Jennifer Ehle
Jennifer Ehle | |
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File:Jennifer Ehle (30443863926).jpg
Ehle in 2016
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Born | Jennifer Anne Ehle[1][2] December 29, 1969 Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S. |
Alma mater | Central School of Speech and Drama |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1991–present |
Known for | Pride and Prejudice |
Spouse(s) | Michael Ryan (m. 2001) |
Children | 2 |
Parents |
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Jennifer Anne Ehle (/ˈiːli/; born December 29, 1969)[citation needed] is an American actress. She gained fame for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice, for which she received the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress. She is also known for her performances on Broadway, winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for The Real Thing in 2000, and Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Coast of Utopia in 2007.
Ehle is also known for her performances in films including The King's Speech (2010), Contagion (2011), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), A Little Chaos (2014), Little Men (2016), and She Said (2022). She has also appeared in various television programs, including NBC's The Blacklist (2014–2015), the Hulu limited series The Looming Tower (2016), the Showtime miniseries The Comey Rule (2020), and the CBS legal drama The Good Fight (2022).
Contents
Early life and education
Ehle was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to English actress Rosemary Harris and American author John Ehle. Her ancestry includes Romanian (from a maternal great-grandmother) and, paternally, German and English.[3][4]
Ehle appeared as a toddler in a 1973 Broadway revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, in which her mother played Blanche DuBois.[5] She spent her childhood in the UK and the US, attending several schools, including Interlochen Arts Academy. She was mainly raised in Asheville, North Carolina. Her drama training was split between the North Carolina School of the Arts[6] and the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.[7]
Career
1990s
Ehle made her West End debut as Elmire in the 1991 Peter Hall Company production of Tartuffe, for which she won second prize at the Ian Charleson Awards.[8][9] Hall then cast her as Calypso in The Camomile Lawn (1992), a television adaptation of Mary Wesley's book of the same name, in which she and her mother played the same character at different ages.[10]
One of Ehle's first notable roles was as Elizabeth Bennet in the BBC 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice co-starring Colin Firth, for which she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. The same year, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, and gained her first major feature film role in Paradise Road (1997).[11] She also appeared in supporting roles in Brian Gilbert's Wilde (1997) and István Szabó's Sunshine (1999).
2000s
In 2000, Ehle made her Broadway debut to great critical acclaim as Annie in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, winning the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play. Her mother, Rosemary Harris, was also nominated for the same award that year for Waiting in the Wings.[12] That following year, Ehle appeared again on Broadway in the revival of Noël Coward's Design for Living co-starring with Dominic West and Alan Cumming.[13]
After a hiatus, Ehle returned to the London stage in 2005 in The Philadelphia Story at the Old Vic opposite Kevin Spacey. The following year, she played Lady Macbeth in Macbeth with Liev Schreiber, as part of the Shakespeare in the Park.[13]
Ehle returned to Broadway portraying three characters in Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia triptych, which ran from October 2006 until May 2007.[14] Ehle starred alongside Billy Crudup, Martha Plimpton, and Ethan Hawke. Theatre critic Ben Brantley of The New York Times praised her performance as "memorable".[15] For her performance she received her second Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
In August 2009, it was announced that Ehle would play the character of Catelyn Stark in the pilot of HBO's Game of Thrones, an adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy book series. Ehle filmed the pilot episode, but decided it was too soon to return to work after the birth of her daughter. She was replaced by Northern Irish actress Michelle Fairley.[16][17]
2010s
In 2010, Ehle starred alongside John Lithgow in the production of Mr. & Mrs. Fitch presented by Second Stage Theatre in New York City.[18] Since 2010, Ehle has appeared in the critically acclaimed films The King's Speech (where she reunited with her Pride and Prejudice co-star Colin Firth), Steven Soderbergh's Contagion (2011), George Clooney's The Ides of March (2011), Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Alan Rickman's A Little Chaos (2015), Terence Davies's A Quiet Passion (2016), and Ira Sachs's Little Men (2016). She also appeared in the television series A Gifted Man (2011–2012).
In 2017, Ehle appeared on stage in the critically acclaimed Oslo, which won the Tony Award for Best Play. She herself was nominated for Best Actress in a Play for her work.[19] In 2018, she appeared in the Hulu limited series, The Looming Tower as Ambassador Barbara Bodine. The series also starred Jeff Daniels, Bill Camp, Peter Sarsgaard, and Michael Stuhlbarg.
