August 15 marks the birthday of actor Debra Messing, known for her starring roles in Will & Grace and The Mysteries of Laura. To celebrate, we're taking a look back at Messing's work in the NBC series Smash.
Messing starred as book writer Julia Houston in the Broadway-themed series, which followed the development of a musical about Marilyn Monroe called Bombshell. Over the course of its two seasons, Smash saw Messing's Houston, in conjunction with writing partner Tom Levitt (Christian Borle), usher their show through workshops, out-of-town tryouts, a Broadway run, and the Tony Awards—complete with all the backstage drama that comes with creating a new musical.
Flip through stills from Smash below:
Christian Borle and Debra Messing in "Smash"
Christian Borle, Debra Messing and Brian d'Arcy James in "Smash"
Debra Messing and Christian Borle
Debra Messing and Brian d'Arcy James
Debra Messing and Christian Borle
Debra Messing and Brian d'Arcy James
Emory Cohen, Christian Borle and Debra Messing
Christian Borle and Debra Messing
Ann Harada, Jack Davenport, Joshua Bergasse, Debra Messing and Christian Borle
Debra Messing
Photo by Eric Liebowitz/NBC
Christian Borle, Debra Messing and Anjelica Huston
Christian Borle and Debra Messing
Debra Messing and Will Chase
Debra Messing and Christian Borle
Debra Messing, Katharine McPhee and Christian Borle
Debra Messing and Will Chase
Erin Daugherty Holmes, Jack Davenport, Debra Messing, Ann Harada and Katharine McPhee
Jack Davenport, Debra Messing, Christian Borle, Bernadette Peters and Megan Hilty
Jack Davenport, Debra Messing and Michael Christofer
Brian d'Arcy James, Debra Messing and Emory Cohen
Jesse L. Martin and Debra Messing
Debra Messing and Andy Mientus
Christian Borle and Debra Messing
Megan Hilty and Debra Messing
Debra Messing, Jaime Cepero and Christian Borle
Debra Messing and Jesse L. Martin
Christian Borle ("Tom Levitt") and Debra Messing ("Julia Houston") in Season 2, Episode 15: "The Transfer"
Debra Messing
Debra Messing ("Julia Houston") in Season 2, Episode 15: "The Transfer"
