Ella Beatty is stepping into her biggest screen role yet as Lizzie Borden in Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. The new season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s true-crime anthology arrives on Netflix on September 17, 2026.
Beatty
may come from one of Hollywood’s best-known acting families, but her early
career has included a mix of Broadway, off-Broadway, television and independent
film work. Before landing the lead role in Monster, she appeared in Feud:
Capote vs. The Swans, Appropriate, Ghosts and the A24
film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
Here’s
a closer look at Ella Beatty’s age, family, acting career and her role as
Lizzie Borden.
Who Is Ella Beatty?
Ella Beatty is an American actress and
the daughter of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening.
She trained in drama at The Juilliard
School and graduated in 2022. Instead of moving directly into major film roles,
Beatty’s early professional work included both theater and television.
Her screen career gained attention in
2024 when she appeared in Ryan Murphy’s Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.
That connection would later become especially significant when she was selected
to lead another Murphy project, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.
Ella Beatty’s Age and Family
Ella Beatty was born on April
8, 2000, in Los Angeles. She is 26 years old as of 2026.
Her parents are actor and
filmmaker Warren Beatty and actress Annette Bening, who married in 1992. Ella
is the youngest of their four children.
Her family also has another
major Hollywood connection. Oscar-winning actress Shirley MacLaine is Warren
Beatty’s older sister, making MacLaine Ella’s aunt.
Growing up around actors may
have introduced Beatty to the industry early, but her professional career has
included extensive stage training and theater work alongside her screen roles.
Ella Beatty Studied Acting at
Juilliard
Beatty graduated
from The Juilliard School in 2022 after studying acting in its drama program.
Her theater
background quickly became an important part of her early career.
In March 2024, she
joined the Broadway production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Appropriate as
River, replacing Elle Fanning in the role.
The production
featured a cast that included Sarah Paulson and Corey Stoll and went on to win
the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.
Beatty later
returned to the New York stage in Lincoln Center Theater’s 2025 production of
Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts. She played Regina alongside Lily Rabe, Billy
Crudup, Levon Hawke and Hamish Linklater.
Ella Beatty’s First TV Role Was in
Feud
Beatty made an
important early television appearance in FX’s Feud: Capote vs. The
Swans.
She played Kerry
O’Shea in the Ryan Murphy-produced anthology series, which featured Naomi
Watts, Tom Hollander, Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny, Calista Flockhart and Demi
Moore.
The role also
marked the beginning of Beatty’s professional connection with Murphy before she
was eventually chosen to play Lizzie Borden in Monster.
Netflix later said
that Murphy and co-creator Ian Brennan conducted an extensive search before
selecting Beatty for the role.
Ella Beatty Appeared in If I Had
Legs I’d Kick You
Beatty also
appeared in Mary Bronstein’s A24 film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
She played Kate
in the film, which stars Rose Byrne as Linda, a woman struggling to hold
together several parts of her increasingly chaotic life.
The movie
premiered at the Sundance Film Festival before becoming an awards-season title.
For Beatty, the supporting role added an A24 feature film to a résumé that had
already included television and Broadway work.
Ella Beatty Returned to the Stage
With Hugh Jackman
In 2026, Beatty
starred opposite Hugh Jackman in Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes
at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre in New York.
Beatty played
Annie, a 19-year-old student, while Jackman played Jon, her university
professor.
The production
ran from March 17 through April 20, 2026.
The two-person
play gave Beatty a very different type of role from the large ensemble
productions she had previously worked on and kept theater as an active part of
her career even as her film and television profile grew.
Ella Beatty Stars in the
Psychological Thriller Act One
Beatty also leads
Sophia Takal’s psychological thriller Act One.
The film
premiered as part of the 2026 Tribeca Festival.
Beatty plays
Hannah, an aspiring teenage actress who enrolls at an acting studio after
losing a role in her school play. She becomes increasingly drawn to an acting
instructor named Melanie, played by Ari Graynor, as their relationship develops
into something more controlling and unsettling.
The cast also
includes Nate Mann, Elizabeth Reaser, Sinclair Daniel, Robert Sean Leonard and
Tavi Gevinson.
The role gave
Beatty another leading performance in 2026, shortly before the release of Monster:
The Lizzie Borden Story.
Ella Beatty Movies and TV Shows
Here is a quick look at
some of Ella Beatty’s major acting credits so far:
|
Year |
Title |
Role |
Format |
|
2024 |
Feud: Capote
vs. The Swans |
Kerry O’Shea |
Television |
|
2024 |
Appropriate |
River |
Broadway |
|
2025 |
If I Had Legs I’d Kick
You |
Kate |
Film |
|
2025 |
Ghosts |
Regina |
Off-Broadway |
|
2026 |
Sexual Misconduct of the
Middle Classes |
Annie |
Off-Broadway |
|
2026 |
Act One |
Hannah |
Film |
|
2026 |
Monster: The Lizzie
Borden Story |
Lizzie Borden |
Netflix Series |
Ella Beatty Plays Lizzie Borden
in Netflix’s Monster
Ella Beatty takes
the lead role in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, the fourth
installment of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Netflix anthology.
