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Tony Goldwyn's Real-Life Daughter Tess Plays His Child on Law & Order Season 23 Finale
Art imitates life in Law & Order as Tony Goldwyn and his daughter Tess Goldwyn play father and daughter in the Season 23 finale.
Fans of Law & Order will get their first look at District Attorney Nicholas Baxter’s daughter in the action-packed Season 23 finale — and they'll also be meeting Tony Goldwyn’s real-life daughter at the same time.
Tess Goldwyn, Tony’s real-life daughter, will take on the role of Carrie Baxter in the finale, airing Thursday, May 16 on NBC, in a touching example of art imitating life.
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Acting has been a family affair for the Goldwyn family for generations. Tony’s mom was actress Jennifer Howard and his father was film producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr., but the clan’s entertainment roots go even deeper than that, according to his bio on Masterworks Broadway. His paternal grandparents were actress Frances Howard, and movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn, who co-founded Goldwyn Pictures, which eventually was merged with other companies to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM studios. And his maternal grandparents were actress Clare Earnes and playwright Sidney Howard.
It looks like his daughter Tess is the latest Goldwyn to make her mark in the entertainment industry.
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Who is Tess Goldwyn?
Tess is an actor, director and producer, according to her profile on IMDB,
Along with her role in the Law & Order Season 23 finale as District Attorney Baxter's daughter, Tess also appeared in other television series including New Amsterdam, Screwed, and on one episode of the one-season revival of Murphy Brown. She additionally appeared in the 2022 Disney+ film Better Nate Than Ever.
One of her latest projects, according to the bio on her personal website, was acting in the feature film Ezra, which stars Robert DeNiro, Bobby Cannavale, and Rose Byrne. The film, about a man struggling to connect with his autistic son, was directed by her father, Tony Goldwyn. It premiered at a film festival in 2023 and is set to hit theaters on May 31, 2024.
Tess has also written and directed five short films and is working on developing her own feature screenplay, her official bio states. Before breaking into the entertainment industry, Tess got her Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University, and a Master of Arts in Acting from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London.
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Tess and Tony talked about their relationship — and love for collaborating — in an adorable video for the Actors Training Center that they filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that was posted to Facebook by the group in May of 2020.
“So I was thinking that during these really weird pandemic times that we’re living in, one of the things that sustains me always, and has really sustained me and Tess, is the ability to collaborate with each other, which we honestly have been doing,” Tony shared as he stood beside his daughter.
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Tess added in the video, "We put together a group of a couple friends and have been reading through a play that we really like every week.on Zoom and have truly just been switching up parts and pairs and talking about the scenes of the play... which has been really helpful."
Who is Tony Goldwyn’s wife?
The proud father shares daughters Tess and Anna with his wife, Jane Musky.
Musky has had her own long career in television and film as an accomplished production designer, working on such films as Blood Simple, Glengarry Glen Ross, When Harry Met Sally, and Hitch and Hustlers.
During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Tony credited his wife with helping him land his breakout role in 1990's hit film, Ghost.
"Ghost was a big movie she was doing, and I was an unemployed actor having a tough time," he told host Fallon. "And she would come home and say, 'You know, there's this role they haven't cast in this movie.' I was like, 'That's one of the lead roles! They're never gonna cast me in this part!'"
"I finally harassed my agent so much that the assistant in my agent's office said, 'I'm going to get you in on that,’” he continued.
Fallon, who worked with Musky when he made a cameo in the 2022 film Marry Me, called her a “legend” in the business.
To catch Tony and Tess in action together in the finale of Law & Order, catch the episode on Thursday, May 16 at 8/7c p.m. on NBC or stream it the next day on Peacock.
