Natascha McElhone

McElhone was born Natascha Abigail Taylor,^[1] on 14 December 1971 in London, England,^{[2][3][better source needed]} to Irish mother Noreen McElhone,^[2] and English father Michael Taylor,^[4] both journalists.^[4][2] Her parents separated when she was two.^[2] Her mother moved the family to Brighton,^{[citation needed]} and later married journalist and columnist Roy Greenslade.^[4] McElhone has a brother, Damon (by Taylor),^[4] and two half-brothers, Nicholas and Alex (by Taylor).^{[citation needed]}

McElhone was educated at St Mark's Church of England Primary School, Brighton;^{[citation needed]} St Mary's Hall, Brighton; Fortismere School, London;^{[citation needed]} Camden School for Girls, London;^{[citation needed]} and William Ellis, London.^{[citation needed]} She also took lessons in Irish dancing from ages 6 to 12.^{[citation needed]}

She studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.^{[when?][2][5][better source needed]}

While eventually taking McElhone, her mother's maiden name, as her stage name,^[2][4] she began her career, in the theatre, as "Natascha Taylor", work that included starring roles in Richard III and A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, London,^{[citation needed]} and in The Count of Monte Cristo and The Cherry Orchard at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester.^{[citation needed]} She made her television debut in 1990,^{[citation needed]} again credited as "Natascha Taylor", in Television South's adaptation of the Inspector Wexford story An Unkindness of Ravens.^{[6][better source needed]}

She appeared the following year, again as "Natascha Taylor," in the series Bergerac as Louise Calder, a rebellious daughter of very wealthy parents.^{[7][full citation needed]} She appeared in two episodes of the Dennis Potter television miniseries Karaoke.^{[citation needed]}

McElhone's first major box-office role,^{[citation needed]} and an early role where she was credited as her new stage name, came with Surviving Picasso (1996), with co-star Anthony Hopkins.^{[citation needed]} One of her most successful films to date has been The Truman Show (1998) with Jim Carrey.^{[citation needed][8]} She had leading roles opposite Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own (1997), Robert De Niro in Ronin (1998)^[9] and George Clooney in Solaris (2002).^[10][11]

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.^[2][12] In 2009, she became a spokeswoman for Neutrogena.^[13] In 2010, McElhone voiced Marie in the video game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow from Konami.^[14]

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.^[15] 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.^[16]

In February 2016, McElhone was cast alongside Kiefer Sutherland in ABC's political drama series Designated Survivor, which premiered in September 2016.^[17] She left the show in Season 2 to star as Laz Ingram in the Hulu science fiction drama series The First (2018).^[18]

In 2022, McElhone appeared as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburghs close friend Penelope Knatchbull in the Netflix historical series season 5 of The Crown.^[19]

From 2022 to 2024, she starred as Catherine Halsey in the Paramount+ military science fiction series Halo.^[20]

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.^[21]

McElhone married plastic surgeon Martin Hirigoyen Kelly on 19 May 1998.^[22] The couple lived in Fulham, south-west London. They had three sons, the third born five months after Kelly's death.^[23]

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. 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.^[24][25]

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.^[26][27]