MY LIFE IN 10 PICTURES

Look back at Debra Messing’s storied Hollywood career.

“I think getting over the fear of failure is the most important lesson any of us could learn.” — Debra

GROWING UP, Debra Lynn Messing “thought the odds that I’d become an actor were against me. I grew up on a farm in Rhode Island, and

no one ever left. I’d go watch the foals being born and daydream about going to New York and being on Broadway.” But she believed it was something she was “destined to do” — singing, dancing and performing until she found her place as a comedienne, like

redheaded inspirations Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett. Now Debra, who turns 49 on Aug. 15, is reviving her signature role as Grace Adler in a reboot of Will & Grace and is focused on horsing around. With all the turmoil going on in the country, “We realized

we need to laugh and we need to make people laugh.”

1 1985 STAGE SET “My first memory is seeing Annie [on Broadway] and just having my mind blown,” says Debra, who’d play the lead in high school. “To this day my brother likes to say that was my peak.”

2 1995 NAKED TRUTH Her film debut in A Walk in the Clouds (with Keanu Reeves) wasn’t a walk in the park thanks to the director who told her, “Your job is to get naked and say the lines. That’s it.”