Frances McDormand studied at the Yale School of Drama.

Films include Burn After Reading (2008), Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008), Friends With Money (2006), Something’s Gotta Give (2003), Laurel Canyon (2002), City By The Sea (2002), The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), Wonder Boys (2000), Madeline (1998), Paradise Road (1997), Primal Fear (1996), Lone Star (1996), Palookaville (1995), Beyond Rangoon (1995), Short Cuts (1993), Darkman (1990), Hidden Agenda (1990), Chattahoochee (1989), Raising Arizona (1987), Blood Simple (1984). She currently appears in Transformers: Dark of the Moon and can next be seen in Paolo Sorrentino's This Must Be The Place and Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom.

She is the recipient of four Academy Award nominations: Mississippi Burning (1998), Almost Famous (2000), North Country (2005), and Fargo (1996), for which she received the award for her performance as ‘Marge Gunderson.’

On stage, she received the Tony Award for her performance in David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People directed by Daniel Sullivan. Other appearances include The Country Girl directed by Mike Nichols, Caryl Churchill’s Far Away directed by Stephen Daldry at NY Theatre Workshop, her Tony-nominated performance as ‘Stella’ in A Streetcar Named Desire, The Sisters Rosenzweig directed by Daniel Sullivan at Lincoln Center Theatre, The Swan at The Public Theatre, A Streetcar Named Desire (this time as ‘Blanche’) at the Gate Theatre in Dublin, and Dare Clubb's Oedipus at the Blue Light Theater Company opposite Billy Crudup. With The Wooster Group, she performed in To You, The Birdie! and North Atlantic.