From 'Carrie' To Crooner: 7 Shocking Career Pivots And The Latest Project Of Amy Irving In 2025

Amy Irving's storied career, which spans over five decades, has always been defined by unexpected turns, but her latest move in 2025 is arguably the most surprising of all. While fans may be searching for her next cinematic masterpiece following her last film, A Mouthful of Air (2021), the Academy Award-nominated actress has fully embraced a new identity: a jazz and folk singer, cementing her recent career pivot with the release of her sophomore album, Always Will Be, in April 2025. This focus on music, rather than traditional "Amy Irving movies," is the freshest and most current chapter in her artistic life.

This article dives deep into the complete filmography that built her legacy, from her early scream queen roles to her acclaimed dramatic performances, before dissecting the bold musical journey she has undertaken in the mid-2020s. We will explore the pivotal roles that earned her critical acclaim and the personal life details that often overshadowed her work, including her high-profile marriage and subsequent divorce from director Steven Spielberg.

Amy Irving: A Complete Biography and Career Timeline

Amy Davis Irving is an American actress and singer whose career seamlessly transitions between film, stage, and television. Born into an influential theatrical family, her destiny on stage and screen was set early on. Her ability to portray both soulful ingénues and complex dramatic figures has made her a respected, if often underrated, figure in Hollywood.

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• Full Name: Amy Davis Irving
• Date of Birth: September 10, 1953
• Place of Birth: Palo Alto, California, U.S.
• Parents: Jules Irving (Director, Actor, and Producer; former Artistic Director of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater) and Priscilla Pointer (Actress).
• Education: Attended the American Conservatory Theater and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
• Career Start: Began acting professionally at age 17.
• Marriages:
  • Steven Spielberg: Married 1985; Divorced 1989. (The divorce settlement was reportedly one of the most expensive in history at the time, valued at $100 million).
  • Bruno Barreto: Married 1996; Divorced 2005. (Brazilian film director).
  • Kenneth "Ken" Williams: Married 2007; Current husband (Filmmaker and documentarian).
• Children:
  • Max Spielberg (born 1985, with Steven Spielberg).
  • Gabriel Barreto (born 1990, with Bruno Barreto).
• Notable Awards & Nominations:
  • Academy Award Nomination (Best Supporting Actress for Yentl, 1984).
  • Golden Globe Nominations (for Yentl and Crossing Delancey, 1989).
  • Screen Actors Guild Award (Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for Traffic, 2001).
  • Obie Award (for her Off-Broadway performance in The Road to Mecca, 1988).
• Estimated Net Worth (2025): Approximately $120 million.

The Definitive List of Amy Irving's Most Essential Movies

While Amy Irving’s filmography is extensive, certain roles have indelibly marked her place in cinematic history. These are the movies that define her acting legacy and are essential viewing for any fan.

1. Carrie (1976): The Debut That Defined a Genre

Irving’s breakout film role was Sue Snell, the kind-hearted high school student who regrets her part in the bullying of the titular character in Brian De Palma's adaptation of the Stephen King novel. This performance launched her career and placed her instantly within the horror genre, a space she revisited shortly thereafter.

2. The Fury (1978): Re-teaming with De Palma

Following the success of Carrie, Irving was cast in another Brian De Palma supernatural thriller, The Fury. She played Gillian Bellaver, a young woman with powerful psychic abilities. The film showcased her capacity for intensity and cemented her status as a leading actress in the late 70s.

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3. Yentl (1983): The Oscar-Nominated Performance

Playing Hadass Vishkower in Barbra Streisand’s musical drama Yentl remains the pinnacle of her critical recognition. Her portrayal of the beautiful woman who falls in love with a man disguised as a male Talmudic student earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

4. Crossing Delancey (1988): A Golden Globe-Nominated Romantic Comedy

Irving received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her charming and nuanced performance as Isabelle Grossman, a single New Yorker whose grandmother hires a matchmaker. This film is often cited as her most beloved and accessible role, a perfect showcase for her comedic timing and warmth.

5. Traffic (2000): The SAG Award-Winning Ensemble

In a major supporting role as Barbara Wakefield, the wife of a conservative judge (played by Michael Douglas), Irving was part of the critically acclaimed ensemble cast of Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic. The cast collectively won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

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6. A Mouthful of Air (2021): Her Last Major Film Role

Her most recent film role was Bobbi Davis in the independent drama A Mouthful of Air, starring Amanda Seyfried. The movie, which deals with postpartum depression, demonstrated her continued commitment to complex, character-driven independent cinema, even as her focus began to shift toward music.

The Shocking Pivot: Why Amy Irving Is Now a Jazz Singer in 2025

For an actress with an Oscar nomination and a SAG Award win, the decision to step away from the big screen and into the recording studio is a fascinating career move. However, as the daughter of a director and an actress, and a classically trained performer, Irving’s roots are in all forms of performance, including singing.

Her first album, Born in a Trunk, released in 2023, was a personal exploration of her life and theatrical heritage. The album's title is a direct reference to her childhood, a reflection of her being born into a family constantly traveling with theater productions. The album featured classic swing and jazz vocals, surprising many who only knew her from her dramatic film roles.

The pivot was fully solidified with the release of her second album, Always Will Be, which hit shelves on April 25, 2025. This sophomore effort, released via Queen Of The Castle Records, continues her exploration of music, often blending genres like folk, jazz, and country. Her commitment to this new phase is evident in the extensive promotion and interviews she has done, where she discusses her passion for singing as a fresh form of expression. This musical journey is the definitive "latest project" for Amy Irving in 2025, demonstrating that her artistic curiosity is far from over.

Beyond the Screen: Theater, Television, and Personal Life Entities

To truly understand Amy Irving's topical authority, one must look beyond the marquee Amy Irving movies and into the other areas that shaped her life and career. Her work on the stage is as significant as her film roles.

The Road to Mecca and Broadway Appearances

Irving is a dedicated theater actress, having worked extensively on and Off-Broadway. She won an Obie Award in 1988 for her performance in the Off-Broadway production of Athol Fugard's The Road to Mecca. Her stage work, which includes a Tony Award nomination for her role in the 1975 production of Once in a Lifetime, highlights her classical training and versatility, a key differentiator from many of her film contemporaries.

The Steven Spielberg Divorce Settlement

Irving’s personal life often made headlines, most notably her relationship with iconic director Steven Spielberg. They met while she auditioned for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Their first relationship ended, but they reunited and married in 1985. Their subsequent divorce in 1989 resulted in a landmark $100 million settlement, which remains one of the most expensive celebrity divorces in history. This financial detail is a significant entity in her biography, often linked to her overall estimated net worth of $120 million.

The Barreto and Williams Chapters

Following Spielberg, she married Brazilian director Bruno Barreto in 1996, a relationship that lasted until their divorce in 2005. She later found lasting stability with her current husband, filmmaker Kenneth Williams, whom she married in 2007. The presence of her two sons, Max Spielberg and Gabriel Barreto, from her first two marriages, grounds her life outside of her professional endeavors, completing the portrait of an artist whose career is a continuous, evolving performance.