June Carryl
June Carryl is an American actress, playwright, and director, best known for her recurring role as Camille Bell in season two of the Netflix series Mindhunter.[1] Born on June 10, 1967, in Iowa City, Iowa, she grew up in Denver, Colorado.[2] Carryl holds membership in the Actors' Equity Association (AEA) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).[3] Carryl initially studied political science at Brown University with the intention of becoming a lawyer but switched to English and acting before graduating.[4] She began her film career in the late 1990s with roles in A Smile Like Yours (1997), What Dreams May Come (1998), Woman on Top (2000), and Sweet November (2001).[5] Her television credits include guest and recurring appearances on shows such as Bosch, Shameless, Dead to Me, S.W.A.T., Criminal Minds, Parenthood, Law & Order: LA, NCIS: Los Angeles, Bones, and 9-1-1: Lone Star.[6] More recently, she appeared in Absolute Dominion (2025) and portrayed Dr. Louise Beatty in the 2024 film Joker: Folie à Deux, with an upcoming role in Atropia (2025).[5] In addition to acting, Carryl is an accomplished playwright and director, with works including God's Wife (2004, writer/director), Venus (1999), Civil Sex (2000), LA BÊTE - A One Act, and more recent plays like BLUE (2023) and THE GIRL WHO MADE THE MILKY WAY (2024).[7][8] She has received awards for her playwriting and screenwriting, including the 2016 Saroyan/Paul Human Rights Playwriting Prize and the 2023 Fringe First Award for BLUE, and continues to develop new projects in Los Angeles, where she resides.[4] Her multifaceted career spans theater, film, and television, often highlighting complex characters and social themes.[9]Early life and education
Early years
June Carryl was born on June 10, 1967, in Iowa City, Iowa.[5][10][4] Of Guyanese-American heritage, Carryl grew up in a single-parent household led by her mother, a Guyanese immigrant, alongside her two younger siblings after her parents separated early in her life.[11][12] The family relocated to Denver, Colorado, where Carryl spent her formative years in the Montbello neighborhood of Northeast Denver, navigating the dynamics of a tight-knit immigrant family focused on stability and ambition.[5][13] Her mother's influence was profound, as she and a close friend actively planned for Carryl's future in law, envisioning a stable professional path that aligned with their aspirations for their children's success.[14] This early emphasis on legal studies shaped Carryl's initial ambitions, reflecting the determined family environment that prioritized education and upward mobility despite challenges in a single-parent setup.[15][12]Academic background
June Carryl attended Brown University, where she initially pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with the intention of attending law school, influenced by her mother's aspirations for her career.[16][14] Carryl initially pursued a BA in Political Science but later shifted her focus by earning an MA in English Literature at Brown University in 1992, reflecting a growing interest in creative and literary pursuits rather than legal ones; she ultimately decided against taking the LSAT, marking a pivotal departure from her original path.[4][17] Following her undergraduate graduation, Carryl pursued graduate studies in English Literature at Brown University, where she earned a Master of Arts degree, further deepening her engagement with literary analysis and playwriting.[16][18] After completing her graduate work, she moved to the Bay Area in 1993 to formally study acting, transitioning toward a professional career in the performing arts.[5][4]Career
Theater work
June Carryl began her professional acting career in the Bay Area after moving there in 1993 to study the craft, where she worked regionally for seven years.[17] During this time, she appeared in notable productions including Pieces of the Quilt at the Magic Theatre, As You Like It and A Midsummer Night's Dream with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival.[5] Throughout the 1990s in the Bay Area, Carryl also taught playwriting and acting workshops to high school students, contributing to educational programs in the regional theater community.[17] [19] She later performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, taking on the role of Adjua in the 2013 world premiere of The Liquid Plain by Thulani Davis.[20] In this production, Carryl portrayed an escaped enslaved woman navigating themes of freedom and identity in 19th-century Rhode Island.[21]Television roles
