Jennifer Ehle
Jennifer Anne Ehle (/ˈiːli/; born December 29, 1969) is a British-American actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice. For her work on Broadway, she won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for The Real Thing, and the 2007 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Coast of Utopia. She is the daughter of English actress Rosemary Harris and American author John Ehle.
Jennifer Ehle | |
---|---|
Ehle in 2016 | |
Born | December 29, 1969 |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1991–present |
Known for | Pride and Prejudice |
Spouse(s) | Michael Ryan (m. 2001) |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) | John Ehle Rosemary Harris |
Ehle made her West End debut in Peter Hall's 1991 production of Tartuffe, and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1995. Television credits include The Camomile Lawn (1992), A Gifted Man (2011–2012) and The Looming Tower (2018). She has also appeared in supporting roles in such films as Brian Gilbert's Wilde (1997), István Szabó's Sunshine (1999), Tom Hooper's The King's Speech (2010), Steven Soderbergh's Contagion (2011), Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Alan Rickman's A Little Chaos (2014), Terence Davies's A Quiet Passion (2016), and Ira Sachs's Little Men (2016).
Early life and education
Ehle was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to British 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 both the UK and the US, attending several different schools including Interlochen Arts Academy. She was raised largely 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.
After a stint with the Royal Shakespeare Company,[11] she gained her first major feature film role in Paradise Road. She continued her career on both stage and screen.
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 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 a string of critically acclaimed films such as 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), Ira Sach's Little Men (2016), and Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion (2016).
In 2017, she appeared 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.
Personal life
Ehle married writer Michael Ryan on November 29, 2001,[20] and they have two children.[21]
Filmography
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 | |
2006 | Alpha Male | Alice Ferris | |
2005 | The River King | Betsy Chase | |
2008 | Pride and Glory | Abby Tierney | |
2008 | Before the Rains | Laura | 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 | |
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 | |
2018 | The Miseducation of Cameron Post | Dr. Lydia Marsh | |
2018 | Monster | Katherine 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 | |
2021 | John and the Hole | Anna |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | The Camomile Lawn | Calypso | Miniseries, 5 episodes |
1993 | The Maitlands | Phyllis | BBC TV production |
1993 | Rik Mayall Presents: Micky Love | Tamsin | Miniseries, 6 episodes |
1995 | Pride and Prejudice | Elizabeth Bennet | Miniseries, 6 episodes |
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 |
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, London |
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 Theatre |
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 |
BAFTA Awards
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress | Pride & Prejudice | Won |
1998 | Best Supporting Actress | 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
- Colby, Vineta; Wilson, H. W. (1991). World Authors, 1980–1985. google.ca. ISBN 9780824207977.
- "Performing Arts". google.ca. 1970.
- "Ehle family". freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. 2013. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
- 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
- "Jennifer Ehle". TVGuide.com.
- "Drama – Home Page". uncsa.edu.
- "High Profile Alumni". cssd.ac.uk.
- http://www.geocities.ws.dwan_y/tartuffe.html%5B%5D
- Lees, Caroline. "Classic recipes for success". Sunday Times. 9 February 1992
- Dave Kehr (June 16, 2000). "AT THE MOVIES; A Resemblance? It's Only Natural". The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
- "What Lizzie did next". The Age. Melbourne. April 23, 2005. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
- Doug Feiden (June 5, 2000). "'Kiss Me Kate' is big Tony winner 'Copenhagen' and 'Contact' also honored". Daily News. New York. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
- https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/design-for-living-12823
- "Coast of Utopia". Playbill. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
- "Those Storm-Tossed Revolutionaries Reach Port". The New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
- "Fairley to replace Ehle in HBO's 'Thrones'". The Hollywood Reporter. October 14, 2010. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
- Jace Lacob (September 22, 2011). "A Gifted Man's Leading Lady". The Daily Beast.
- "Tony Winners Lithgow and Ehle Are 'MR. & MRS. FITCH' For Second Stage Theatre" August 19, 2009, Broadway World
- https://www.broadway.com/buzz/187974/oslo-starring-tony-winners-jefferson-mays-and-jennifer-ehle-begins-broadway-run/
- "Jennifer Ehle – Biography". Yahoo! Movies. January 15, 2014.
- Moore, Suzanne (December 20, 2011). "Celebrities' Christmas memories". The Guardian. Retrieved January 15, 2014.