Dare To Own It
A talented and charming actress, writer, director and producer, Emily Mortimer continues to challenge herself with a variety of creative endeavors, leaving audiences captivated on the big and small screens alike.
Mortimer is currently in production on her directorial debut âThe Pursuit of Loveâ for BBC One, a three-part mini-series she has adapted from the 1945 novel of the same name by Nancy Mitford. Set in England between the First and Second World Wars, Lily James, Emily Beecham, Dominic West and Andrew Scott star in the comedic tale of the upper-class Radlett family, focusing on daughter Linda (James) and her cousin Fanny (Beecham). Consumed by a desire for love and marriage, the two women and their friendship are put to the test as Fanny settles for a steady life and Linda decides to follow her heart, to increasingly wild and outrageous places.
As an actor, she will next be seen in Jeffrey Lieber and Charlie McDonnellâs sci-fi Quibi series âDonât Look Deeper,â opposite Don Cheadle and Helena Howard. The series is set to premiere on July 6, 2020. Following, she will star in Natalie Erika Jamesâs âRelic,â opposite Bella Heathcote and Robyn Nevin. The horror film follows three generations of women who are haunted by a manifestation of the grandmotherâs dementia that consumes their familyâs home. The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to high critical acclaim and will be released by IFC Midnight on July 10, 2020. Mortimer is also set to star in and executive produce Entertainment Oneâs television adaptation of Laura Simsâs debut novel Looker, under her King Bee production banner.
In 2018, Mortimer starred as âJane Banksâ in Rob Marshallâs âMary Poppins Returnsâ opposite Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda. A sequel to the beloved award-winning classic, the film was nominated for a 2019 Golden Globe Award in the category of Best Motion Picture â Musical or Comedy and named one of the Top Films of 2018 by the National Board of Review. Other recent films include; Isabel Coixetâs critically acclaimed âThe Bookshop,â which was the recipient of three Goya Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay; Sally Potterâs âThe Party,â opposite Timothy Spall, Kristin Scott Thomas and Patricia Clarkson; and Stacy Cochranâs âWrite When You Get Work,â which debuted at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival.
Previously, Mortimer co-wrote and co-starred in two seasons of âDoll & Emâ on HBO, with her real-life best friend, Dolly Wells. The critically praised series is a half-hour comedy with Emily and Dolly starring as slightly fictionalized versions of themselves. The series was produced by Mortimerâs King Bee Productions, with the first season premiering at the 2013 London Film Festival. The second season was released on March 19, 2014.
Mortimerâs break-out performance was in Nicole Holofcenerâs âLovely & Amazingâ opposite Catherine Keener. The film won her rave reviews and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress. She went on to star in David Mackenzieâs film, âYoung Adamâ opposite Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton, and earned nominations for Best British Actress at the Empire Awards as well as Best British Actress in a Supporting Role at the London Film Critics Circle Awards. Following that, she starred opposite Ryan Gosling in the OscarÂź nominated comedy, âLars and the Real Girl.â
Among her numerous other film credits are Til Schweigerâs âHead Full of Honey;â Michael Goiâs âMaryâ opposite Gary Oldman; Greg Kinnearâs âPhil;â Woody Allenâs âMatch Point;â Ritesh Batraâs âThe Sense of an Ending;â Nic Mathieuâs âSpectral;â Paolo Sorrentinoâs âRio, eu te amoâ (âRio, I Love Youâ); Martin Scorseseâs âHugo,â opposite Sacha Baron Cohen, which received 11 Academy AwardÂź nominations; Hisako Matsuiâs âLeonie;â Jesse Peretzâ âOur Idiot Brotherâ opposite Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks and Zooey Deschanel; Scorseseâs âShutter Islandâ opposite Leonardo DiCaprio; Brad Andersonâs âTranssiberianâ opposite Woody Harrelson and Ben Kingsley; David Mametâs âRedbelt;â âDear Frankieâ opposite Gerard Butler which earned her a London Film Critics Award nomination; âCity Island,â opposite Andy Garcia; âHarry Brown,â opposite Michael Caine; Stephen Fryâs âBright Young Things;â Kenneth Branaghâs âLoveâs Labourâs Lost;â Shekhar Kapurâs âElizabeth;â âThe Ghost and the Darknessâ with Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer; âFormula 51â with Samuel L. Jackson; Wes Cravenâs âScream 3;â âThe Kidâ opposite Bruce Willis; and the âPink Panther 1 and 2â opposite Steve Martin.
