Natascha McElhone

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Natascha Abigail Taylor (born 14 December 1971), known professionally as Natascha McElhone (Template:IPAc-en), is an English actress and producer, who has worked extensively in television and film in both the United Kingdom and the United States. She is known to television audiences for her roles as Karen on Californication (2007–14), First Lady Alex Kirkman on Designated Survivor (2016–17), Penelope Knatchbull, Lady Romsey on The Crown (2022), and Dr. Catherine Halsey on Halo (2022–24).

McElhone is known to film audiences for her roles in Surviving Picasso (1996), Ronin (1998), The Truman Show (1998), Kenneth Branagh's Love's Labour's Lost (2000), Solaris (2002), and Carmen (2021). She was the voice of Marie Belmont in the video game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (2010) and its sequel Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (2014). She is a Satellite Award, Saturn Award, and an Irish Film & Television Award nominee.

Early life

McElhone was born Natascha Abigail Taylor in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England on 14 December 1971<ref name="CC">Template:Cite news</ref> to Irish mother Noreen McElhone and English father Michael Taylor, who are both journalists.<ref>Biographyyahoo.com Template:Webarchive</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name="lamda">Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She appeared the following year, again credited as "Natascha Taylor," in the series Bergerac as Louise Calder, a rebellious daughter of very wealthy parents.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She had leading roles opposite Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own (1997), Robert De Niro in Ronin (1998)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and George Clooney in Solaris (2002).<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Natascha">Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name="CC" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2009, she became a spokeswoman for Neutrogena.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2010, McElhone voiced Marie in the video game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow from Konami.<ref name="cv">Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In February 2016, McElhone was cast alongside Kiefer Sutherland in ABC's political drama series Designated Survivor, which premiered in September 2016.<ref name="deadline.com">Template:Cite web</ref> She left the show in Season 2 to star as Laz Ingram in the Hulu science fiction drama series The First (2018).<ref>Template:Cite interview</ref> In 2022, McElhone appeared as Penelope Knatchbull in the Netflix historical series season 5 of The Crown.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> From 2022 to 2024, she starred as Catherine Halsey in the Paramount+ military science fiction series Halo.<ref name="hollywoodreporter.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

McElhone married plastic surgeon Martin Hirigoyen Kelly on 19 May 1998.<ref name="it2009">Template:Cite news</ref> The couple lived in Fulham, south-west London. They had three sons, the third born five months after Kelly's death.<ref>Natascha McElhone Opens Up About Delivering Rex Alone. People, 7 May 2009</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal Template:Open access</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Filmography

List of film works

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1996	Surviving Picasso	Françoise Gilot
1997	Template:Sortname	Megan Doherty
	Mrs Dalloway	Young Clarissa Dalloway
1998	Template:Sortname	Lauren Garland / Sylvia
	What Rats Won't Do	Kate Beckenham
	Ronin	Deirdre
2000	Love's Labour's Lost	Lady Rosaline
	Contaminated Man	Holly Anderson
2002	Laurel Canyon	Sara
	FeardotCom	Terry Huston
	Killing Me Softly	Deborah Tallis
	City of Ghosts	Sophie
	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
	Blessed	Lou
2010	Template:Sortname	Gloria
2013	The Sea	Connie Grace
	Romeo and Juliet	Lady Capulet
2014	Believe	Erica Gallagher
2016	Mr. Church	Marie Brooks
	London Town	Sandrine Baker
2021	Carmen	Carmen

List of television works

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
1990	Template:Sortname	Helen Blake	2 episodes
1991	Bergerac	Louise Calder	Episode: "Snow in Provence"
1994	Absolutely Fabulous	Art Gallery Assistant	Episode: "Death"
	Minder	Vanessa	Episode: "All Quiet on the West End Front"
	Cadfael	Cecily Corde	Episode: "The Sanctuary Sparrow"
	Screen One	Janet	Episode: "A Breed of Heroes"
1996	Karaoke	Angie	2 episodes
	Cold Lazarus	Angie	2 episodes
2003	Template:Sortname	Mary Boleyn	Television film
2005	Revelations	Sister Josepha Montafiore	Miniseries
2007	Template:Sortname	Elizabet Nemeth	Miniseries
2007–14	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
2016–17	Designated Survivor	First Lady Alex Kirkman	Series regular (Seasons 1–2)
2018	The First	Laz Ingram	Series regular	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2022	The Crown	Penelope Knatchbull, Lady Romsey	Main role (Season 5)
	Better Things	Mark's girlfriend (uncredited)	Season 5 Episode 9
2022–24	Halo	Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey	Series regular; also producer	Template:Cn
2022–present	Hotel Portofino	Bella Ainsworth	Series regular
Template:TBA	Young Sherlock	Cordelia Holmes	Filming

List of video game appearances

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Template:Abbr
2010	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow	Marie Belmont		<ref name="cv" />
2014	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

Awards

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Award	Category	Result
1999	Ronin	MTV Movie Award	Best Action Sequence (shared with Robert De Niro)	Template:Nominated
2003	Solaris	Saturn Award	Best Actress	Template:Nominated
2003		IFTA Award	Best Actress in Film	Template:Nominated
2005	Revelations	Satellite Award	Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television	Template:Nominated
2010	The Kid	Irina Palm	Worst British Supporting Actress	Template:Win
2022	Halo	WIN Award	Actress Drama Series	Template:Nominated

External links

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