Jennifer Ehle Biography

JENNIFER EHLE

Date of Birth: December 29,1969

Although best known for her brilliant portrayal of England's confident and witty Elizabeth Bennet from A&E's Pride and Prejudice, Jennifer is not British. The daughter of novelist John Ehle and actress Rosemary Harris, Jennifer was actually born in North Carolina. Due to her mother's frequent moves, she didn't spend much time there. Jennifer had to change schools 18 times.

She attended London's Central School of Speech and Drama, but dropped out in her final term when Sir Peter Hall offered her a leading role in Channel 4's production of The Camomile Lawn (with her mother playing the elder version of her character).

Her first movie role was as Cynthia Powell (John Lennon's first wife) in 1993's Backbeat. She was in several Alan Bleasdale Presents television productions and won acclaim as the slain army wife Penny McAllister in Beyond Reason.

The first time most American audiences were introduced to Jennifer was in January of 1996, when A&E showed the BBC/A&E production of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Her role as Elizabeth Bennet won her a 1996 BAFTA award as Best Actress. In her acceptance speech she joked, "Half of this award should go to my wigs."

Jennifer also has done theater work. She was seen in Tartuffe in the West End and has performed as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company in such roles as Lady Anne in Richard III, Amanda in The Relapse, and Serafina in The Painter of Dishonour.

Jennifer has been romantically linked with costars such as Toby Stephens, during The Camomile Lawn and Colin Firth (when they were filming Pride and Prejudice).

Jennifer continues to seek roles outside of the Hollywood spotlight. Films such as Paradise Road (1997), A Good Baby (1998) and Bedroom and Hallways (1998) have each been blessed with her powerful performances, but receive little attention from the general audience. As for Jennifer, it doesn't seem to bother her. In Sunshine (1999), she once again played alongside her mother, Rosemary Harris. Nonetheless, over the years Jennifer has managed to land roles in several critically-acclaimed blockbusters, such as Oscar winner The King's Speech (2010) and nominee The Ides of March (2011).

Some of Jennifer's recent credits include the political thriller Zero Dark Thirty (2013), the 2014 remake RoboCop, the controversial film Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), the drama Little Men (2016) with Greg Kinnear and the third in the Fifty Shades trilogy, Fifty Shades Freed (2018).

She also played Vinnie Dickinson in the Emily Dickinson biopic A Quiet Passion (2017), which stars Cynthia Nixon in the title role. The role of Judith, the Editor-in-Chief of a Toronto newspaper in the political drama Run This Town (2020), which was filmed in Toronto, followed.

She's currently filming the mini-series A Higher Loyalty for CBS, starring alongside Jeff Daniels, Peter Coyote and Brendan Gleeson.

Jennifer lives in London, England with her husband Michael Scott Ryan. They were married November 29, 2001 and have two children.

Filmography:

Saint Maud (2020)
Run This Town (2020)
Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies (2019)
Wetlands (2019)
The Professor and the Madman (2019)
The Wolf Hour (2019)
Take Point (2018)
Vox Lux (2018)

Fifty Shades Freed (2018)
A Quiet Passion (2017)
The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)
Little Men (2016)
MI-5 (2015)
Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
Advantageous (2015)
A Little Chaos (2014)
The Forger (2014)
Black or White (2014)
RoboCop (2014)
Zero Dark Thirty (2013)
Contagion (2011)
The Ides of March (2011)
The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
The King's Speech (2010)
The Greatest (2009)
Pride and Glory (2008)
Before the Rains (2008)
Alpha Male (2006)
The River King (2005)
Possession (2002)
Sunshine (1999)
This Year's Love (1999)
Bedrooms & Hallways (1998)
A Good Baby (1998)
Paradise Road (1997)
Wilde (1997)
Backbeat (1993)