June Carryl made her television debut in 1997 with a recurring role as Dr. Barry on the CBS series Nash Bridges, appearing across multiple episodes from 1997 to 1999. Throughout the early 2000s and 2010s, Carryl built a steady presence in guest and recurring capacities on various network and cable shows, including roles on Without a Trace (2004) as Mrs. Brooks, The Bold and the Beautiful (2006) as Minister Jill, Criminal Minds (2009) as a doctor, Parenthood (2010), Law & Order: LA (2011), and over 20 other series such as Castle, Scandal, Shameless, and Bosch up to 2021.[5][22] Her profile rose with a recurring guest role as Jasmine on the Fox comedy The Mayor in 2018, followed by a notable appearance as the Subway Attendant in the IFC parody series Documentary Now! (Season 1, Episode: "Parker Gail's Location Is Everything," 2016). In 2019, Carryl earned acclaim for her recurring role as Camille Bell across five episodes of Season 2 of Netflix's Mindhunter, portraying a key figure in the Atlanta Child Murders investigation storyline. She continued her ascent in 2020 as a series regular, playing Dr. Louise Hastings, the empathetic psychiatrist and surrogate mother figure to the protagonist, in all 10 episodes of Hulu's Marvel series Helstrom. Capping this period, Carryl appeared as a recurring guest star in 2021 on FX's Y: The Last Man, portraying Fran in two episodes, a character tied to the backstory of the espionage operative 355. She had a recurring role as Luanne on CBS's S.W.A.T., appearing in the pilot and "Octane" episodes of Season 1 in 2017.Film roles
June Carryl made her feature film debut in the romantic comedy A Smile Like Yours (1997), directed by Greg Pritikin, marking her entry into on-screen acting alongside actors like Greg Kinnear and Lauren Hutton. Her early film work continued with supporting roles in the fantasy drama What Dreams May Come (1998), directed by Vincent Ward, where she appeared in a cast led by Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra, and the romantic drama Sweet November (2001), directed by Pat O'Connor, featuring Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves. She also took on a role in the comedy Woman on Top (2000), directed by Fina Torres, which starred Penélope Cruz in a story of culinary passion and magical realism. After a period focused on theater and television, Carryl returned to film with a supporting role as Betty Parks in the crime drama Back Roads (2018), directed by Alex Pettyfer in his feature directorial debut, portraying a character aiding the protagonist amid family turmoil alongside Juliette Lewis and Robert Patrick.[23] That same year, she appeared in the neo-noir mystery Under the Silver Lake (2018), directed by David Robert Mitchell, contributing to the ensemble cast with Andrew Garfield in a surreal Hollywood narrative. In recent years, Carryl has taken on more prominent supporting parts, including a role in the thriller Absolute Dominion (2025), directed by Cirio H. Santiago, which explores themes of power and corruption. Her most notable recent film role came as Dr. Louise Beatty, the psychiatrist evaluating the Joker's mental state during his trial, in the musical crime drama Joker: Folie à Deux (2024), directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga.[24][25] This performance highlighted her ability to convey clinical detachment in high-stakes dramatic contexts.[26]Writing career
Playwriting
June Carryl has established herself as a prolific playwright, with works that often interrogate themes of race, gender, identity, and social justice through innovative narrative structures and historical lenses. Her plays have been developed and produced at notable venues including the Hollywood Fringe Festival, the Vagrancy, and international festivals like Edinburgh Fringe.[9][27] Drawing from her background as an actor and director, Carryl's writing frequently explores the intersections of personal trauma and systemic oppression, earning her commissions from organizations such as Imagine Theatre and Visible Theater.[5][28] One of her seminal works, NGGA BTCH, delves deeply into racial and gender dynamics, following the protagonist Nambi who repeatedly dies and reincarnates across historical epochs—from an African princess traded during the slave trade to a modern-day Black woman navigating contemporary prejudice—highlighting the enduring cycles of violence and resilience faced by Black women. Developed at Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre and the Vagrancy, the play premiered in readings including the 2021 Boston Court Pasadena New Play Reading Festival, where it was directed by Dawn Monique Williams.