Cara Buono (born March 1, 1971) is an American actress. Emmy-nominated for her role as Dr. Faye Miller in Mad Men, she has played Karen Wheeler in the horror sci-fi series Stranger Things since its premiere in 2016. She also portrayed Kelli Moltisanti in the sixth season of The Sopranos.
Buono was born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, in a blue-collar family of Italian descent. She has two brothers and a sister.
She attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and graduated from Columbia University with a double major in English and political science, which she completed in three years. She made her acting debut in Harvey Fierstein's play Spookhouse at the age of 12.
Buono continued stage work both on Broadway and Off Broadway, and started her film career opposite Ethan Hawke and Jeremy Irons in Waterland (1992). Much of her work has been in indie films such as Chutney Popcorn (1999), Happy Accidents (2000), Next Stop Wonderland (1998) and Two Ninas (1999), which she co-produced. In 1999, she had a small role as a young Gerry Cummins in the TV movie, Deep in My Heart (1999).
She starred in the final season of the NBC drama Third Watch (1999) as paramedic Grace Foster, and Ang Lee's feature film of Marvel Comics' Hulk in 2003 as the mother of the title character's alter ego, Bruce Banner.
She also appeared as Kelli, the wife of Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), in the two-part final season of the HBO drama series The Sopranos, which aired in 2006 and 2007. She appeared as Dr. Faye Miller in the fourth season of the AMC drama series Mad Men, for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2011.
Buono lives in New York City's Greenwich Village with her husband Peter Thum, founder of Ethos Water, and their daughter.
