 2005 film Domino.

Stephen Moyer as Sam Knight
Stephen Moyer (born Stephen John Emery; 11 October 1969) is an English actor who has starred as in True Blood since 2008. Moyer was born in Brentwood, Essex. He attended St Martin's School, a comprehensive school in Hutton, Essex, and graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He became Brentwood Theatre's first patron in October 2007, especially supporting their "Reaching Out, Building On" campaign to help fund the 2008 completion of backstage facilities. After graduating from LAMDA, Stephen Moyer worked in theatre for five years. He worked with the National Theatre of Wales, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Oxford Stage Company, work which included going on tour and playing Romeo in productions of Romeo and Juliet. He then made the transition to television and film.

Joe Mantegna as Lou Manahan
Joseph Anthony “Joe” Mantegna, Jr. (born November 13, 1947) is an American Tony Award-winning actor, producer, writer and director. He is best known for his roles in box-office hits such as Three Amigos (1986), The Godfather Part III (1990), Forget Paris (1995), Up Close & Personal (1996), and The Simpsons Movie (2007). Mantegna has gained Emmy Award nominations for his roles in three different miniseries, The Last Don (1997), The Rat Pack (1999) and The Starter Wife (2007). Mantegna served as executive producer for various movies and television movies, such as Corduroy (1984), Hoods (1998), and Lakeboat (2000), which he also directed. On television, Mantegna starred in the short lived series First Monday (2002), Joan of Arcadia (2003-2005). Since the 1991 Simpsons’ episode "Bart the Murderer" Mantegna has had a recurring role on the animated comedy series The Simpsons as mob boss Fat Tony. In 2007 Mantegna replaced Mandy Patinkin as a main character of the hit drama series Criminal Minds.

Anika Noni Rose as Lavender
Rose moved to New York without a job, and after three months she secured the role in Broadway's Footloose. Rose's big Broadway break was getting cast in Caroline, or Change. In 2004, Rose was awarded the Theatre World Award, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress and the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, for Caroline, or Change. Rose's debut in movies came with the 1999 film King of the Bingo Game. In 2003, she played the role of Kaya in From Justin to Kelly; in 2004 she performed in Temptation, followed by Surviving Christmas. In 2006, Rose starred in Dream Girls. Rose is scheduled to appear in the films Just Add Water, Razor, and in Disney's upcoming animated feature The Princess and the Frog as the voice of the lead character Tiana. She also stars alongside Jill Scott in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.