Soap Opera History

Robin Wright Facts: Celebrities Who Started On Soaps

Published by

Shado Saeyang

5 years ago

Robin Wright is best known for appearing in movies like The Princess Bride, Forrest Gump, and Wonder Woman, as well as TV shows like House of Cards. Of course, she started her career on a soap!

Wright began her career when she was fairly young, as she booked her first television role when she was still in her teens. From where she was born and raised to having achieved a Netflix first, here are five fast facts about the stunning actress.

Who Is Robin Wright?

Wright was born on April 8 in Dallas, Texas to parents Gayle and Freddie Wright. She was raised in San Diego, California and attended both La Jolla High School there and Taft High School in Los Angeles. She also started modeling when she was in high school.

Soap Beginnings
Wright landed the role of Kelly Capwell on Santa Barbara in 1984. She was on the show for four years and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy three times for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series. Wright left the show in 1988 when her film career started to take off.

Film Breakthrough
Wright’s big break came when she landed the role of Buttercup in the cult classic, The Princess Bride. The movie was filmed while she was still on Santa Barbara, and Wright was cast just a week before filming began. But since she was still under contract to the soap, she was only allowed out by agreeing to extend her contract.

Netflix First

Wright played the role of Claire Underwood on House of Cards for six seasons. She was the first actress in history to win a Golden Globe in 2014 for an online-only web television series. She was also the first actress to win a Golden Globe for Netflix.

Getting Personal With Robin Wright
Wright married Santa Barbara co-star Dane Witherspoon (ex-Joe) in 1986, but they split in 1988 and he passed away in 2014. She started dating Sean Penn in 1989 and the couple had two children together, daughter Dylan in April 1991, and son Hopper in August 1993.

The couple got married in 1996, but they officially divorced in 2010 after years of having an on-and-off relationship. She then started dating Ben Foster in 2012, and they got engaged in 2014. However, they split in 2015. Wright married her third husband, Clement Giraudet, in August 2018.