Comic book stories are one of the dominating genres of stories coming out of Hollywood lately. Since Robert Downey Jr declared he is Ironman, there has been an explosion in the number of comic book projects that have been turned into motion pictures. This explosion has further crossed over to television where several television shows are now based on comic book characters. As a result of this, actors and actresses who get to land such roles in adapted comic book stories enjoy rapid popularity, like Maggie Geha who starred in Gotham, a show about the fictional city of Batman.
Although her appearance on the show was short-lived, the rewards have stayed with Maggie Geha who is now known across several fanbases as one of the actresses who has portrayed the iconic Poison Ivy character.
Maggie Geha Was Born and Raised In Boston, Massachusetts
- Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts
- Date of Birth: April 4, 1988
- Age: 35 Years Old
- Alma mater: Marymount Manhattan College
- Occupation: Actress and Model
- Years Active: 2007 – Present
Maggie Geha is a native of Boston, Massachusetts. The actress’ date of birth is reported to be on the 4th of April, 1988. While there are no details available about her father, we do know that her mother is Mary Westbrook-Geha. The actress is not an only child as she grew up alongside her sister, Sophie Geha.
In regard to her academics, Maggie attended high school in the U.S state of Vermont. Upon graduation, she proceeded to enroll at a college in Newport, Rhode Island. While we do not have the names of the institution of learning she attended and what she studied there, we do know that Maggie equally attended Marymount Manhattan College in New York where she studied theater with a focus on performance.
Maggie Geha currently lives in California with her only sister as she tries to create a niche for herself in the ever-competitive world of entertainment.
She Was Quite a Popular Model Before She Became a Famous Actress
Maggie’s professional acting career started in the year 2007 after she completed her education. Before then, however, the actress had already made her way into the world of showbiz – at the age of 16. Being a combination of brains and beauty, Maggie Geha was able to compete in the Miss Vermont Teen USA beauty pageant. It was her first attempt at any form of modeling and she excelled, winning the competition in 2004. This win heralded better things to come as it spurred a career as a model for her.
However, despite the relative success she had working as a model where she appeared in a number of music videos, including in one for Beyonce’s Pretty Hurts, Maggie never lost sight of her dream of becoming an actress. The hopeful screen diva was really lucky when she made her on-screen debut in 2011 in the short film, Taxi Cab Teranga, giving expression to a character named Cate.
Maggie Geha Is Most Known for Playing Adult Ivy Pepper In Gotham
Before she was cast as Poison Ivy in Gotham, Maggie Geha had a very low-key career. Although she had featured in a number of major productions, she played minor roles in them until she got a chance to star in the comic book show. It was a much-needed break for the Boston-born actress.
Since her debut, Maggie Geha has gone on to star in a number of television shows. In the year after her debut, she appeared in an episode of the hit show, Gossip Girl. To date, her most prominent roles have come on television. She has starred in multiple television shows thus far, with major appearances as Susan in All My Children in 2013 and as Ivy Pepper in Gotham (2016). It was announced in August 2018 that Maggie will be appearing as Abigail Spencer in the Netflix show, Mr. Iglesias which premiered in 2019.
In terms of big-screen projects, where most actors and actresses tend to make their name, Maggie Geha hasn’t made much of an impact. Although she has appeared in a couple of notable movies such as Winter’s Tale alongside Will Smith and in Ted 2 where she starred alongside Mark Wahlberg, the actress has mostly been limited to minor roles.
List of All The Movies And TV Shows She Has Featured In
- Taxi Cab Teranga (2011)
- Gossip Girl (2012)
- Save the Cat (2012)
- 30 Rock (2013)
- All My Children (2013)
- David Gandy’s Goodnight (2013)
- Winter’s Tale (2014)
- The Rewrite (2014)
- White Briar Rose (2014)
- Happyish (2015)
- Ted 2 (2015)
- In Stereo (2015)
- The Harrow (2016)
- Gotham (2016 – 2017)
- Dead Without Your Love (2017)
- Mr. Iglesias (2019 – 2020)
- Game On! A Comedy Crossover Event (2020)
- Benny’s Lament (TBD)
Maggie Geha’s Time on Gotham and Why She Left the Show
Getting cast in a show like Gotham is a massive opportunity for any actor, especially one with a developing career. Maggie Geha was able to celebrate earning this opportunity in 2016 when she was cast as Ivy Pepper (Poison Ivy) on the show. She went on to star in two seasons of the show, appearing in a main role in the third season and then in a reduced guest role in the fourth season.
With the actress playing an iconic comic book character, fans actually believed that Maggie was set to be the face of the Poison Ivy character for a long time until she was replaced with Peyton List. The reason for the replacement, which fans of the show did not appreciate, was down to a change of direction by the show’s production team which sought to make Poison Ivy an older character, one Maggie Geha was too young to portray.
To further elaborate on the reasons for Maggie’s exit, one of the executive producers of Gotham, Bryan Wynbrandt, said that the constant change effected in the character of Ivy was based on the fact that she is supposed to continue evolving to become more of the comic book Ivy. He went on to elaborate that actress Clare Foley was featured for the initial iteration in the first two seasons, as a kid trying to find her footing in the world. She then evolved into the second iteration which was undertaken by Maggie Geha who came across as an amazing embodiment of a fun kind of comic and zany quality. Maggie’s character later began to perceive that she was not getting her deserved respect and thus, needed to have something done about it, and this is exactly where the third iteration comes in.
As stated above, the third iteration will have Mad Men and Frequency actress, Peyton List, portray a really scary, self-possessed, and driven version of the Ivy character, whose intent is to make the world conform to the image she thinks is suitable.
