Elizabeth Hurley
Biography
Elizabeth
Jane Hurley was born on June 10, 1965 in Hampshire, England, United
Kingdom. The daughter of an army officer father and an elementary
schoolteacher mother, Hurley grew up in the suburb of Basingstoke,
England. Her dream as a youth was to become a dancer, so she went
to a boarding school for ballet instruction when she was twelve
years old.
She soon
returned home, however. Around the age of sixteen, Hurley became
caught up in the English punk-rock scene and even wore pink hair
and a nose ring. Hurley says, "When I was sixteen the thing
to be in Basingstoke, the suburb I grew up in, was punk. Which,
as any hip person will tell you, was way past its sell-by date.
But the thing to do was to have a pierced nose and spiky hair. And
I loved the music. Still do." Despite her punkiness, Hurley
won a college scholarship to the London Studio Centre, which taught
courses for dance and theater.
Hurley
parlayed her training at the London Studio Centre into theatre work
and made her screen debut at the age of 21 in Bruce Beresford's
movie Aria in 1987. Several roles in television and the film Remando
al viento (1987) with young actor (and future beau) Hugh Grant soon
followed. Continuing her streak of success, Hurley drew accolades
for her portrayal of the title role of Christabel Bielenberg in
the BBC mini-serial Christabel in 1988. Then, in 1992, Hurley made
her Hollywood film debut as a terrorist in the Wesley Snipes action
drama Passenger 57. Despite this appearance, Hurley was disappointed
in the lack of meaty roles she received after two years of auditioning
in Hollywood, so she returned to England.
Unbeknownst
to Hurley, her fame was soon to skyrocket for two reasons. Reason
number one was the London premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral,
where Hurley wowed the crowd by wearing a black Versace dress that
was held together by nothing more than safety pins. Hurley says,
"That dress was a favor from Versace because I couldn't afford
to buy one. His people told me they didn't have any evening wear,
but there was one item left in their press office. So I tried it
on and that was it."
Reason
number two for Hurley's fame taking off was her becoming the spokesmodel
representing top cosmetics house Estée Lauder. This assignment,
along with the Hugh Grant/Divine Brown incident, thrust Hurley squarely
into the public eye. Despite the chaos created by the incident,
Hurley and Grant founded Simian Films in partnership with Castle
Rock Entertainment in 1994. Soon afterwards, Hurley, Simian's Head
of Development, discovered the script for and produced the film
Extreme Measures (1996), starring Hugh Grant, Gene Hackman, and
Sarah Jessica Parker. Extreme Measures, a medical mystery thriller,
is Simian Films' first production and a departure from what Hurley
and Grant had planned on doing in their first production - comedy.
Hurley found out about Extreme Measures after Simian Films was established,
during her first meeting with executives from Castle Rock Entertainment.
Elizabeth liked the story and read Tony Gilroy's script eagerly.
"I found the moral intricacies of the script so complex that
even now, nearly two years after reading the first draft, I still
can't decide exactly where I stand on the ethical issues,"
said Hurley during an interview.
Since
producing Extreme Measures, the well-rounded Hurley has continued
to be very busy with a plethora of projects. The film Austin Powers:
International Man of Mystery (1997) was probably the biggest and
and most successful of those projects. On Austin Powers' impact
on her career, Hurley says "thanks to Austin Powers, I'm earning
more money acting than I have before and getting better scripts.
But that film was not what I feel comes naturally to me. I'm actually
a more melancholy, more serious actress. I mean, in England I got
known for very sad, dramatic, quite heavy emotional BBC dramas."
Hurley
has appeared in several movies since portraying the "shagadelic"
Vanessa Kensington in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
She had a major role in the film Dangerous Ground in 1997. After
a brief absence from the big screen in 1998, Hurley reappeared with
a vengeance. She starred in several films that were released within
a year of each other -- Permanent Midnight (Fall 1998), My Favorite
Martian (Spring 1999), Ed TV (Spring 1999), and Austin Powers 2:
The Spy Who Shagged Me (Summer 1999). In addition to her starring
roles in the above movies, Hurley served as a producer of Simian
Film's second film, Mickey Blue-Eyes, which premiered Fall 1999.
Elizabeth Hurley Filmography
Method (2004)--Rebecka
Fairbanks
Bad Boy (2001)--Anna Lockhart
Servicing Sara (2001)--Sarah
The Human Face (2001) (mini) TV Series--Herself
Double Whammy (2001)--Dr. Ann Beamer
Bedazzled (2000)--The Devil
The Weight of Water (2000)--Adaline Gunne
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)--Mrs. Vanessa Kensington-Powers
Edtv (1999)--Jill
My Favorite Martian (1999)--Brace Channing
Permanent Midnight (1998)--Sandra
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)--Miss Vanessa
Kensington-Powers
Dangerous Ground (1997)--Karin
Samson and Delilah (1996) (TV)--Dalila
Harrison: Cry of the City (1995) (TV)
The Shamrock Conspiracy (1995) (TV)
The World of 007 (1995) (TV)--Herself (host)
Mad Dogs and Englishmen (1995)--Antonia Dyer
Sharpe's Enemy (1994) (TV)--Lady Isabella Farthingdale
Beyond Bedlam (1993)--Stephanie Lyell
Passenger 57 (1992)--Sabrina Ritchie
El Largo invierno (1991)--Emma Stapleton
Orchid House (1991) (TV)--Natalie
Death Has a Bad Reputation (1990) (TV)--Julia Latham
Skipper, Der (1990)--Lou
Act of Will (1989) (TV)--Christina
Christabel (1988) (TV)--Christabel Bielenberg
Aria (1987)--Marietta (segment "Die tote Stadt")
Remando al viento (1987)--Claire Clairmont |
