Alice Evans (born 2 August 1968) is a former British-American actress.

Early life

Evans was born in

Summit, New Jersey Summit is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The city is located on a ridge in northern- central New Jersey, within the Raritan Valley and Rahway Valley regions in the New York metropolitan area. At the 2010 United Sta ...

, to British parents, mathematician David Evans and teacher Janet Evans. She was raised in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, and attended Henbury school, along with her two brothers, Anthony and Philip."Meet La Belle Anglaise" by Anna Pursglove, ''Evening Standard'', 15 December 2000. She graduated from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

with a 2:1 in French and Italian.

Career

After graduation, she enrolled at the

Cours Florent The Cours Florent is a private French drama school in Paris established in 1967 by François Florent. The school is located on three nearby sites in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France: rue Archereau, rue Mathis, and Avenue Jean-Jaurès; f ...

in Paris. She gained work in French television, with her breakthrough role as French student Susan in the 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 Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, screenwriter, writer, cinematographer, actor and film producer, producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish Family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1 ...

cast Evans as Macha in '' Une pour toutes'' (1999), alongside

Samy Naceri Saïd Naceri ( ar, سعيد ناصري, link=no; born 2 July 1961), known as Samy Naceri (), is a French actor known for his work in the four ''Taxi'' films and '' The Code'' (''La Mentale''). Early life and career Naceri was born to an Algerian ...

and

Anne Parillaud Anne Parillaud (; born 6 May 1960) is a French actress who has been active since 1977. She is best known internationally for playing the title character in Luc Besson's film '' La Femme Nikita''. Biography Parillaud was born in Paris. While in ...

. In 1999,

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

cast Evans alongside

Glenn Close Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 alm ...

and her future husband,

Ioan Gruffudd Ioan Gruffudd (; (born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh actor. He first came to public attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in ''Titanic'' (1997), and then for his portrayal of Horatio Hornblower in the '' Hornblower'' series of television films ...

, in '' 102 Dalmatians''. Evans' mother died at age 59, the day before Evans's final screen test for the role, which introduced her to British viewers. After appearing in '' Blackball'', she moved to Los Angeles in 2003. She has since appeared in both television and film, such as ''

The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, the show fol ...

'', '' Brothers & Sisters'', ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

, Betty Broderick and'' ''

Grimm Grimm may refer to: People * Grimm (surname) * Brothers Grimm, German linguists ** Jacob Grimm (1785–1863), German philologist, jurist and mythologist ** Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm * Christia ...

''. Evans also had a recurring turn as the villainous Esther on ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...

'' and '' The Originals''.

Personal life

In 2001, Evans was residing in Paris with her fiancé Olivier Widmaier Picasso, a grandson of painter

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

. They were in a relationship for eight years until she broke their engagement by having an affair with

. Evans first met actor

during the filming of ''102 Dalmatians''.Ioan Gruffudd, ''Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'', 21 February 2007. They became engaged on New Year's Day 2006 and married on 14 September 2007 in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. They have two daughters, born in 2009 and 2013. In January 2021, Evans announced their separation, which Gruffudd initiated. In March 2021, Gruffudd filed for divorce from Evans. In February 2022, Gruffudd filed for, and was granted, a Temporary Domestic Violence Restraining Order (TRO) against Evans. In August 2022, following several violations of the TRO by Evans, Gruffudd was granted a 3 year Permanent Domestic Violence Restraining Order (PRO) against his estranged wife. In 2017, following a slew of sexual assault allegations against film producer

Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films inclu ...

, Evans claimed that 15 years prior, in 2002, Weinstein made sexual advances towards her, which she declined. Evans said that Weinstein intimated that her rejection would affect her career and Gruffudd's as well.

Select filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * *Alice Evans a
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Tattle.life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Alice Living people 1968 births Actresses from Bristol Age controversies Alumni of University College London British television actresses British film actresses British soap opera actresses People educated at Hurtwood House 20th-century British actresses 21st-century British actresses 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 21st-century English women 21st-century English people