[27][29] Carryl has described the piece as an exploration of how Black women are perceived as "flesh and blood, but somehow not quite human," underscoring patterns of marginalization that persist through time.[11] LA BÊTE - A One Act marks another significant contribution, a satirical one-act play centering on a fading Hollywood star's desperate bid for a comeback, which exhausts her entourage including a beleaguered producer, while she conceals a personal battle. Premiering at the 2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival at the Lounge Theatre, it garnered critical acclaim, winning the Encore! Producers Award, the Spirit of the Fringe Award, and the Orgasmico Most Orgasmic Writing Award for its sharp wit and emotional depth.[30][31] The play's success at the festival underscored Carryl's ability to blend humor with incisive commentary on fame and vulnerability.[32] Carryl's commissioned works further demonstrate her versatility. The Rings of Saturn, written in 2003 for Visible Theater in New York, was later staged in The Blank Theatre's Living Room Series, exploring interpersonal connections amid cosmic and existential themes.[5] More recently, The Girl Who Made the Milky Way, an original commission by Imagine Theatre inspired by traditional Khoisan folktales of Southern Africa, follows a young girl's perilous journey across the savanna to restore the stars, emphasizing empowerment, courage, and environmental harmony for audiences aged five and up. Its world premiere ran from November 9 to 17, 2024, at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, California, in a co-production that highlighted Carryl's skill in adapting indigenous stories for family-friendly theater.[28][33] In 2023, BLUE premiered to widespread recognition, addressing racism and authoritarianism within American policing through the lens of two longtime colleagues—a Black female detective and her white male partner—whose friendship fractures during an investigation into the shooting of an unarmed Black motorist. Prompted by the death of George Floyd and the January 6 Capitol riot, the play examines how personal bonds are tested by institutional biases and societal upheaval. Following its Los Angeles debut at Rogue Machine Theatre, BLUE transferred to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023, where it won the Scotsman Fringe First Award for its provocative and timely narrative, before moving to London's Seven Dials Playhouse from March 5 to 30, 2024.[34][35] Directed by Michael Matthews, the production was praised for its raw emotional intensity and unflinching portrayal of systemic issues.[36] In 2024, Carryl contributed an adaptation to the anthology Golden Tongues: Adapting Hispanic Classical Theater in Los Angeles, exploring 17th-century Hispanic comedia in a contemporary context. The anthology featured readings and performances, including events on November 4 and 20, 2025, at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.[37][38]Directing and other pursuits
In addition to her playwriting, June Carryl has directed several productions in the Los Angeles theater scene, often focusing on emerging works and new voices. Her directing credits include Suspended at the Blank Theatre's Young Playwrights Festival in 2015, Restore at 2Cents' InkFest in 2015, and Onion Creek at Son of Semele.[39] She has also helmed The Position at Piano Fight and served as assistant director for See What I Wanna See at The Blank Theatre Company in 2010.[39][40] More recent efforts encompass Untitled Circus PLAY by Chandra Thomas and Black Girl Joy by Phanesia Pharel at the Echo Theatre's Young Playwrights program, as well as Road Home at Sky Pilot Theatre and When We Breathe at the Vagrancy Theatre's Blossoming Festival.[16] Beyond stage work, Carryl has begun development of a narrative film exploring human guilt with writer Michal Sinnott.[11] Carryl has actively contributed to the development of new plays through workshopping and producing initiatives in Los Angeles. She participated in the Center Theatre Group's L.A. Writers' Workshop for the 2021-22 season, where her own scripts were developed alongside collaborative readings.[16] Her works are featured on the New Play Exchange platform, facilitating connections for productions and further workshops.[9] As a Writers-in-Residence at the 2023 Ojai Playwrights Conference, she engaged in non-public play development processes and public readings, supporting emerging playwrights through structured feedback sessions.[41] Additional involvement includes producing readings such as God's Wife at Zephyr Theatre and The Art of Yes with Playbrokers, emphasizing collaborative nurturing of contemporary scripts.