Mortimer has lent her voice to John Lasseterâs beloved sequel, âCars 2,â as the beautiful British spy car, âHolley Shiftwellâ as well as to the character of young Sophie in Walt Disney Studiosâ English language version of âHowlâs Moving Castle,â directed by the renowned Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki.
In addition to her film projects, Mortimer has starred in a range of television projects for the BBC and played the recurring role of âPhoebe,â a love interest for Alec Baldwinâs character, during the 2007 season of the hit NBC series â30 Rock.â Additional television credits include three seasons HBOâs âThe Newsroomâ created by Aaron Sorkin and co-starring opposite Jeff Daniels.
On stage, Mortimerâs theatre credits include her off-Broadway debut at the Atlantic Theater in the world premiere of Jez Butterworthâs âParlour Song,â directed by Neil Pepe. In November 2007, Mortimer was invited by Eric Idle (âMonty Pythonâ) to take part in two special performances of his play, âWhat About Dick?â with a stellar cast that included Billy Connolly, Tim Curry, Eric Idle, Eddie Izzard, and Tracy Ullman. Additional theatre credits include productions of âThe Merchant of Veniceâ for the Lyceum Theatre and âThe Lightsâ for the Royal Court.
On the production side, Mortimer and her husband, Alessandro Nivola, run King Bee Productions. As part of the first-look television deal signed in 2017, it was recently announced that Entertainment One has acquired the television rights to their latest production, âState of Wonder.â Based on Anne Patchettâs novel of the same name, the series follows âDr. Marina Singhâ as she journeys into the depths of the Amazon rain forest in search of her former mentor, who has vanished while conducting research.
King Bee premiered their latest film âTo Dustâ at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival where it received the coveted Audience Award. Starring Matthew Broderick and GĂ©za Röhrig, the story follows Shmuel, a Hasidic cantor in Upstate New York, distraught by the untimely death of his wife, as he struggles to find religious solace while secretly obsessing over how her body will decay.
The production company has several projects in development including the film, âThe Man Who Never Died,â which they are producing in partnership with Blumhouse Productions. Based on the book of the same title by William Adler, the movie is a biopic about folk hero Joe Hill whose trial and execution have been the cause of speculation for the last century. King Bee is also producing âRespectable,â written and directed by Louis Mellis (âSexy Beastâ) in partnership with producers Jim Wilson and Ted Hope. In addition, King Bee is developing a television series based on Kathy Letteâs comic novel âThe Boy Who Fell to Earthâ about her relationship with her son who has Aspergerâs.
Mortimer was born in London, England â the daughter of famed writer Sir John Mortimer. She attended St. Paulâs Girls School in Hammersmith, London and went on to study English and Russian at Oxford University. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their two children.
Resources
LINKS:
- IMDB: Emily Mortimer
- INSTAGRAM: @emortimer
- TWITTER: @EMortimer
QUOTES:
âIt stops being about you and it starts being about helping them tell the story.”
“A major thing is to not get hung up on failing.”
âThe sort of amazing continual challenge of the job that we do is that you always are starting from the beginning.â
VIDEOS:
Credits:
- WRITER: Alysia Livingston
- WRITER: Lizzy Dalla Betta
- SOUND DESIGN: Zachary Jameson
- WEBSITE & GRAPHICS: Chase Jennings
- ASSISTANT: Elle Powell
- SOCIAL OUTREACH: Bebe Katsenes