Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress. Her accolades include an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Hunt rose to fame portraying newlywed Jamie Buchman in the sitcom Mad About You (1992–1999), which earned her three Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress and four Primetime Emmy Awards for Lead Actress. Hunt won the Academy Award for Best Actress for starring as a single mother in the romantic comedy film As Good as It Gets (1997), and she established a film career by starring in Twister (1996), Cast Away (2000), What Women Want (2000), and Pay It Forward (2000). Hunt made her directorial film debut with Then She Found Me (2007). For her portrayal of Cheryl Cohen-Greene in The Sessions (2012), she gained a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other notable films include Bobby (2006), Soul Surfer (2011), and The Miracle Season (2018), and she has directed the film Ride (2014), and episodes of television series, including House of Lies in 2016, This Is Us in 2016, Feud: Bette and Joan in 2017, American Housewife in 2018, and the premiere episode of the Mad About You revival in 2019.