The heavily-hyped series Leg Work was supposed to make Margaret Colin a TV star back in 1987. Instead, Margaret’s legs and fine Irish features have been what’s made her a star with guys who tend to channel surf with one hand, if you know what we mean. Born in Brooklyn, Margaret got her start on the soap opera Edge of Night as Paige Madison, a Patty Hearst knockoff who goes from wealthy heiress to radical terrorist while surviving numerous assassination attempts and marrying her step brother. Compared to that her work directly after, as the OG Margo Hughes on As the World Turns was pretty tame. After her starring role on Foley Square lasted only one season, she moved on to Leg Work, the story of a Porsche driving private investigator struggling to keep her agency going. The show didn’t really work (it probably would have if she’d flashed more leg), lasting only one season, but it was no big deal since Hollywood had already come Colin for Margaret, knowing when it comes to Marg, there is no substitute. She had already landed roles in Pretty in Pink (1986), Something Wild (1986) and Three Men and a Baby (1987) but is likely best known for playing the White House Communications Director/Jeff Goldblum‘s ex wife Constance Spano in Independence Day (1996). However her most critically successful performance came pressing politicians as Jane McCabe, the hot headed CBS anchor on HBO’s Veep. Margaret was a part of the season that the show took home the SAG award for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.” She also played Leighton Meester‘s mom on Gossip Girl, forming the hottest family on television for years. Still, our favorite role from was when she gave us a good look at her body in The Missing Person (2009), seducing Michael Shannon in a black corset and handcuffs. We wish she’d shown her milk jugs in the back of the milk carton thriller, but we’ll take what we can get. Margaret played Ray Liotta‘s wife in Shades of Blue before moving on to Netflix’s critically panned The I-Land. I wish she’d land a role that required her to take it all off!
