Artspace Hiawatha Lofts resident Jodee (Jodi) Thelen started acting in Stearns County Community Theater at age 11 in St. Cloud Minnesota. Her formal education was at the Children's Theater Company School from 1978-79.
Cast in an Arthur Penn Film at age 17, Four Friends was filmed in Chicago and New York. Jodee turned 21 on Broadway in the original production of Neil Simons Brighten Beach Memoirs and did seven original plays in New York and Washington D.C.
Jodee made her screen debut as Georgia Miles in Four Friends in 1981. She recently starred in a Seattle-based film, Laggies, alongside Keira Knightly and directed by Lynn Shelton.
Jodee appeared on Broadway in Brighton Beach Memoirs in 1983. Her off-Broadway credits include Springtime for Henry, Largo Desolatoat The Public Theater, The Nice and the Nasty at Playwrights Horizons, The Chemistry of Change, and A Body of Water, in which she played the dual roles of Sandy and Malka. For the latter, Variety praised her "stunning transformation" between roles, while The New York Times noted the "welcome comic bite" of her Malka portrayal.
Jodee's television credits include Duet, Grace Under Fire, Touched by an Angel and Joan of Arcadia.
Other credits include: Duet: 54 shows (Fox Network original series launch with the NEW Fox network after the Tracy Ullman Show), Black Stallion Returns, Twilight Time with Karl Malden, six plays at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, T.V. guest spots on various T.V. shows. Jodee was able to support herself as a professional actor when she lived in L.A. and New York.
Personal Statement
Locally I have been doing mostly commercials since I had to pay my rent; first and foremost and being an actor in Seattle is limited to the amount of work available that is not pre-cast. All markets seem to work on a “who you know” basis. I moved to Seattle to be near my daughter attending an all-girls high school in Vancouver B.C. I went back to school 2008-2012 and got a ABS degree in Social Services at Seattle Central College. Third Cohort for the four year Applied Behavioral Science Degree. I dropped out of school when I was young- so this was doing something I needed to complete. I am finding my way and am a “Laggie”! My Seattle film, out now, stars Keira Knightly and I play her concerned mom. Cute movie -- you will laugh!
Watch Jodee in a commercial and spoof "Fabulous Gift Wrapping".
Headshot of Jodee Thelen by Satya Curcio
