Mother’s Day is an easy holiday for some, a difficult holiday for others, but always a day that observes motherhood and all that it embodies. Moms have been portrayed on the big and small screen as long as anyone else, and will always be an important part of telling any story.
From Catherine O’Hara’s Moira Rose to Cher’s Rachel Flax, there are a lot of great depictions of motherhood out there — here’s 25 of the most memorable.
Moira Rose (Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek”)
Catherine O’Hara enjoyed her fair share of iconic roles, and her turn as Moira Rose, mother to David and Alexis in “Schitt’s Creek, is one of the best. She introduced us to a wide vocabulary, emphasized the importance of taking and admiring our own nudes, and always loved her kids — even when she wasn’t quite sure how to express it.
Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke, “Game of Thrones”)
Sure, Daenerys is complicated. And, sure, her children are dragons. But many a pet mom will attest to the fact that you can love little creatures as much as you love a human child, and Daenerys certainly loved those giant scaled beasts. Could she have cooled it on some of the world domination? Yeah, but then she wouldn’t be the mother of dragons.
Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham, “Gilmore Girls”)
Oh, boy. Lorelai Gilmore is the kind of TV mom that resonates across generations, and, despite some misguided writing in the follow-up sequel, still holds up pretty well to the test of time. She’s been a model to entire group of moms who wanted to somehow be friends with their children without messing them up too much.
Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop, “Gilmore Girls”)
The thing about Lorelei is she spends a chunk of her time parenting in opposition to how she was raised, and only really begins to understand just how incredible her own mom, Emily Gilmore, is later in the series. Her ideas might sometimes be outdated and the way she lives is pretty rare, but Emily is a gem all on her own.
Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad, “The Cosby Show”)
What isn’t to love about Clair? She’s the best at a good comeback, puts up with zero shenanigans from her kids, and loves the Huxtable family fiercely. She was always sweet, but always made it clear where the line was — which is pretty much the balance most moms are trying to strike.
Etheline Tenenbaum (Anjelica Huston, “The Royal Tenenbaums”)
Etheline Tenenbaum makes you really want to be a Tenenbaum child, even when her own children kind of … don’t. She’s smart, engaged, beautiful, and fascinating.
Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey, “Game of Thrones”)
Cersei isn’t the kind of character anyone would describe as a good person, and she’s not even necessarily a good mother, but as it’s oft pointed out in the series, she loves her kids. They might be woefully misguided, evil, confused products of incest, but their her misguided, evil, and confused products of incest — and you’ll never forget it.
Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley, “Game of Thrones”)
It would be a mistake to include two moms from “Game of Thrones” who are questionable at best and leave out the actual good mom from the show, Catelyn Stark. She’s not without her faults (she didn’t have to hate Jon Snow like that), but she’d do anything — anything — for those kids.
Miriam Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
Miriam Maisel isn’t for everyone, and it’s always easy to criticize a single mom who has to sometimes miss moments with her kids because she also wants to live her professional dreams, but Midge Maisel was doing the best she could considering the era and expectations that came with it. Mostly.
Florida Evans (Esther Rolle, “Good Times”)
She might not have been for everyone, but Florida Evans certainly spoke to a generation who believed the best way to love kids was to keep them in line.
Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary, “Jaws”)
Ellen Brody is a feature of all the “Jaws” movies, but the fourth is actually about her. No one is arguing it’s the best of the films, but she’s pretty electric as a mom who has lost it all and is ready to get her revenge.
Peg Boggs (Dianne Wiest, “Edward Scissorhands”)
Peg is the kind of mom that just loves you no matter what and is so happy to be along for the ride, which is kind of the idealized mom a lot of us wish we had. She represents a kind of sweetness that can be difficult to pull off in real life, but that’s effortless onscreen.
Rainbow Johnson (Tracee Ellis Ross, “Black-ish”)
Rainbow is an activist, a smart, liberal woman who is also an excellent mom. She also manages to somehow work as a doctor and be a consistent parent to her children, of which she has five.
Peggy Bundy (Katey Sagal, “Married… With Children”)
Peggy is the kind of TV mom that would be difficult to pull off in 2026, but that’s exactly what makes her great. She’s bold and unapologetic about pretty much everything, including the fact that while someone definitely has to raise those kids, she’s not entirely convinced it should be her.
Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty, “Golden Girls”)
Sophia is definitely known for being a little too honest at times (most of the time), but she’s feisty and fun, two traits she definitely passed down to her daughter Dorothy (Bea Arthur).
Harriette Winslow (Jo Marie Payton, “Family Matters”)
Harriette wasn’t the kind of mom who would yell, but she definitely made it clear just how close you could get to the line before you’d be in trouble. Though the character was later played by Judyann Elder, Jo Marie Payton is the Harriette a lot of us remember.
Morticia Addams (Carolyn Jones, “The Addams Family”)
Morticia Addams is a truly iconic mom, and she’s been played by a lot of iconic women. Carolyn Jones played the role from 1964 to 1966, and brought to life the version of the character that’s influenced those that came after her.
Molly Weasley (Julie Walters, “Harry Potter”)
Molly Weasley is special to a lot of “Harry Potter” fans for the fierce devotion she shows to her children and to Harry himself, and especially for the way she literally fought to protect them all in the final book and film of the series.
Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder, “Stranger Things”)
All the moms in “Stranger Things” are good, but Joyce represents a realistic portrait of a mom who is trying her hardest against odds that are truly insurmountable. Who among us wouldn’t hack into our own house if we thought our kid was being held hostage in the walls by a supernatural being? Please.
Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono, “Stranger Things”)
For most of “Stranger Things” Karen seems preoccupied with herself more than anyone else on the show, including her own kids. But the show’s team began hinting that she might just be a good mom after all, something that was proven when she went to bat (or, well, to bottle) to protect Holly Wheeler in the show’s last season. Karen’s complicated , but who among us isn’t?
Beth Pearson (Susan Kelechi Watson, “This Is Us”)
“This Is Us” benefits from strong and emotional performance from all the women who plays moms on the series, but Watson did something special with Beth. She navigates the world as a woman who has dreams and knows how to achieve them, and who balances three kids and an ambitious husband while doing so.
Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand, “Almost Famous”)
Elaine, Elaine, Elaine. Based on Cameron Crowe’s own mom, Elaine Miller is smart, well-meaning, and thoroughly impossible for her two kids to live with. But she loves them a lot, wants them to be as successful and happy as they can be, and really, really doesn’t want them to do drugs.
Donna Sheridan-Carmichael (Meryl Streep, “Mamma Mia”)
Who among us hasn’t taken a fabulous vacation as a young 20-something, gotten pregnant, and not been sure which of three men might be the dad — and then sang and danced our way through finding out? Meryl Streep is the moment in the “Mamma Mia” movies.
M’Lynn Eatenton (Sally Field, “Steel Magnolias”)
Do you feel like crying? Put on “Steel Magnolias” and try not to get lost in Field’s performance as M’Lynn Eatenton, who is trying to help her daughter Shelby get ready for her wedding. For the … just know this is not a sweet wedding film, no matter what it sounds like.
Rachel Flax (Cher, “Mermaids”)
Cher is always kind of perfect, but she’s especially so as mom to Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci in “Mermaids” — and she embodies a kind of single momhood that is rare.
