Natascha McElhone Biography

Natascha McElhone (born Natasha Abigail Taylor; 23 March 1970) is an English actress of stage, screen and television, best known for her roles in American films such as Ronin, The Truman Show and Solaris, and most recently for her role as Karen van der Beek on the Showtime series Californication.

Early life

McElhone was born in Surrey, to Irish parents, who were both journalists. She took her mother Noreen's maiden name as her stage name. McElhone has a scriptwriter brother Damon who lives in Los Angeles, and two half-brothers, Alexander and Nicholas, who live in Stockholm. Her parents separated when she was two and her Irish mother moved the family to Brighton and later married journalist and columnist Roy Greenslade.

McElhone, who took lessons in Irish dancing from ages 6"12, was educated at St. Mary's Hall School for Girls, an independent boarding school in Brighton, Sussex. She graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1993.

Career

McElhone began her career in the theatre, including starring in Richard III in Regent's Park, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Cherry Orchard at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester; and in Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre. McElhone made her television debut in the BBC's Bergerac in 1991, and was seen in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous in 1992.

McElhone made her film debut in 1996's Surviving Picasso with Anthony Hopkins. In the same year she was seen in the Dennis Potter TV mini-series Karaoke. Although she has made relatively few films, her most successful to date has been 1998's The Truman Show with Jim Carrey. She had leading roles opposite Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own, Robert De Niro in Ronin and George Clooney in Solaris.

In 2005, she co-starred in the NBC miniseries Revelations with actor Bill Pullman. She starred in a 2006 West End production of Honour at the Wyndham's Theatre alongside Diana Rigg and Martin Jarvis. She then accepted a leading role in the Showtime cable television series Californication as Karen, alongside David Duchovny. McElhone is the newest Neutrogena spokeswoman and the face of the Ageless Essentials Continuous Hydration line. In 2010 she was the voice of Marie in the video game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow from Konami.

McElhone is set to star in a new adaptation of Romeo and Juliet as Juliet's mother Lady Capulet alongside Hailee Steinfeld and Damian Lewis in 2013.

Personal life

McElhone married plastic surgeon Dr. Martin Hirigoyen Kelly on 19 May 1998. The couple lived in Fulham, West London, with their sons Theodore (born 2000) and Otis (born May 2003); their third son, Rex, was born in October 2008, 5 months after Kelly's death.

On 20 May 2008, 43-year-old Kelly was found slumped in the doorway of his family's home by a fellow doctor, who had him rushed to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (where he worked) but could not be revived. He died one day after his 10th wedding anniversary. A post-mortem exam revealed the cause of death to have been dilated cardiomyopathy.

After her husband's sudden death, McElhone continued to write letters to him, sometimes documenting the daily trivia of life but also dealing with how she and their young children were coping with their loss. These letters and diary entries formed the basis of her book After You: Letters of Love, and Loss, to a Husband and Father. The book was published in July 2010. (The book is simply titled After You in the Kindle edition-UK version only.)

Filmography

List of film works

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Surviving Picasso	1996	Françoise Gilot
'	1997	Megan Doherty
Mrs Dalloway	1997	Young Clarissa
'	1998	Lauren/Sylvia
What Rats Won't Do	1998	Kate Beckenham
Ronin	1998	Deirdre
Love's Labour's Lost	2000	Rosaline
Contaminated Men	2000	Holly Anderson
Laurel Canyon	2002	Sara
FeardotCom	2002	Terry Huston
Killing Me Softly	2002	Deborah
City of Ghosts	2002	Sophie
Solaris	2002	Rheya
Ladies in Lavender	2004	Olga Daniloff
Guy X	2005	Sgt. Irene Teal
Big Nothing	2006	Penelope Wood
The Secret of Moonacre	2008	Loveday
Blessed	2008	Lou
'	2010	Gloria
Carpet Boy	2012	Jackie	in production
The Sea	2013	Connie Grace
Romeo and Juliet	2013	Lady Capulet	Completed
Heaven and Earth	TBA	James Miranda Barry	in production

List of television works

Title	Year	Role	Notes
'	1990	Helen Blake	Episode: An Unkindness of Ravens (1) Episode: An Unkindness of Ravens (2)
Bergerac	1991	Louise Calder	Episode: Snow in Provence
Absolutely Fabulous	1994	Art Gallery Assistant	Episode: Death
Minder	1994	Vanessa	Episode: All Quiet on the West End Front
Cadfael	1994	Cecily Corde	Episode: The Sanctuary Sparrow
'	1994	Janet	TV film
Karaoke	1996	Angie	TV serial
Cold Lazarus	1996	Angie	TV serial
'	2003	Mary Boleyn	TV film
Revelations	2005	Sister Josepha Montafiore	TV miniseries
'	2007	Elizabet Nemeth	TV miniseries
Californication	2007"present	Karen van der Beek
10 Minute Tales	2009	Woman	TV short film Segment: Deep & Crisp & Even
Thorne: Sleepyhead	2010	Anne Coburn

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow	Marie Belmont

Awards

Awards and Nominations
Year	Nominated work	Award	Category	Result
1999	Ronin	MTV Movie Awards	Best Action Sequence (shared with Robert De Niro)
2003	Solaris	Saturn Award	Best Actress
2003	Solaris	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actress in Film
2005	Revelations	Satellite Award	Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television