Embeth Davidtz


Embeth Jean Davidtz is a South African-American actress. Her screen roles include movies such as Army of Darkness, Schindler's List, Matilda, Mansfield Park, Bicentennial Man, Fallen, Junebug, and Fracture, and the television series Mad Men, Californication, In Treatment, and Ray Donovan

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 native South Africa when Davidtz was nine years old. Davidtz has Dutch, English, and French ancestry. She had to learn Afrikaans before attending school classes in South Africa, where her father took up a teaching post at Potchefstroom University. Davidtz graduated from The Glen High School in Pretoria in 1983 and studied at Rhodes University in Grahamstown.

Debut and early career

Davidtz made her acting debut at age 21 with CAPAB in Cape Town, playing Juliet in a stage production of Romeo and Juliet at the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre. Performing in English and Afrikaans, she also starred in other local plays, including Stille Nag and A Chain of Voices, both earning her nominations for the South African equivalent of the Tony Award.
Her film debut came in 1988 with a small role in South African-filmed American horror Mutator. Shortly after, she won a bigger part in South African short telemovie A Private Life, as the daughter of an interracial couple. Davidtz won a DALRO Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the 1990 play Houd-den-bek. For the same play, she was nominated in 1991 for the Esther Roos Award for Best Actress in a Supporting role in Afrikaans film. Steven Spielberg noticed her performance in the 1992 South African film, Nag van die Negentiende and offered her the role of Helen Hirsch in Schindler's List.

Hollywood career

In 1993, Davidtz played the role of Helen Hirsch in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List.
Davidtz had a central role in the fact-based film Murder in the First, followed by the Merchant Ivory production Feast of July. In Matilda, 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 Austen comedy 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 saw Davidtz play Natasha, a colleague and one of the love interests of Mark Darcy. That year, she began her run on the CBS drama Citizen Baines, playing the daughter of a defeated United States Senate incumbent 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, Davidtz played an outsider art dealer from Chicago brought to North Carolina by her husband 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. 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.
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. 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. "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.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1992Army of DarknessSheilaFangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress
1993Schindler's ListHelen Hirsch
1995Murder in the FirstMary McCasslin
1995Feast of JulyBella Ford
1996MatildaMiss Jennifer Honey
1998FallenGretta Milano
1998'Mallory Doss
1999Simon MagusLeah
1999Mansfield ParkMary Crawford
1999Bicentennial Man"Little Miss" Amanda Martin / Portia CharneyNominated – Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress, Comedy
2001Bridget Jones's DiaryNatasha
2001'Dr. Philippa Horwood
2001Thir13en GhostsKalina Oretzia
2002Elizabeth
2005JunebugMadeleine Johnsten
2007FractureJennifer Crawford
2009FragmentsJoan Laraby
20103 BackyardsThe Actress
2011The Girl with the Dragon TattooAnnika Giannini
2012The Amazing Spider-ManMary Parker
2013ParanoiaDr. Judith Bolton
2013Europa ReportDr. Samantha Unger
2013Miracle Rising: South AfricaHerself
2014The Amazing Spider-Man 2Mary Parker

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1989Screen TwoOlder KarenEpisode: "A Private Life"
1992Till Death Us Do PartKatherine PallikoTV movie
1992Deadly MatrimonyDianne MastersTV movie
1997AdrianaTV movie
1998Last RitesDr. Lauren RiggsTV movie
2001Citizen BainesEllen Baines Croland7 episodes
2002ShackletonRosalind ChetwyndTV movie
2004ScrubsMaddieEpisode: "My Tormented Mentor"
2006, 2019Grey's AnatomyNancy ShepherdEpisodes: "Let the Angels Commit", "Good Shepherd"
2008In TreatmentAmy8 episodes
2009CalifornicationFelicia Koons10 episodes
2009–2012Mad MenRebecca Pryce8 episodes
2015The Secret Life of Marilyn MonroeNatasha LytessTV Miniseries
2016Ray DonovanSonia Kovitzky7 episodes
2019The Morning ShowPaige Kessler2 episodes