Deborah Kara Unger

Deborah Kara Unger

Unger at the premiere of Cassandra's Dream, Toronto Film Festival 2007
Born (1966-05-12) 12 May 1966
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation Actress
Years active 1989–present

Deborah Kara Unger (born 12 May 1966)[1][2][3] is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1994), Crash (1996), The Game (1997), Payback (1999), The Hurricane (1999), White Noise (2005), Silent Hill (2006), 88 Minutes (2008) and The Way (2010).

Early life

Deborah Kara Unger was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to a nuclear disposal specialist mother and a gynaecologist father.[4] She was the first Canadian to be accepted into Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art.[5]

Career

Upon graduation Unger found steady work in Australian films and television series, including Bangkok Hilton with Nicole Kidman. Following her return to North America in the early 1990s she appeared in David Lynch's 1993 HBO mini-series Hotel Room, and a year later starred in Highlander III: The Sorcerer opposite Christopher Lambert.[2][5]

Unger's breakthrough role came in David Cronenberg's 1996 erotic drama Crash, about a group of people who take sexual pleasure from car accidents, a notable form of paraphilia.[5] Unger followed up her performance in Crash by starring with Michael Douglas in the psychological thriller The Game, directed by David Fincher. In 1998 she played Ava Gardner in HBO's The Rat Pack, and in 1999 she appeared in Payback with Mel Gibson, The Hurricane with Denzel Washington and the award-winning ensemble drama Sunshine.[2]

Unger starred in many independent films in the early 2000s, such as Signs and Wonders, Ten Tiny Love Stories, Fear X, Thirteen, Stander, Hollywood North, Emile, Paranoia 1.0 and A Love Song for Bobby Long. She played a leading role opposite Sophia Loren and Mira Sorvino in the 2002 independent movie Between Strangers, about three women who confront their pasts which changes their futures, for which she was nominated on Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.[6]

From 2005 to 2010, Unger appeared in White Noise, Things That Hang from Trees, The Alibi, Silent Hill, 88 Minutes, Walled In, Messages Deleted and The Way. In 2011 she took a starring role in the television series Combat Hospital, and in 2012 reprised her role as Dahlia Gillespie in Silent Hill: Revelation.[2]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1989 Bangkok Hilton Astra TV mini-series
1990 Till There Was You Anna Vivaldi
Breakaway Marion
Prisoners of the Sun Sister Littell
1992 Whispers in the Dark Eve Abergray
1993 Hotel Room Sasha TV mini-series, 1 episode, "Getting Rid of Robert"
1994 State of Emergency Sue Payton Television film
Highlander III: The Sorcerer Alex Johnson/Sarah
1996 Crash Catherine Ballard
No Way Home Lorraine
Keys to Tulsa Vicky Michaels Stover
1997 The Game Christine
1998 Luminous Motion Mom
The Rat Pack Ava Gardner Television film
1999 Payback Mrs. Lynn Porter
The Weekend Marian Kerr
Sunshine Maj. Carole Kovács
The Hurricane Lisa Peters
2000 Signs and Wonders Katherine
2002 Ten Tiny Love Stories Seven
The Salton Sea Colette
Leo Caroline
Between Strangers Catherine
2003 Thirteen Brooke LaLaine
Fear X Kate
Hollywood North Sandy Ryan
Stander Bekkie Stander
Emile Nadia
2004 Paranoia 1.0 Trish
A Love Song for Bobby Long Georgianna
2005 White Noise Sarah Tate
Jesus of Suburbia Saint Jimmy's mother music video by Green Day
2006 Things That Hang from Trees Connie Mae Wheeler
Silent Hill Dahlia Gillespie
The Alibi Dorothy
2007 Shake Hands with the Devil Emma
88 Minutes Carol Lynn Johnson
2009 Walled In Mary
Messages Deleted Det. Lavery
Angel and the Badman Temperance Television film
2010 Transparency Danielle
The Way Sarah
Sophie Tina Bradshaw
2011 Combat Hospital Major Grace Pedersen Series regular, 13 episodes
Samuel Bleak Roselyn Ramirez
The Maiden Danced to Death Lynn Court
186 Dollars to Freedom Consul Powers
2012 Silent Hill: Revelation Dahlia Gillespie
Fury Helena
A Dark Truth Morgan Swinton
2015 Rehearsal Ellen Sinclair
2015 The Hollow Cora Television film
2015 Dangerous Arrangement Samantha Television film
2015 White Lillies Beatrice Cooper

Awards and nominations

Year Result Award Category Film
2000 Won Seattle International Film Festival Citation of Excellence for Ensemble Cast Performance The Weekend
Nominated Genie Awards Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Sunshine
2003 Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Between Strangers
Won Dubrovnik International Film Festival Libertas Award
Nominated Sonoma Valley Film Festival Imagery Honors Award
2004 Won Method Fest Best Actress Emile
2005 Won Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema Best Actress One Point O
2010 Won Action on Film International Film Festival Half-Life Award

References

  1. ↑ "Deborah Unger". British Film Institute. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Deborah Kara Unger". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "Deborah Kara Unger- Biography". Yahoo!. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  4. ↑ Hochman, David (3 October 1997). "Unger Strikes". Entertainment Weekly.
  5. 1 2 3 Ojumu, Akin (13 February 2000). "Everyone's talking about... Deborah Kara Unger's big cover-up". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  6. ↑ "Deborah Kara Unger". Allmovie. Retrieved 19 September 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Deborah Kara Unger.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.