Netflix says
Beatty was chosen after an extensive search to find the actress who would bring
Lizzie Borden to the screen.
The role marks a
major step in Beatty’s career. Instead of appearing as part of a supporting
ensemble, she is playing the central figure around whom the season’s story is
built.
Beatty had
already worked within Murphy’s television world through Feud: Capote
vs. The Swans, but Monster gives her a much larger role.
She told
Netflix’s Tudum that she became interested in exploring Borden’s psychology as
well as the themes of female rage and repression that run through the new
season.
Beatty also said
she researched the real case when the audition came up, including listening to
true-crime podcasts before approaching the fictionalized version created for
the series.
What Is the True Story Behind
Lizzie Borden?
The real Lizzie
Borden became one of the most famous figures in American crime history
following the deaths of her father, Andrew Borden, and stepmother, Abby Borden.
Andrew and Abby
were murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts, home on August 4, 1892.
Lizzie was
arrested on August 11 and later went on trial for both murders.
On June 20, 1893,
a jury found her not guilty.
The murders were
never conclusively solved, and debate about what happened inside the Borden
home has continued for more than a century.
That distinction
is important when watching Netflix’s version of the story. Monster: The
Lizzie Borden Story is a dramatized television series rather than a
documentary, meaning its portrayal of relationships, conversations and
motivations should not automatically be treated as established historical fact.
Who Is in the Monster: The Lizzie
Borden Story Cast?
Netflix has
confirmed several major characters appearing alongside Ella Beatty.
|
Actor |
Character |
|
Ella Beatty |
Lizzie Borden |
|
Vicky Krieps |
Bridget
“Maggie” Sullivan |
|
Charlie Hunnam |
Andrew Borden |
|
Rebecca Hall |
Abby Borden |
|
Billie Lourd |
Emma Borden |
|
Jessica Barden |
Nance O’Neil |
|
Sarah Paulson |
Aileen Wuornos |
Joey Pollari is also included in Netflix’s announced cast.
One particularly
unusual element is Sarah Paulson’s appearance as serial killer Aileen Wuornos,
who lived decades after Lizzie Borden.
Netflix has
explained that Wuornos appears in scenes set much later and is used as part of
the season’s exploration of Borden’s cultural legacy and its broader theme of
women and violence.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
Release Date
Monster: The
Lizzie Borden Story premieres on Netflix on September 17, 2026.
The season
follows three previous installments of Netflix’s Monster anthology
focusing on Jeffrey Dahmer, brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, and Ed Gein.
The Lizzie Borden
installment is the first season of the anthology built around a female central
figure.
Netflix has
already released both a teaser and a full trailer featuring Beatty as Borden.
What Did Ella Beatty Say About
Playing Lizzie Borden?
Beatty has made
clear that she approached the role as an interpretation of both a real
historical figure and the character created for the Netflix series.
Speaking with
Netflix’s Tudum, she discussed researching the case while also recognizing that
the show’s Lizzie is fictionalized.
That distinction
matters because more than 130 years after the murders, there is still no proven
answer establishing who killed Andrew and Abby Borden.
For Beatty, the
performance therefore involves exploring a possible psychology rather than
presenting the series’ events as a definitive solution to the historical
mystery.
What’s Next for Ella Beatty?
Another potentially major film
project may be ahead for Beatty.
Deadline reported in July 2026
that she was in final talks to join Focus Features’ new adaptation of Sylvia
Plath’s The Bell Jar.
Sarah Polley is directing the
film, with Billie Eilish playing protagonist Esther Greenwood and Carey
Mulligan playing Esther’s mother.
Production has been taking
place in Toronto.
However, there is an important
distinction with Beatty’s involvement: her casting had not been formally
announced by Focus Features at the time of the report, and Deadline said her
potential role had not yet been disclosed.
For now, it should therefore be
treated as reported casting rather than a confirmed Ella Beatty credit.
FAQs
What is Ella Beatty known for?
Ella
Beatty is an actress known for Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Appropriate,
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Act One and Netflix’s Monster: The
Lizzie Borden Story. She plays Lizzie Borden in the Netflix series.
When does Monster: The Lizzie
Borden Story come out?
Monster:
The Lizzie Borden Story premieres on Netflix on September 17, 2026.
Is Ella Beatty really Warren
Beatty’s daughter?
Yes.
Ella Beatty is the daughter of actor and filmmaker Warren Beatty and actress
Annette Bening.
Did Ella Beatty attend Juilliard?
Yes.
Beatty studied acting at The Juilliard School and graduated in 2022.
Is Ella Beatty confirmed for The
Bell Jar?
Not
officially as of late August 2026. Deadline reported that Beatty was in final
talks to join the film, but Focus Features had not formally announced her
casting at the time of that report.
Conclusion: Ella Beatty’s Rising Career and Biggest Role
Yet
Ella Beatty’s career has moved between
theater, television and independent film before her first major Netflix lead.
Playing Lizzie Borden in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story puts her at
the center of one of the anthology’s most recognizable true-crime cases yet.
With Act One and Monster
both placing Beatty in substantial roles in 2026, this year represents the most
prominent period of her acting career so far.