Jodi Balfour

Jodi Balfour is a queer Canadian actress who came out publicly in June 2021 in an Instagram post for Pride Month: "How undeniably freeing it has been to finally embrace and explore my queerness." She described the process of coming out as gradual and deeply personal -- an ongoing journey of self-understanding rather than a single moment -- and spoke about the community she had found in LGBTQ+ spaces. Balfour is best known internationally for her role as Ellen Waverly, a NASA secretary at the center of Cold War politics, in the alternate-history drama For All Mankind (2019). She has also appeared in Quarry, True Detective, and Ted Lasso. Balfour met fellow actress Abbi Jacobson in 2020, and the two married in 2023 in Brooklyn, becoming one of the most visible openly queer couples in entertainment. Her coming-out was particularly meaningful given the size and reach of her audience, and she has spoken about the responsibility and privilege of using that platform to affirm LGBTQ+ identity.