2020s
In 2020, Ehle reunited with Jeff Daniels in the limited series The Comey Rule which premiered on Showtime. Daniels and Ehle portrayed Former FBI Director James Comey and his wife Patrice, respectively. In 2022 she also appeared in a variety of television projects including the Apple TV+ series Suspicion as Amy, the Showtime legal drama The Good Fight as Judge Ashley Burnett and the Paramount+ western series 1923 as Sister Mary.
Also in 2022, Ehle received positive reviews for her supporting yet essential role in the MeToo investigative drama She Said portraying Laura Madden. TIME film critic Stephanie Zacharek described her as "superb" and Justin Chang writing for NPR declared her performance "quietly heartbreaking".[20][21] She also returned to the stage as Gertrude in the Park Avenue Armory production of Hamlet in New York. Ehle received positive reviews as a last minute replacement for Lia Williams.[22]
Personal life
Ehle married writer Michael Ryan on November 29, 2001,[23] and they have two children.[24]
Acting credits
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1994 | Backbeat | Cynthia Powell | |
1997 | Paradise Road | Rosemary Leighton-Jones | |
1997 | Wilde | Constance Lloyd Wilde | |
1998 | Bedrooms and Hallways | Sally | |
1999 | Sunshine | Valerie Sonnenschein | |
1999 | This Year's Love | Sophie | |
2002 | Possession | Christabel LaMotte | |
2005 | The River King | Betsy Chase | |
2006 | Alpha Male | Alice Ferris | |
2008 | Pride and Glory | Abby Tierney | |
2008 | Before the Rains | Laura Moores | Malayalam-language film |
2009 | The Greatest | Joan | |
2010 | The King's Speech | Myrtle Logue | |
2011 | The Ides of March | Cindy Morris | |
2011 | Contagion | Ally Hextall | |
2011 | The Adjustment Bureau | Brooklyn Ice House Bartender | |
2012 | Zero Dark Thirty | Jessica Karley | |
2014 | RoboCop | Liz Kline | |
2014 | Black or White | Carol Anderson | |
2014 | The Forger | Kim Cutter | |
2014 | A Little Chaos | Madame De Montespan | |
2015 | Advantageous | Isa Cryer | |
2015 | Fifty Shades of Grey | Carla Wilks | |
2015 | Spooks: The Greater Good | Geraldine Maltby | |
2016 | Little Men | Kathy Jardine | |
2016 | The Fundamentals of Caring | Elsa | |
2016 | A Quiet Passion | Vinnie Dickinson | |
2017 | Fifty Shades Darker | Carla Wilks | Unrated edition |
2017 | Detroit | Morgue Doctor | Uncredited |
2017 | I Kill Giants | Mrs. Thorson | |
2017 | Wetlands | Kate Sheehan | |
2018 | The Miseducation of Cameron Post | Dr. Lydia Marsh | |
2018 | Monster | Maureen O'Brien | |
2018 | Fifty Shades Freed | Carla Wilks | |
2018 | Vox Lux | Josie the Publicist | |
2018 | Take Point | Agent Mackenzie | Korean film |
2019 | The Wolf Hour | Margot | |
2019 | Run This Town | Judith | |
2019 | The Professor and the Madman | Ada Murray | |
2019 | Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies | Tina | |
2019 | Saint Maud | Amanda Kohl | |
2021 | John and the Hole | Anna Shay | |
2022 | She Said | Laura Madden |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | The Camomile Lawn | Calypso | Miniseries, 5 episodes |
1992 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | Empress Zita of Austria | Episode: "Austria, March 1917" |
1993 | The Maitlands | Phyllis | BBC TV production |
1993 | Self Catering | 'Meryl' | TV movie |
1993 | Rik Mayall Presents: Micky Love | Tamsin | Miniseries, 6 episodes |
1995 | Pride and Prejudice | Elizabeth Bennet | Miniseries, 6 episodes |
1996 | Beyond Reason | Penny McAllister | TV movie |
1997 | Melissa | Melissa | Miniseries, 5 episodes |
2008 | The Russell Girl | Lorraine Morrissey | TV movie |
2011–12 | A Gifted Man | Anna Paul | 16 episodes |
2013 | Low Winter Sun | Susan | Episode: "Ann Arbor" |
2014–15 | The Blacklist | Madeline Pratt | 2 episodes |
2018 | The Looming Tower | Ambassador Barbara Bodine | 3 episodes |
2020 | The Comey Rule | Patrice Comey | Miniseries |
2022 | Suspicion | Amy | Episode: "Be the Gray Man" |
2022 | The Good Fight | Judge Ashley Burnett | Episode: "The End of Ginni" |
2022–23 | 1923 | Sister Mary | 4 episodes |
