Natascha McElhone

Natascha McElhone
McElhone in 2018
Born	Natascha Abigail Taylor (1971-12-14) 14 December 1971 (age 52) Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England
Alma mater	London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1990–present
Spouse	Martin Hirigoyen Kelly ​ ​ (m. 1998; died 2008)​
Children	3
Relatives	Roy Greenslade (stepfather)

Natascha Abigail Taylor (born 14 December 1971), known professionally as Natascha McElhone (/ˈmækəlhoʊn/), is an English actress. In film, she has starred in the action thriller Ronin (1998), the psychological comedy-drama The Truman Show (1998) and the science fiction drama Solaris (2002). On television, she has starred in the Showtime comedy-drama series Californication (2007–2014), the ABC political drama series Designated Survivor (2016–2017), the Hulu science fiction drama series The First (2018), the Netflix historical series The Crown (2022) and the Paramount+ military science fiction series Halo.

McElhone was born Natascha Abigail Taylor in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England on 14 December 1971^[1] to Noreen McElhone and Michael Taylor, who are both journalists.^[2] 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 Irish mother moved the family to Brighton and later married journalist and columnist Roy Greenslade.^[3]

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 six to 12. She studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.^[4]

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.^[5] She appeared the following year, again credited as "Natascha Taylor," in the series Bergerac as Louise Calder, a rebellious daughter of very wealthy parents.^[6]

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.^[7] She had leading roles opposite Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own (1997), Robert De Niro in Ronin (1998)^[8] and George Clooney in Solaris (2002).^[9][10]

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.^[1][11] In 2009, she became a spokeswoman for Neutrogena.^[12] In 2010, McElhone voiced Marie in the video game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow from Konami.^[13]

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.^[14] 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.^[15]

In February 2016, McElhone was cast alongside Kiefer Sutherland in ABC's political drama series Designated Survivor, which premiered in September 2016.^[16] She left the show in Season 2 to star as Laz Ingram in the Hulu science fiction drama series The First (2018).^[17] In 2022, McElhone starred as Penelope Knatchbull in the Netflix historical series season 5 of The Crown.^[18] From 2022 to 2024, she starred as Catherine Halsey in the Paramount+ military science fiction series Halo.^[19]

McElhone married plastic surgeon Martin Hirigoyen Kelly on 19 May 1998.^[20] The couple lived in Fulham, south-west London, with their sons Theodore (b. 2000) and Otis (b. May 2003); their third son, Rex, was born in October 2008, five months after Kelly's death.^[21]

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.^[22][23]

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.^[24][25]

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