Surviving Picasso

Background:

“I don’t mind if it’s a tiny part, if it’s a huge role, none of that really concerns me. It’s much more important that it’s going to take me to a place I haven’t yet visited, and I mean that metaphorically not physically.” Natascha McElhone

British movie, television and stage actress Natascha McElhone immediately becomes what Overseas Film group names “a burgeoning international star” since receiving her first movie break as the lover of Anthony Hopkins’ artist in the James Ivory-helmed Surviving Picasso (1996). Her film credits include The Devil’s Own (1997, along side Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt), The Truman Show (1998, with Jim Carrey), Ronin (1998, opposite Robert De Niro), Feardotcom (2002, costarred with Stephen Dorff), Solaris (2002, opposite George Clooney) and Guy X (2005, with Jason Biggs). The brunette actress is perhaps most-known to TV audiences as Josepha Montafiore in NBC’s miniseries “Revelations” (2005).

Moviegoers should not miss her impressive performances in the forthcoming films comedy/thriller Big Nothing (2006) and drama Dangerous Parking (2006). A tall, cool beauty, McElhone can also be seen acting on stage in the West End production of “Honour” (2006), along side Diana Rigg and Martin Jarvis.

Outside the spotlight, the English beauty of Irish descent (her mother is Irish), Natascha is married to Dr. Martin Hirigoyen Kelly and has two sons with him. The family currently resides in London and keeps a cat named Soup as their pet.


Natasha Taylor

Childhood and Family:

On March 23, 1971, Natasha Taylor, later famous as Natascha McElhone, was born in Hampstead, London, England, but raised in Brighton, East Sussex, England. Her parents are journalist and currently live in a small town in Ireland called Ramelton. She has a brother named Damon, a movie script writer who resides in Hollywood.

Natascha took a six-year Irish dancing courses as a youth. She attended St. Mary’s Hall School for Girls in Brighton from 1982-86 and was a 1993 graduate from London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMBDA). As for her marriage life, Natascha tied the knot with Dr. Martin Hirigoyen Kelly, a reconstructive plastic surgeon, on May 16, 2000. The couple has two sons, Theo and Otis.


Revelations

Career:

“I always think I love work. And I knew early on that I wanted to be an actress. Then I meet people who have truly dedicated their lives to acting, and I realize that I’m so completely in the back seat.” Natascha McElhone

After a three-year studies at LAMBDA, Natascha McElhone started her professional career on stage with the 1993 production of “The Count of Monte Cristo” in Manchester. She went on to perfect her crafts in a variety of theater productions throughout England, including “The Cherry Orchar” at the Leicester Haymarket and on national tour, “Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1995) at the Open Air Theatre, as well as “Richard III” (1995) at Regent’s Park. It was her performance as Lady Anne in the latter that put McElhone on the radar of James Ivory who cast her in breakthrough screen role as Francoise Gilot, the mistress of the famed Spanish painter (played by Anthony Hopkins) in the Merchant-Ivory production Surviving Picasso (1996). The role made her an instant star.

Following the star-making-turn, McElhone, who had formerly appeared in a series of television projects like An Unkindness of Ravens (1990), A Breed of Heroes (1994) and miniseries “Cold Lazarus” (1996), subsequently found herself acting with Albert Finney, Julie Christie and Richard E. Grant in British mini “Karaoke” (1996) for writer Dennis Potter. She had her next movie exposure with Alan J. Pakula’s The Devil’s Own (1997) in the following year when she appeared as Brad Pitt’s girlfriend Megan. The action-thriller starred Harrison Ford as Tom O’Meara. In Mrs. Dalloway (1997), McElhone portrayed the young version of the title character.

McElhone’s raised popularity was confirmed in 1998 when she landed roles in two mainstream films: the Peter Weir-directed The Truman Show and the John Frankenheimer’s actioner Ronin. The first film cast McElhone in a supporting role opposite top comic actor Jim Carrey as his former lover Lauren/Sylvia, while in the second she earned a MTV Movie nomination for Best Action Sequence, sharing with costar Robert De Niro. She also starred as Kate Beckenham in the comedy/romance film What Rats Won’t Do, that same year.

A supporting turn, opposite Kenneth Branagh, Alicia Silverstone and Matthew Lillard, in Branagh’s musicalized adaptation of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost was McElhone’s opening film in the new millennium before she appeared in The Contaminated Man (2000), the thriller Killing me Softly (2002, starred Joseph Fiennes and Heather Graham) and Laurel Canyon (2002). In the 2002 thriller film Feardotcom, the actress portrayed ruthless researcher Terry Huston, who teamed up with a detective (Stephen Dorff) in order to discover the answers behind the bewildering death of several people who died after logging on to a well-liked website. Next up were roles in City of Ghosts (2002), the space thriller Solaris (2002, starred with George Clooney), The Other Boleyn Girl (2003, TV) and Ladies in Lavender (2004).

In 2005, McElhone won the heart of TV viewers for her portrayal opposite Bill Pullman in the NBC miniseries “Revelations,” playing sister Josepha Montafiore. The six-episode mystery film was jointly directed by Lesli Linka Glatter and David Semel. The same year, she also landed female lead opposite Jason Biggs in war film Guy X. McElhone will be cast in the supporting role of Peneloppe in writer-director Jean-Baptiste Andrea’s comedy/thriller Big Nothing (2006) along with David Schwimmer, and join Ben Chaplin, Peter Dinklage and Michael Gambon for the drama film Dangerous Parking (2006), director’s Peter Howitt adaptation of a Stuart Browne novel. She now stars in the West End production of “Honour,” along with Diana Rigg and Martin Jarvis, at the Wyndham’s Theatre.


Awards:
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