2023 | Dead Ringers | Rebecca Parker | 5 episodes |
2023 | Special Ops: Lioness | Mason | Episode: "The Lie Is the Truth |
Theatre
Year | Title | Role | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
1959 Pink Thunderbird | Edinburgh Festival | ||
Laundry and Bourbon | |||
1991 | Tartuffe | Elmire | Peter Hall Company |
1992 | Breaking the Code | Pat Green | Triumph Productions Tour |
1995–96 | Richard III | Lady Anne | Royal Shakespeare Company |
1995–96 | Painter of Dishonour | Serafina | |
1995–96 | The Relapse | Amanda | |
1999 | The Real Thing | Annie | Donmar Warehouse |
1999 | Summerfolk | Varvara Mikhailovna | National Theatre |
2000 | The Real Thing | Annie | Albery Theatre Barrymore Theatre |
2001 | Design for Living | Gilda | Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theater |
2005 | The Philadelphia Story | Tracy Lord | The Old Vic |
2006 | Macbeth | Lady Macbeth | Shakespeare in the Park's Delacorte Theater |
2006 | The Coast of Utopia: Voyage | Liubov Bakunin | Vivian Beaumont Theater |
2006 | The Coast of Utopia: Shipwrecked | Natalie Herzen | Vivian Beaumont Theater |
2007 | The Coast of Utopia: Salvage | Malwida von Meysenbug | |
2010 | Mr. and Mrs. Fitch | Mrs. Fitch | Second Stage Theatre |
2017 | Oslo | Mona Juul | Vivian Beaumont Theater |
2022 | Hamlet | Gertrude | Park Avenue Armory |
Awards and nominations
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Best Actress in a Play | The Real Thing | Won |
2007 | Best Featured Actress in a Play | The Coast of Utopia | Won |
2017 | Best Actress in a Play | Oslo | Nominated |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | Best Actress (TV) | Pride & Prejudice | Won |
1998 | Best Supporting Actress (Film) | Wilde | Nominated |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Best Cast in a Motion Picture | The King's Speech | Won |
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Best Actress | The Real Thing | Nominated |
Outer Critics Circle Award
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Best Actress – Play | The Real Thing | Nominated |
2007 | Best Featured Actress – Play | The Coast of Utopia | Nominated |
Other award wins:
- 1991: Ian Charleson Award, Second Prize – as Orgon's wife in Tartuffe with the Peter Hall Company[9]
- 1992: Radio Times Award Best Newcomer – The Camomile Lawn (TV)
- 2000: Variety Club Award – The Real Thing (play)
Other award nominations:
- 2000: Genie Award nomination – Sunshine
References
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- ↑ Rosemary Harris and the Picture: Madonna of the Slaughtered Jews. Nmia.com. Retrieved on February 8, 2013. Archived July 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
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- ↑ http://www.geocities.ws.dwan_y/tartuffe.html[permanent dead link]
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lees, Caroline. "Classic recipes for success". Sunday Times. 9 February 1992
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- ↑ "Tony Winners Lithgow and Ehle Are 'MR. & MRS. FITCH' For Second Stage Theatre" Archived February 8, 2021, at the Wayback Machine August 19, 2009, Broadway World
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External links
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- 1969 births
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
- American film actresses
- American people of English descent
- American people of German descent
- American people of Romanian descent
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- Best Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners
- Living people
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- Actresses from Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Theatre World Award winners
- Tony Award winners
- Actresses from North Carolina
- People from Asheville, North Carolina
- American expatriates in England
- American Shakespearean actresses
- Alumni of the British American Drama Academy
- Royal Shakespeare Company members
- Audiobook narrators