Emily Mortimer (born
1 December,
1971) is an
English actress. She began performing on stage, and has since appeared in several film and television roles, including 2000's
Scream 3 and 2005's
Match Point.
Biography
Early life
Mortimer was born in
London,
England, the daughter of
Sir John Mortimer QC (lawyer and dramatist famous for
Rumpole of the Bailey) and Penelope (
née Gollop). Her maternal grandfather was a pig farmer.
[Cavendish, Lucy A bohemian hunter, Evening Standard (30 July 2003)] She has a younger sister, Rosie, and a half brother, Ross Bentley. Mortimer studied at
St Paul's Girls' School, where she appeared in several student productions. After St. Paul's, she moved on to
Lincoln College, Oxford, where she read
Russian, and performed in several plays. Before becoming an actress, Emily wrote a column for the
Daily Telegraph, and was also screenwriter for a screen adaptation of
Lorna Sage's memoir,
Bad Blood.
Career
Mortimer performed in several plays while studying at
Oxford University, and while acting in a student production she was spotted by a producer who later cast her in a supporting role in a
television adaptation of Dame
Catherine Cookson's
The Glass Virgin (1995). Subsequent television roles included
Sharpe's Sword. Her first film role was opposite
Val Kilmer in 1996's
The Ghost and the Darkness. Mortimer was then in the
Irish coming-of-age story
The Last of the High Kings, released later the same year. In 1998 she appeared as
Kat Ashley in
Elizabeth, and played Miss Flynn in the
TV mini-series
Cider with Rosie, which was adapted for television by her father.
In 1999, she played three roles that raised her profile outside the UK: She was the ill-fated "Perfect Girl" dropped by
Hugh Grant in
Notting Hill, appeared as Esther in the American TV mini-series
Noah's Ark, and was Angelina, the star of the film-within-a-film, in the upscale
slasher flick
Scream 3.
In 2000, Mortimer was cast as Katherine in
Kenneth Branagh's musical adaptation of
Love's Labour's Lost, where she met actor and future husband
Alessandro Nivola. Mortimer changed her prim image in favor of a more provocative one when she appeared full-frontally
nude in the 2001 film "Lovely and Amazing". She took on her biggest role in an American film to date, playing opposite
Bruce Willis in
The Kid. In 2002, she had a major role in
The 51st State (also known as
Formula 51), starring opposite
Samuel L. Jackson and
Robert Carlyle, and was a supporting character in
John Woo's war drama
Windtalkers. In 2004, she appeared in the movie
Dear Frankie. In 2005, she played a major role as the oblivious spouse of an adulterous
Jonathan Rhys Meyers in
Woody Allen's
Match Point, as well as voicing young Sophie in the English-dubbed version of
Howl's Moving Castle. She also appeared in
The Pink Panther in 2006, as the
love interest of
Inspector Clouseau (
Steve Martin), and will appear in the sequel. In the last three episodes of
30 Rocks first season, she played Phoebe, a love interest of Alec Baldwin's character Jack Donaghy.
In 2009, she will play one of the title characters in
Martin Scorsese's next film,
Ashecliffe.
Personal life
In 2000, Mortimer met American actor
Alessandro Nivola, while both were starring in
Love's Labour's Lost. The couple married on
3 January,
2003. A Mexican punk band performed at their wedding. Mortimer gave birth to their son, Samuel, on
23 September,
2003.
Filmography
