Natascha McElhone

Early life

McElhone was born Natascha Abigail Taylor in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England on 14 December 1971 to Irish mother Noreen McElhone and English father Michael Taylor, who are both journalists. She took her mother's maiden name as her stage name. McElhone has a brother and two half-brothers. Her parents separated when she was two. Her mother moved the family to Brighton and later married journalist and columnist Roy Greenslade.

McElhone was educated at St Mark's Church of England Primary School, Brighton; St Mary's Hall, Brighton; Fortismere School, London; Camden School for Girls, London; and William Ellis, London. She took lessons in Irish dancing from ages 6 to 12. She studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

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 1990, credited as "Natascha Taylor", in Television South's adaptation of the Inspector Wexford story An Unkindness of Ravens. She appeared the following year, again credited as "Natascha Taylor," in the series Bergerac as Louise Calder, a rebellious daughter of very wealthy parents. She appeared in two episodes of the Dennis Potter television miniseries Karaoke.

McElhone's first major box-office role came with Surviving Picasso (1996), with co-star Anthony Hopkins. One of her most successful films to date has been The Truman Show (1998) with Jim Carrey. She had leading roles opposite Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own (1997), Robert De Niro in Ronin (1998) and George Clooney in Solaris (2002).

Co-starring with Bill Pullman, she appeared in the NBC miniseries Revelations (2005). McElhone starred in a 2006 West End production of Honour at the Wyndham's Theatre alongside Diana Rigg and Martin Jarvis. She accepted the role as Karen in the Showtime cable television series Californication, alongside David Duchovny. In 2009, she became a spokeswoman for Neutrogena. In 2010, McElhone voiced Marie in the video game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow from Konami.

She featured as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet (2013), a film adaptation of Shakespeare's play. Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld were the leads, and Damian Lewis played her husband. In 2014, McElhone played Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. In 2015, she starred as Sarah Churchill in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Helen Edmundson's Queen Anne.

In February 2016, McElhone was cast alongside Kiefer Sutherland in ABC's political drama series Designated Survivor, which premiered in September 2016. She left the show in Season 2 to star as Laz Ingram in the Hulu science fiction drama series The First (2018). In 2022, McElhone appeared as Penelope Knatchbull in the Netflix historical series season 5 of The Crown. From 2022 to 2024, she starred as Catherine Halsey in the Paramount+ military science fiction series Halo.

McElhone has narrated several audiobooks (alone, or in collaboration with other narrators) including Figuring by Maria Popova, Picasso by Arianna Huffington, Amok by Sebastian Fitzek, and several children's stories by Matt Haig.

Personal life

McElhone married plastic surgeon Martin Hirigoyen Kelly on 19 May 1998. The couple lived in Fulham, south-west London. They had three sons, the third born five 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). 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.

After her husband's 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.

Filmography

Awards

References

References

1. Cadwalladr, Carole. (26 April 2009). "The interview: Natascha McElhone". [[The Observer]].
2. [https://movies.yahoo.com/person/natascha-mcelhone/biography.html Biography]yahoo.com {{Webarchive. link. (27 July 2014)
3. (28 February 2014). "Mike Taylor - the Daily Mirror night editor who loved to laugh". The Guardian.
4. "Meet our LAMDA Acting Alumni".
5. "An Unkindness of Ravens".
6. "''Bergerac''". BBC.
7. O'Sullivan, Michael. (5 June 1998). "'Truman': A Surreally Big Show". [[The Washington Post]].
8. O'Sullivan, Michael. (25 September 1998). "Run-of-the-Mill 'Ronin'". [[The Washington Post]].
9. Gleiberman, Owen. (27 November 2002). "Solaris".
10. "Natascha McElhone- Biography". [[Yahoo! Movies]].
11. "Interview: Natascha McElhone on becoming a writer".
12. Clott, Sharon. (30 January 2009). "Neutrogena Casts Natascha McElhone; Valentino Does 'Fearless' Eyes". New York.
13. (5 October 2010). "Konami Announces Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is Now Available". IGN.
14. Fernandez, Jay A.. (1 February 2012). "'Homeland' Star Damian Lewis Cast in 'Romeo and Juliet' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
15. "Cast and creative | Royal Shakespeare Company".
16. (5 February 2016). "'Designated Survivor' Casts Kal Penn, Maggie Q, Natascha McElhone, Italia Ricci".
17. (29 October 2018). "The First: Interview with Natascha McElhone who plays Laz". [[Channel 4]].
18. (5 November 2022). "The Crown: Seven takeaways from the latest series of Netflix's royal drama". BBC News.
19. Hibberd, James. (11 January 2024). "Halo Season 2 Trailer Shows Dark Space Action, Has New Showrunner". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
20. "Results by narrator "Natascha McElhone"".
21. Gráinne Faller. (10 October 2009). "Shot in the Arm". [[The Irish Times]].
22. [https://people.com/parents/natascha-mcelhone-opens-up-about-delivering-rex-alone/ ''Natascha McElhone Opens Up About Delivering Rex Alone'']. ''People'', 7 May 2009
23. Booth, Jenny. (21 May 2008). "Natascha McElhone's plastic surgeon husband dies at couple's home". The Times.
24. (July 2008). "Obituary: Martin Hirigoyen Kelly". The Lancet.
25. Day, Elizabeth. (3 July 2010). "After You: Letters of Love, and Loss, to a Husband and Father by Natascha McElhone". The Guardian.
26. McElhone, Natascha. (2010). "After you: letters of love, and loss, to a husband and father". Viking.
27. Andreeva, Nellie. (27 September 2017). "Natascha McElhone To Star in Beau Willimon's 'The First' Hulu Series, Will Depart 'Designated Survivor'".