Embeth Jean Davidtz (born August 11, 1965) is an American actress. Her screen roles include movies such as Army of Darkness, Schindler's List, Matilda, Junebug, Mansfield Park, Bicentennial Man, and Fracture, and the television series Californication and Mad Men. Davidtz spent much of her early life in South Africa.
Early life[]
Davidtz was born in Lafayette, Indiana, while her father was studying chemical engineering at Purdue University. Her parents, John and Jean, later moved to Trenton, New Jersey, and then back to their adoptive South Africa when Davidtz was nine years old.[1] Davidtz has Dutch, English, and French ancestry.[2] She had to learn Afrikaans before attending school classes in South Africa,[1] where her father took up a teaching post at Potchefstroom University. She graduated from The Glen High School in Pretoria in 1983 and studied at Rhodes University in Grahamstown.[3]
Career[]
Davidtz had a central role in the fact-based film Murder in the First (1995), followed by the Merchant Ivory production Feast of July (also 1995). In Matilda (1996), a feature based on Roald Dahl's children's fantasy, she played the role of Miss Honey, the grade-one teacher of the title character.
In 1998, Davidtz played a theologian helping Denzel Washington crack a supernatural wave of crimes in the mystery drama Fallen and a femme fatale linked to Kenneth Branagh in Robert Altman's take on a previously unused John Grisham manuscript, The Gingerbread Man. The following year, Davidtz portrayed a 19th-century woman of the world in Patricia Rozema's reworking of the Jane Austencomedy Mansfield Park and played a dual role opposite Robin Williams in the futuristic fable Bicentennial Man.
A supporting role in the film adaptation of Bridget Jones' Diary (2001) saw Davidtz play Natasha, a colleague and one of the love interests of Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). That year, she began her run on the CBS drama Citizen Baines, playing the daughter of a defeated United States Senate incumbent (James Cromwell) who is herself leaning towards a career in politics. Other roles included horror thrillers like 2001's Thir13en Ghosts alongside Tony Shalhoub. In 2002, she appeared in the Michael Hoffman drama The Emperor's Club, which co-starred Kevin Kline and Emile Hirsch.
In Junebug (2005), Davidtz played an outsider art dealer from Chicago brought to North Carolina by her husband (Alessandro Nivola) to meet his family for the first time. Davidtz has also guest-starred on the hit ABC drama series Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Derek Shepherd's sister Nancy in the Season 3 episode "Let the Angels Commit". In 2008, she had a regular role on HBO's In Treatment as Amy, part of a fractious couple alongside Josh Charles's Jake.
She portrayed the unfaithful and unfortunate wife of Anthony Hopkins's character in the 2007 drama Fracture.
From 2009 to 2012, she played Rebecca Pryce, wife of Lane Pryce, in the hit AMC television show Mad Men.[7] She also played Felicia Koons, the wife of the dean and the mother of Becca's best friend, Chelsea, on Showtime's Californication.
Davidtz played Annika Blomkvist in David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She also appeared in Marc Webb's Spider-Man reboot The Amazing Spider-Man as Mary Parker, Peter Parker's mother who vanished under mysterious circumstances along with Richard Parker.
Personal life[]
Davidtz married entertainment attorney Jason Sloane on June 22, 2002, and they have two children.
Davidtz has a younger sister who is a psychologist at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[8]
In an interview regarding her guest appearances on Ray Donovan, in which she portrayed a breast-cancer survivor, Davidtz revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, which had caused her to stop working and for which she underwent a mastectomy.[9] The role was Davidtz's first after undergoing treatment, and when informed that it required nudity, Davidtz worked with producer David Hollander to incorporate her partially-reconstructed right breast into the story, turning down the use of a prosthetic as a substitute for her right nipple that was due to be restored through surgery.[9] "Somebody might not believe it if an actress pretended to have their nipple gone and said, 'Look, I'm still sexual and pretty.' But when it's real, I hope it makes someone feel beautiful. I still feel beautiful," said Davidtz regarding the message she wished to convey by taking the role.[9]
Roles / Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Matilda | Jennifer Honey | |
| 1999 | Bicentennial Man | "Little Miss" Amanda Martin / Portia Charney | |
| 2001 | Thir13en Ghosts | Kalina Oretzia | |
| 2005 | Junebug | Madeleine Johnsten | |
| 2011 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Annika Giannini | |
| 2012 | The Amazing Spider-Man | Mary Parker | |
| 2014 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Mary Parker |