Secrets & Lies

Background:

“The old men running the industry just have not got a clue...Britain is no longer totally a white place where people ride horses, wear long frocks and drink tea. The national dish is no longer fish and chips, it's curry.” Marianne Jean Baptiste

Making her big screen debut in 1991's “London Kills Me,” British actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste came to the international fame five years later portraying the illicit daughter of a white mother on the Mike Leigh-helmed “Secrets & Lies” (1996), from which she picked up an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. She differentiated herself by becoming the very first black English actress to be nominated for the Academy Awards. Prior to this victory, she had worked with Leigh on the stage production of “It's a Great Big Shame.” Other films she has acted in include Noah Baumbach's “Mr. Jealousy” (1998), “The 24 Hour Woman” (1999), Betty Thomas' “28 Days” (2000), the Jennifer Lopez vehicle “The Cell” (2000), Tony Scott's “Spy Game” (2001), Susan Traylor's “Welcome to California” (2005) and “Jam” (2006, also an associate producer).

More recently, Jean-Baptiste is popular as FBI agent Vivian Johnson on the American television series “Without a Trace” (CBS, 2002-?). The role has brought her a SAG nomination and three Image nominations. She has also appeared in the ABC miniseries “The Wedding” (1998, produced by Oprah Winfrey) and received a Royal Television Society nomination for her starring role in the British television film “The Murder of Stephen Lawrence” (1999, aired on PBS in 2002).

Apart from her presence on film and television, Jean-Baptiste also composed the musical score for “Career Girls” (1997), a film by Mike Leigh. Also an accomplished singer, she has recorded an album of blues songs.

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Childhood and Family:

Marianne Raigipcien Jean-Baptiste was born on April 26, 1967, in London, England, to St. Lucian and Antiguan lineage. She was educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Her husband, Evan Williams, is a British ballet dancer. The couple has a daughter named Pascale Williams (born in April 1997).

Without a Trace

Career:

Classically trained actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste kicked off her movie career in 1991 with a small part as a nanny in the independent comedy “London Kills Me,” directed and penned by Hanif Kureishi. Centering on the lives of dispossessed teenagers living in the London Underground, the festival premiere did not hit the American market until two years later. Also in 1991, the student of RADA earned some attention for her work in “Ave Africa,” a one-woman show she both wrote and starred in. Jean-Baptiste also performed at the Royal National Theatre and the Theatre Royal Stratford as well as with the Cheek By Jowl company and companies in Manchester and Yorkshire.

In 1993, the experienced performer collaborated with director Mike Leigh in a stage production called “It's a Great Big Shame.” However, it was her next partnership with the Salford-born director/writer that gained Jean-Baptiste her true prominence. Finely portrayed Hortense Cumberbatch, an Afro-British young woman who is reunited with her biological mother who gave her up for adoption, in the acclaimed film “Secrets & Lies” (1996), she was handed an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role as well as a Golden Globe, BAFTA and Chlotrudis nominations in the same category. In between, she debuted on the small screen with a one-episodic role as Marcia Reid on the British psychological drama “Cracker” (1994).

In spite of her international success that resulted from her performance in “Secrets & Lies,” Jean-Baptiste faced difficulties in finding more film roles. In the early 1997, she was reported unemployed and had to live in a shared flat in London. When she was excluded from a group of young British actors invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, she claimed racialism and then decided to set her attention to Hollywood. Her first first American movie, “Mr. Jealousy,” directed and written by Noah Baumbach and starring Eric Stoltz and Annabella Sciorra, was released theatrically on June 5, 1998 after being shown at the Toronto Film Festival and Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in September 1997 and April 1998, respectively. Since then, she has been working largely in America.

After appearing with Clea DuVall and Gabriel Mann in the indie-comedy “How to Make the Cruelest Month” (1998), Jean-Baptiste joined the cast of the Oprah Winfrey-produced miniseries “The Wedding” (1998) in the supporting role of Ellen Coles. There she was cast along side Halle Berry, Eric Thal, Lynn Whitfield, Carl Lumbly, Michael Warren and many others. She shared the screen with Tricia Vessey, John Shea and Carroll Baker for the drama film “Nowhere to Go” (1998) and costarred as the private assistant to a TV host, Madeline Labelle, in the comedy film “The 24 Hour Woman” (1999) before making a successful return to television with her award-nominating turn as Doreen Lawrence, the mother of a colored teen who was thrust to death in a racial incident, on the fact-based telepic “The Murder of Stephen Lawrence” (1999, aired on PBS in 2002), where she was nominated for a 2000 Royal Television Society in the category of Best Female Actor. Later that same year, she appeared in another British television film, “The Man.”

Entering the new millennium, Jean-Baptiste resurfaced as Roshanda on the Hollywood production of “28 Days” (2000), a drama directed by Betty Thomas and starring Sandra Bullock. She went on to play Dr. Miriam Kent, a scientist who superintends a mind transfer between a serial killer and a psychiatrist, in the Academy Award-nominated horror “The Cell” (2000), which starred Jennifer Lopez, and costar with Beverly D'Angelo and Portia de Rossi in the based-on-novel “Women in Film” (2001). She was cast as liege secretary Gladys Jennip in the Tony Scott action film “Spy Game” (2001). Jean-Baptiste returned to UK to play roles in the TV films “Men Only” (2001, as Gemma) and “New Year's Day”(2001, as Veronica) and in the London stage production of “The Vagina Monologues” (2001).

In 2002, Jean-Baptiste experienced a big breakthrough on television when she landed the regular role of FBI agent Vivian Johnson on the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced CBS crime series “Without a Trace,” opposite Anthony LaPaglia, Poppy Montgomery, Enrique Murciano and Eric Close. Currently in its sixth season, the show has brought the actress such nominations as a 2004 Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and three Image nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2006, 2007 and 2008).

Jean-Baptiste continued to pursue other projects. She starred with Harry J. Lennix in Gordon Gavin's “Don't Explain” (2002), about jazz legend Lee Morgan, supported Niamh Cusack and Douglas Henshall for the British television movie “Loving You” (2003) and was featured as Tina in the drama film “Welcome to California” (2005), for director/writer Susan Traylor. Besides, she appeared as Lorraine on the Santa Fe Film Festival-winning drama “Jam” (2006), in which she also served as associate producer.

The 41-year-old player will be cast opposite Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau and Mary Kay Place for the forthcoming adventure “City Amber” (2008), based on the book by Jeanne Duprau. It is directed by Gil Kenan and scripted by Caroline Thompson.

Awards:
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