Emily Kathleen Anne Mortimer (born 6 October 1971) is an English actress and filmmaker. She began acting in stage productions and has since appeared in several film and television roles. In 2003, she won an Independent Spirit Award for her performance in Lovely and Amazing. She is also known for playing Mackenzie McHale in the HBO series The Newsroom (2012–2014). She co-created and co-wrote the series Doll & Em (2014–2015) and wrote and directed the miniseries The Pursuit of Love (2021), the latter of which earned her a nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress.
She provided the voice of Sophie in the English-language version of Howl's Moving Castle (2004), and starred in Scream 3 (2000), Match Point (2005), The Pink Panther (2006), The Pink Panther 2 (2009), Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Chaos Theory (2008), Harry Brown (2009), Shutter Island (2010), Cars 2 (2011), Hugo (2011), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), and Relic (2020).
Mortimer was born on 6 October 1971 in Hammersmith, London, to dramatist and barrister Sir John Mortimer, and his second wife, Penelope (née Gollop). She has a younger sister, Rosie; two older half-siblings, Sally Silverman and Jeremy, from her father's first marriage to author Penelope Fletcher; and a half-brother, Ross Bentley, from her father's relationship with actress Wendy Craig.
Mortimer studied at St Paul's Girls' School in west London where she appeared in several pupil productions. She went on to the University of Oxford, where she read Russian at Lincoln College where she performed in several plays and spent two terms at the Moscow Art Theatre School, studying acting. Before becoming an actress, she wrote a column for The Daily Telegraph and was screenwriter for an adaptation of Lorna Sage's memoir Bad Blood.
1995–2008: Early work and recognition
Mortimer performed in several plays while studying at the University of Oxford. While acting in a student production, she was spotted by a producer who later cast her as the lead in a television adaptation of Catherine Cookson's The Glass Virgin (1995). Subsequent television roles included Sharpe's Sword (1995) and Coming Home (1998). She followed this with the 1996 television film Lord of Misrule, directed by Guy Jenkin and filmed in Fowey, Cornwall.
In 1996, Mortimer appeared as drug addict Fran in the first series of Silent Witness. In the same year, she appeared in her first feature film opposite Val Kilmer in The Ghost and the Darkness, and in the coming-of-age story The Last of the High Kings.
1997 saw Mortimer cast as the central character of Katherine Lacey in the pilot episode of Midsomer Murders. In 1998 she appeared as Kat Ashley in Elizabeth, and played Miss Flynn in the television mini series Cider with Rosie, which was adapted for television by her father. In 1999, she played three roles: she was the "Perfect Girl" dropped by Hugh Grant in Notting Hill; Esther in the television miniseries Noah's Ark, and actress Angelina in 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. She took on her biggest role in an American film to date, playing opposite Bruce Willis in Disney's The Kid. A year later, she played aspiring actress Elizabeth in Lovely & Amazing, a comedy about the relationship between a mother and her three daughters. Mortimer said of the role, "It was a wonderful experience as an actor to have that opportunity [...] You hear this terrifying phrase, 'being in the moment.' I have no doubt that I was in that moment. [Elizabeth] was exposed and ridiculous and brave." Mortimer won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role. In 2002, she had a major part as the assassin in The 51st State (also known as Formula 51), starring opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Carlyle. The film was a critical and commercial failure.
In 2003, Mortimer appeared in Stephen Fry's British drama Bright Young Things, based on the 1930 novel Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh. It is about young and carefree London aristocrats and bohemians, set in the interwar period. Playing fiancée Nina Blount, Mortimer was described as "a character who gives Peter O'Toole a marvelous few minutes of playing dottiness to the hilt", by Washington Post's Stephen Hunter. Her last release of 2003 was Young Adam, in which she plays the girlfriend of a nihilistic barge worker (Ewan McGregor). Based on the novel of the same title, Mortimer's role in Young Adam garnered her acclaim; Evening Standard's critic wrote, "In a performance of naked courage, Emily Mortimer shows that she is prepared to go to extreme lengths of masochism in her depiction of a woman undone by love". Sight & Sound magazine thought the cast performances were "edgy", and Mortimer made the most out of an underwritten role. She also had a supporting part in the romantic drama The Sleeping Dictionary (2003).
In 2004, Mortimer played the lead role in the drama Dear Frankie, about a young mother whose love for her son prompts her to plan a deception to protect him from the truth about his father. Her performance gained positive reviews; San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "an unforgettable performance from Mortimer [...] a leading lady". Matthew Leyland of the BBC gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, and was impressed with Mortimer's performance, which was played with "heartfelt conviction". In an interview with critic Roger Ebert, Mortimer said, "I seem to find characters who are held back and guarded, physically and mentally. It's a relief after the film is over. [...] But when I'm acting, it's good to have something to play against, boundaries to break."
Mortimer also voiced young Sophie in the English-dubbed version of 2004's Howl's Moving Castle. In 2005, she played Chloe Wilton, the oblivious spouse of Jonathan Rhys Meyers's adulterer in Woody Allen's Match Point. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and co-starred Scarlett Johansson and Matthew Goode. Writing for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw opined that Mortimer's performance was "perfectly plausible", and CNN's critic complimented the entire cast. During the film's theatrical run, it earned $85 million. She appeared in The Pink Panther (2006) as the "adorable" secretary Nicole Durant.
In 2007, she had a role in the comedy drama Lars and the Real Girl as Karin, the supportive sister-in-law of Ryan Gosling's title character. The film received generally positive reviews; Deborah Ross of The Spectator thought Mortimer played her character well despite the film's repetitive comedic moments. Next in 2008, Mortimer starred opposite Ryan Reynolds in the comedy Chaos Theory. Critical reception was mostly mixed, and Ruthe Stein of San Francisco Chronicle thought Mortimer and Reynolds lacked chemistry. The psychological thriller Transsiberian (2008), directed by Brad Anderson, saw Mortimer cast as Jessie. She co-stars with Woody Harrelson, and they portray a couple who befriend a pair of mysterious travellers. The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival to a positive response; Variety magazine's critic thought Mortimer's character was well-developed, and it was "a very flavorful performance as a reformed bad girl".
A year later, she was cast in David Mamet's martial arts drama Redbelt, playing attorney Laura Black. The film gained fair reviews, and The Telegraph critic wrote, "Emily Mortimer is impressive as a jittery, unlikable attorney". In 2009, Mortimer reprised her role as Nicole Durant in The Pink Panther 2; the film was panned by critics. In the last three episodes of the first season of 30 Rock, she played Phoebe, the mysterious love interest of Alec Baldwin's character, Jack Donaghy.
2009–2019: Career progression in film
Mortimer appeared in Daniel Barber's first film, Harry Brown (2009), as police detective Alice Frampton. The plot follows widowed veteran (Michael Caine), who takes the law into his own hands when teenage violence ruins his community. Mortimer chose the role because "It felt like unfamiliar territory for me which is always a challenge and interesting [...] the script is very gripping and brilliantly written [...] getting to work with Michael, and then just the character being in some ways both the opposite and the same as Michael's character." To prepare for the role, she spent time with a real female detective, and learnt about police interrogation techniques. Critic Claudia Puig writing for USA Today thought her performance was "caring and savvy", despite the film's "senseless violence". Betsy Sharkey of Los Angeles Times wrote of Mortimer's performance: "Her clinical coolness plays well off of Caine's controlled heat."