Natascha McElhone

Natasha Abigail Taylor (born 14 December 1969),[1] known professionally as Natascha McElhone (/ˈmækəlhoʊn/), is an English actress. She is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Natascha McElhone
McElhone in May 2018
Born	Natasha Abigail Taylor 14 December 1969 Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England
Nationality	British, Irish
Alma mater	London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1990–present
Spouse(s)	Martin Hirigoyen Kelly ​ ​ (m. 1998; died 2008)​
Children	3
Family	Roy Greenslade (stepfather)

In film, she is best known for her roles in Ronin (1998), The Truman Show (1998) and Solaris (2002). On television, she has portrayed Karen van der Beek, the long-time partner of Hank Moody, in the Showtime comedy-drama series Californication (2007–2014), First Lady Alex Kirkman in the ABC political drama Designated Survivor[2] (2016–2017), and Laz Ingram in Beau Willimon's Hulu science-fiction series The First (2018).

Early life

She was born Natasha Abigail Taylor in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey in 1969[3][4] to Noreen McElhone and Michael Taylor, both journalists.[5] She took her mother's maiden name as her stage name.[6] McElhone has a scriptwriter brother, Damon, who lives in Los Angeles; and two half-brothers: Alexander, who lives in Zürich, and Nicholas, who lives in Stockholm. Her parents separated when she was two. Her Irish mother moved the family to Brighton and later married journalist and columnist Roy Greenslade.[7]

McElhone, who took lessons in Irish dancing from ages 6–12, was educated at St. Mark's CofE Primary School, Brighton, St. Mary's Hall School for Girls, an independent boarding school in Brighton, Sussex, Fortismere School, London, Camden School for Girls, London and William Ellis, London. She graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1993.[8]

Career

McElhone began her career in the theatre, including starring roles in Richard III and A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, London, and in The Count of Monte Cristo and The Cherry Orchard at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester. She made her television debut in the BBC's Bergerac in 1991 (credited on screen as Natascha Taylor), and was seen in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous in 1992.[9]

McElhone at the Southbank Centre, London in March 2014

McElhone was seen in two episodes of the Dennis Potter TV miniseries Karaoke. Her first major box-office role came in 1996 with Surviving Picasso, with co-star Anthony Hopkins. One of her most successful films 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.[8]

In 2005, she co-starred in the NBC miniseries Revelations with 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.[10] In 2009 McElhone became a spokeswoman for Neutrogena.[11] In 2010, she was the voice of Marie in the video game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow from Konami.[12]

McElhone co-starred in a 2013 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet as Juliet's mother, Lady Capulet, alongside Hailee Steinfeld and Damian Lewis.[13] In 2014, she played the role of Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. In 2015, McElhone starred as Sarah Churchill in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Helen Edmundson's Queen Anne.[14]

In February 2016, she was cast alongside Kiefer Sutherland in ABC's political drama Designated Survivor, which premiered in September 2016.[15] She left the show in Season 2 to take a role in the Hulu series The First.

Personal life

McElhone married plastic surgeon Martin Hirigoyen Kelly on 19 May 1998. The couple lived in Fulham, South-West London, with their sons Theodore (born 2000) and Otis (born May 2003); their third son, Rex, was born in October 2008, five months after Kelly's death.[16]

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). He could not be revived and died one day after his 10th wedding anniversary. A postmortem exam revealed the cause of death to have been dilated cardiomyopathy.[17][18]

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 titled After You in the UK Kindle version only).[19][20]

Filmography

List of film works

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Surviving Picasso	Françoise Gilot
1997	The Devil's Own	Megan Doherty
1997	Mrs Dalloway	Young Clarissa Dalloway
1998	The Truman Show	Lauren Garland / Sylvia
1998	What Rats Won't Do	Kate Beckenham
1998	Ronin	Deirdre
2000	Love's Labour's Lost	Lady Rosaline
2000	Contaminated Man	Holly Anderson
2002	Laurel Canyon	Sara
2002	FeardotCom	Terry Huston
2002	Killing Me Softly	Deborah Tallis
2002	City of Ghosts	Sophie
2002	Solaris	Rheya Kelvin
2004	Ladies in Lavender	Olga Daniloff
2005	Guy X	Sgt. Irene Teal
2006	Big Nothing	Penelope Wood
2008	The Secret of Moonacre	Loveday de Noir
2008	Blessed	Lou
2010	The Kid	Gloria
2013	The Sea	Connie Grace
2013	Romeo and Juliet	Lady Capulet
2014	Believe	Erica Gallagher
2016	Mr. Church	Marie Brooks
2016	London Town	Sandrine Baker