[39] Following her time in the Bay Area, Carryl has pursued teaching and mentorship roles to guide aspiring artists in acting and playwriting. During the 1990s, she led workshops in acting and playwriting across Bay Area theaters, fostering practical skills for performers and writers.[19] In Los Angeles, her mentorship extended through residencies like the Ojai Playwrights Conference, where she provided targeted guidance to young playwrights via internships and youth workshops.[42] These efforts highlight her commitment to building community and professional growth in theater education. Carryl's professional pursuits intersect with activism, particularly addressing social inequities. She has supported the Black Lives Matter movement. In a 2019 interview, she called for a movement to confront homelessness's root causes, noting how economic precarity leaves many "one catastrophe away" from instability and urging empathy to bridge divides between the housed and unhoused.[43]Filmography
Films
The following is a chronological list of June Carryl's film appearances.[5]| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | A Smile Like Yours | Uncredited |
| 1998 | What Dreams May Come | Woman in Car Accident |
| 1999 | King of the Bingo Game | Laura (short) |
| 2000 | Woman on Top | Zeke |
| 2001 | Haiku Tunnel | DaVonne |
| 2001 | Sweet November | Beatrice |
| 2007 | The Members | Gloria (TV movie) |
| 2008 | Speedie Date | Helga (short) |
| 2009 | Hired Gun | Danisha / Sarah Gatewood |
| 2012 | Qualia | Doris Davis |
| 2013 | The Other Side of the Desk | Applicant (short) |
| 2014 | Only Light | Congolese Woman (short) |
| 2014 | Health & Disorder | Dr. Ray (short) |
| 2015 | Touch | Attorney London |
| 2016 | 2 Lava 2 Lantula! | Elizabeth (TV movie) |
| 2017 | Avowed | Nurse Fanny (short) |
| 2024 | Kemba | Elaine Jones |
| 2018 | Dead Women Walking | Donna |
| 2018 | Back Roads | Betty |
| 2018 | Under the Silver Lake | Sheriff |
| 2019 | Road to Zion | Vinitia (short) |
| 2019 | One Fine Christmas | Matty (TV movie) |
| 2021 | King Alpha | Dr. Martin (short) |
| 2022 | Breathing Happy | Mom |
| 2023 | The Stratum | Nova Grave |
| 2023 | Fool's Paradise | EMT |
| 2024 | Joker: Folie à Deux | Dr. Louise Beatty |
| 2025 | Atropia | Coco (aka Conrad) |
| 2025 | Absolute Dominion | TBD |
Television
June Carryl made her television debut in 2004 with a guest appearance in the series Without a Trace. Over the subsequent decades, she amassed credits in more than 20 series, often portraying supporting characters in crime procedurals, dramas, and comedies, with a focus on recurring and guest roles that showcased her versatility.[5] Her early television work included one-off guest spots in established shows, gradually building to more prominent recurring parts in the late 2010s.| Year | Title | Role | Episodes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Without a Trace | Mrs. Brooks | 1 | Guest star in episode "Trials". |
| 2006 | The Bold and the Beautiful | Jill, Minister | 1 | Guest appearance in episode "#1.4834".[44] |
| 2007 | The Members | Gloria | TV movie (1) | Lead in PBS production.[6] |
| 2009 | Criminal Minds | Doctor | 1 | Guest star in episode "Bloodline". |
| 2011 | Law & Order: Los Angeles | Female Uni | 1 | Guest star in episode "Plummer Park". |
| 2011 | Parenthood | Unknown | 1 | Guest appearance.[18] |
| 2011 | Shameless | Beatrice | 1 | Guest star.[6] |
| 2015 | Castle | Therapist | 1 | Guest star.[2] |
| 2016 | Mad Dogs | Garifuna Mother | 1 | Guest star.[5] |
| 2016 | Stitchers | Helen Mulaney | 1 | Guest star.[5] |
| 2016 | Time Traveling Bong | Future Woman | 2 | Guest star. |
| 2016 | Documentary Now! | Subway Attendant | 1 | Guest star in episode "Parker Gail's Location Is Everything".[45] |
| 2017 | S.W.A.T. | Luanne | 2 | Recurring guest star in episodes "Pilot" and "Octane".[46] |
| 2018 | StartUp | Unknown | 1 | Guest appearance.[47] |
| 2018 | Heathers | Unknown | 1 | Co-star.[6] |
| 2018 | Snowfall | Unknown | 1 | Guest appearance.[47] |
| 2018 | American Crime Story | Unknown | Multiple (2016-2018) | Recurring across seasons.[47] |
| 2018 | The Mayor | Jasmine | 1 | Co-star in episode "Death of a Councilman".[48] |
| 2019 | Lethal Weapon | Unknown | 1 | Guest star.[47] |
| 2019 | Station 19 | Gloria | 1 | Guest star.[47] |
| 2019 | Dead to Me | Angela | 1 | Guest star.[22] |
| 2019 | Mindhunter | Camille Bell | 5 | Recurring guest star (Season 2).[49] |
| 2020 | Helstrom | Louise Hastings | 10 | Series regular.[50] |
| 2021 | Y: The Last Man | Fran | 2 | Recurring guest star in episodes "Peppers" and "Victoria". |
| 2021 | 9-1-1: Lone Star | Dr. Unknown | 1 | Guest star.[6] |