Natascha McElhone

Natascha McElhone (/ˈmækəlhoʊn/; born Natasha Abigail Taylor, 14 December 1971)[1] is a British actress. She is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In film, she is best known for her roles in Ronin (1998), The Truman Show (1998), and Solaris (2002). On television, she has portrayed Karen van der Beek, the long-time partner of Hank Moody, in the Showtime comedy-drama series Californication (2007–2014), First Lady Alex Kirkman in the ABC political drama Designated Survivor[2] (2016–2017), and Laz Ingram in Beau Willimon’s Hulu science-fiction series The First (2018).

She was born Natasha Abigail Taylor in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey on 14 December 1971[1][3] to Noreen McElhone and Michael Taylor, both Irish and journalists.[4] She took her mother’s maiden name as her stage name.[3] McElhone has a scriptwriter brother, Damon, who lives in Los Angeles; and two half-brothers: Alexander, who lives in Zürich, and Nicholas, who lives in Stockholm. Her parents separated when she was two. Her Irish mother moved the family to Brighton and later married journalist and columnist Roy Greenslade.