Biography

Huffman was among dozens charged by the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office on March 12, 2019, in a nationwide college entrance exam cheating scandal. Prosecutors alleged that Huffman's $15,000 donation to the Key Worldwide Foundation, ostensibly a charitable contribution, was in fact payment to a person who pretended to be Huffman's daughter, took the SAT for her, and received a score greatly improved from the daughter's score on the Preliminary SAT (PSAT). Huffman was arrested on March 12, charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, and released on $250,000 bail. At her court appearance in Boston on April 3, she acknowledged her rights, charges, and maximum possible penalties; she waived a pretrial hearing, signed conditions of her release, and was allowed to leave. On April 8, she agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Huffman formally pleaded guilty to honest services fraud on May 13, 2019, and on September 13 she was sentenced to 14 days in jail. Upon her release she will receive one year of supervised release. She was also fined $30,000 and ordered to undertake 250 hours of community service. On October 15, 2019, Huffman reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, to begin her sentence. She was meant to be released from prison on October 27, 2019 but was released 2 days early because October 27 fell on a weekend.

On September 6, 1997, she married her boyfriend of 15 years William H. Macy. They met when he taught drama at New York's Atlantic Theatre Company.

On an episode of Oprah Winfrey's "Wildest Dreams" segments, Huffman's dream came true when she got to sing backup to her idol Tina Turner who was performing live for Oprah.

She told Oprah Winfrey that when she was born, her mother named her "Flicka", but had to change it because it was not a Christian name. She still uses "Flicka" as a nickname. The name "Flicka" comes from the book and movie My Friend Flicka (1943), a childhood favorite about a frisky young colt. The name means "girl" in Swedish.

She stated on Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2012) that, as a young teenager of thirteen or fourteen, she discovered that her biological father was Roger Tallman Maher, a family friend.

My main experience is that this is a freelance business, and in a freelance business you're always sure your last job really is your last job. With the show comes job security.

Having it in your pants is really different. Because all your focus goes there. It's like this thing, dangling, which takes all of your attention. It's no wonder that it's all they think about. [on the prosthetic penis she wore for her role as a man undergoing a sex change operation in Transamerica (2005)]

I know as actors our job is usually to shed our skins, but I think as people our job is to become who we really are and so I would like to salute the men and women who brave ostracism, alienation and a life lived on the margins to become who they really are. [acceptance speech at the 66th Golden Globe]

[on her Oscar nomination] I'm shot into the stratosphere. You can't pasteurize the Academy Award. You can't negotiate it. It is the top. It is the biggest thing ever. I've been hopping around and screaming all morning.

In the new millennium, we're fighting against the icon of the perfect mother. I don't know about here, but in America you're not allowed to talk about how it's driving you crazy, or how you don't like it, or how, if you have to give a bath one more time, you're going to pull your hair out. Because then you're considered a bad mom. There's a very established conversation or litany, which is, "Isn't motherhood the best?" To me, that question just isn't applicable. You can complain about your job, you can complain about your husband, you can complain about your friends, but God forbid you complain about your kids.