Embeth Davidtz


Embeth Jean Davidtz is a South African-American actress and director. She has appeared in movies such as Schindler's List, Matilda, Bridget Jones's Diary, and The Amazing Spider-Man, and in the television series In Treatment, Californication, and Mad Men.
In 2024 Davidtz made her directorial debut with Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, an adaptation of the best-selling memoir of the same name by Alexandra Fuller about growing up on a farm in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The film had its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
𝕏 EmbethDavidtz

Early life

Davidtz was born on August 11, 1965, in Lafayette, Indiana, to South African parents John and Jean, while her father was studying chemical engineering at Purdue University. The family later moved to Trenton, New Jersey, and then to 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.

Career

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 1992, Davidtz played the part of Sheila in Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness alongside Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams. The third entry in the Evil Dead franchise would eventually become a cult classic worldwide.
In 1993, Davidtz played the role of Helen Hirsch in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List.
In 1995, Davidtz had a central role in the fact-based film Murder in the First, and the Merchant Ivory Productions Feast of July.
In 1996, she played the role of Miss Honey, the first-grade teacher of the title character, in Matilda.
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 The Gingerbread Man. In 1999, 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 2001 film 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 Thirteen Ghosts alongside Tony Shalhoub. In 2002, she appeared in the Michael Hoffman drama The Emperor's Club.
In 2005, she played a character in Junebug, an outsider art dealer from Chicago brought to North Carolina to meet her husband's family for the first time. Davidtz also guest-starred on the ABC drama series Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Derek Shepherd's sister Nancy Shepherd in the Season 3 episode "Let the Angels Commit" and the season 15 episode "Good Shepherd". 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 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 the 2011 English language version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She also appeared in the 2012 Spider-Man reboot The Amazing Spider-Man and its 2014 sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as Mary Parker, Peter Parker's missing mother.
In 2016, she joined the cast of Ray Donovan in the role of Sonia Kovitzky.
From 2019 to 2021, she played Paige Kessler on The Morning Show, opposite Steve Carell, Jennifer Aniston, and Reese Witherspoon. She played the adult version of Maddox Cappa in Old in 2021, and Judith Sanders in Not Okay in 2022.

Personal life

Davidtz married entertainment attorney Jason Sloane on June 22, 2002, and they have two children. The family lives in Los Angeles. Davidtz is a convert to Judaism, her husband's religion.
In 2013, Davidtz underwent chemotherapy, immunological treatment, lymph-node-removal surgery and a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with Stage-3 breast cancer. Davidtz rejected the use of a prosthetic as a substitute for her nipple during a nude scene in Ray Donovan, where she portrayed a character who was a breast-cancer survivor, choosing instead to incorporate her own partially reconstructed right breast into the storyline.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1989MutatorJennifer
1990Sweet MurderLaurie Shannon
1991Nag van die 19deTessa
1992Army of DarknessSheila
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 Charney
2001Bridget Jones's DiaryNatasha Glenville
2001'Dr. Philippa Horwood
2001Thir13en GhostsKalina Oretzia
2002Elizabeth
2005JunebugMadeleine Johnsten
2007FractureJennifer Crawford
2008Winged CreaturesJoan 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
2021OldMaddox Cappa
2022Not OkayJudith Sanders
2023RetributionHeather Turner
2024Don't Let's Go to the Dogs TonightNicola FullerDirectorial debut

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 miniseries
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
2019–2021The Morning ShowPaige Kessler3 episodes
2021Love, VictorMs. CampbellEpisode: "Table for Four"
2022Tales of the Walking DeadAmandaEpisode: "Davon"