Alice Evans

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For other people named Alice Evans, see Alice Evans (disambiguation).

Alice Evans
Alice Evans and Peter Jason, DOD crop.jpg
Evans during a tour of the Pentagon in 2006
Born
Alice Jane Evans

(1971-08-02) 2 August 1971 (age 50)
Summit, New Jersey, United States
Citizenship
  • United Kingdom
  • United States[1]
OccupationActress
Years active1996–present
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 2007; sep. 2021)​
Children2
Parent(s)David Evans
Janet Evans

Alice Jane Evans (born 2 August 1971) is a British-American actress.[2]

Early life[]

Evans, the daughter of educators and the granddaughter of a coal miner, was born in Summit, New Jersey, to British parents, mathematician David Evans[3] and Janet Evans. She was raised in Bristol, and attended Henbury school, along with her two brothers, Anthony and Philip.[4] She graduated from University College London with a 2:1 in French and Italian.[4]

Career[]

After graduation, she enrolled at the Cours Florent in Paris. She gained work in French television, with her breakthrough role as French student Susan in the popular French sitcom, Elisa Top Modele, which ran for 18 months. Next, she went to Italy to play "Nathalie", in the 1998 Italian miniseries Le ragazze di Piazza di Spagna. Her first English-speaking role was in the Highlander episode 'Patient Number 7'. After making her first film, Monsieur Naphtali (1999), Oscar-winning director Claude Lelouch cast Evans as Macha in Une pour toutes (1999), alongside Samy Naceri and Anne Parillaud.

In 1999, Disney cast Evans alongside Glenn Close, Gérard Depardieu and her future husband, Ioan Gruffudd, in 102 Dalmatians.[5][6] Evans' mother died at age 59, the day before Evans's final screen test for the role, which introduced her to British viewers.[7]

After appearing in Blackball, she moved to Los Angeles in 2003. She has since appeared in both television and film, such as The Mentalist, Brothers & Sisters, Lost, and Grimm. Evans also had a recurring turn as the villainous Esther on The Vampire Diaries[8] and The Originals.

Personal life[]

Evans first met actor Ioan Gruffudd during the filming of 102 Dalmatians, while she was in a relationship with Olivier Widmaier Picasso, a grandson of painter Pablo Picasso. In 2001, she was described as residing with Picasso in Paris, to whom she was engaged; they were together for eight years before she left him for Gruffudd.[9]

In 2017, following a slew of sexual assault allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, Evans penned an essay revealing that in 2002 Weinstein made sexual advances towards her, which she declined. Weinstein then intimated that her rejection would affect not only her career, but Gruffudd's as well.[10]

In a 2007 interview, Gruffudd stated he and Evans became engaged on New Year's Day 2006 after Evans gave him a marriage ultimatum.[11] They married on 14 September 2007 in Mexico.[12] They have two daughters, born in 2009 and 2013.[13] In January 2021, Evans announced their separation, which Gruffudd initiated.[14] In March 2021, Gruffudd filed for divorce from Evans.[15]

Select filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Une pour toutes Macha Desachy
2000 102 Dalmatians Chloe Simon
2001 Ma femme s'appelle Maurice Emmanuelle
2002 The Abduction Club Catherine Kennedy
2003 Blackball Kerry Speight
2004 Fascination Kelly Vance
2006 Hollywood Dreams Vida
2006 The Christmas Card Faith Spelman
2006 Dangerous Parking Etta
2013 Liars All Sandra

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
1996–99 Elisa Top Modèle Clara 22 episode; aka Elisa
1996 Strangers Charlotte Episode: "Crash"
1997 Highlander: The Series Kyra Episode: "Patient Number 7"
1998 Au cœur de la loi Muriel Highsmith Episode: "En vert et contre tous"
1998 H Sabri's Girlfriend Episode: "Une belle maman"
1998 Le Ragazze di Piazza di Spagna Nathalie [unknown episodes]
2001 Best of Both Worlds Diane Sullivan [unknown episodes]
2003 CSI: Miami Leslie Warner Episode: "Bait"
2006 The Christmas Card Faith Spelman Television film
2009 Lost Younger Eloise Hawking 3 episodes
2011–12 The Vampire Diaries Esther Mikaelson 6 episodes
2012 Grimm Mia Gaudot Episode: "Over My Dead Body"
2014–15 The Originals Esther Mikaelson 3 episodes

Video games[]

Year Title Role Notes
1996 MegaRace 2 Co-host of the racing show MegaRace 2 Her name is different each time it is mentioned.[16][17]

References[]

  1. ^ Alice Evans' biodata, mtv.com; accessed 25 September 2014. Archived 24 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Photo gallery, Showbiz.sky.com; accessed 23 September 2014. Archived 29 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Alice Evans". NNDB. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Meet La Belle Anglaise" by Anna Pursglove, Evening Standard, 15 December 2000.
  5. ^ Mia Sulpor (15 November 2000). "Disney lets dogs out". Variety. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  6. ^ "102 Dalmatians (2000)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  7. ^ "Alice Evans Biography". IMDB. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  8. ^ Shaunna Murphy (9 February 2012). "'The Vampire Diaries': Talk tonight's shocking twist, and find out what's next from producer Julie Plec". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2 June 2016. When Original vampire mama Esther (Alice Evans) returned to Mystic Falls after spending the last millennium six feet under, we knew she’d have some deeply hidden tricks up her sleeve.
  9. ^ Lucy Cavendish (22 January 2001). "La jeune fille anglaise". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  10. ^ Kiefer, Halle. "Actress Alice Evans Wonders What Effect Rejecting Harvey Weinstein Had on Her and Her Husband's Careers". Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  11. ^ Ioan Gruffudd, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, 21 February 2007.
  12. ^ Mary Margaret (15 September 2007). "Fantastic Four Star Ioan Gruffudd Gets Married". People. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  13. ^ Andrew Asare (2 October 2013). "Ioan Gruffudd and Alice Evans welcome second child". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  14. ^ Juneau, Jen (26 January 2021). "Alice Evans Tweets Husband Ioan Gruffudd 'Has Announced He Is to Leave His Family': We Are 'Confused and Sad'". People.com. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd files for divorce from Alice Evans". South Wales Argus. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  16. ^ "Alice Evans". Lockerdome. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  17. ^ "MegaRace 2 (DOS)". Moby Games. Retrieved 15 December 2015.

External links[]

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