List of television works

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Helen Blake	2 episodes
1991	Bergerac	Louise Calder	Episode: "Snow in Provence"
1994	Absolutely Fabulous	Art Gallery Assistant	Episode: "Death"
1994	Minder	Vanessa	Episode: "All Quiet on the West End Front"
1994	Cadfael	Cecily Corde	Episode: "The Sanctuary Sparrow"
1994	Screen One	Janet	Episode: "A Breed of Heroes"
1996	Karaoke	Angie	2 episodes
1996	Cold Lazarus	Angie	2 episodes
2003	The Other Boleyn Girl	Mary Boleyn	Television film
2005	Revelations	Sister Josepha Montafiore	Miniseries
2007	The Company	Elizabet Nemeth	Miniseries
2007–2014	Californication	Karen	84 episodes
2009	10 Minute Tales	Woman	Television short; segment: "Deep & Crisp & Even"
2010	Thorne: Sleepyhead	Anne Coburn	Episodes 1-3
2015	Saints & Strangers	Elizabeth Hopkins	Miniseries
2016–2017	Designated Survivor	First Lady Alex Kirkman	Series regular (Season 1 and 2)
2018	The First[21]	Laz Ingram	Series regular
2021	Halo	Dr. Catherine Halsey	Series regular[22]

List of video game appearances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow[12]	Marie Belmont
2014	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2	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)	Nominated[23]
2003	Solaris	Saturn Award	Best Actress	Nominated[23]
2003		Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actress in Film	Nominated[23]
2005	Revelations	Satellite Award	Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television	Nominated[23]

References

1. "Natascha McElhone". Empire. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
2. Andreeva, Nellie (5 February 2016). "'Designated Survivor' Casts Kal Penn, Maggie Q, Natascha McElhone, Italia Ricci". Deadline Hollywood.
3. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
4. Gráinne Faller (10 October 2009). "Shot in the Arm". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
5. "Natascha McElhone: my family values". The Guardian.
6. "Natascha McElhone". Retrieved 11 May 2013.
7. Greenslade, Roy (15 March 2007). "Comedy role for X-Files star Duchovny". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
8. "Natascha McElhone- Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
9. "Absolutely Fabulous Guest Stars". TV.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
10. "Interview: Natascha McElhone on becoming a writer". www.scotsman.com.
11. Clott, Sharon. "Neutrogena Casts Natascha McElhone; Valentino Does 'Fearless' Eyes". NY Mag. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
12. "Konami Announces Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is Now Available". IGN. 5 October 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
13. Fernandez, Jay A. (1 February 2012). "'Homeland' Star Damian Lewis Cast in 'Romeo and Juliet' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. Andreeva, Nellie (5 February 2016). "'Designated Survivor' Casts Kal Penn, Maggie Q, Natascha McElhone, Italia Ricci". Deadline. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
16. "Natascha McElhone Welcomes Third Child". Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
17. Booth, Jenny (21 May 2008). "Natascha McElhone's plastic surgeon husband dies at couple's home". The Times. UK. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
18. Watts, Geoff (July 2008). "Obituary: Martin Hirigoyen Kelly". The Lancet. 372 (9632): 24. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60979-4.
19. Day, Elizabeth (3 July 2010). "After You: Letters of Love, and Loss, to a Husband and Father by Natascha McElhone". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
20. McElhone, Natascha (2010). After you: letters of love, and loss, to a husband and father. London: Viking. ISBN 9780670919093.
21. Andreeva, Nellie (27 September 2017). "Natascha McElhone To Star in Beau Willimon's 'The First' Hulu Series, Will Depart 'Designated Survivor'".
22. Petski, Denise (2 August 2019). "'Halo': Natascha McElhone & Bokeem Woodbine Among Six Cast In Showtime Series Based On Xbox Franchise".
23. "Awards for Natascha McElhone". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 11 May 2013.

External links

• Natascha McElhone at IMDb