Katharine Isabelle

Katharine Isobel Murray(born November 2, 1981), known professionally asKatharine Isabelle, is a Canadian actress. She has been described as ascream queendue to her roles in various horror films. She started her acting career in 1989, playing a small role in the television seriesMacGyver. She gained fame for the role ofGinger Fitzgeraldin the filmsGinger Snaps,Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed, andGinger Snaps Back: The Beginning.
In 2014 Katharine Isabelle was awarded theFangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Actressfor her role as Mary Mason in the Canadianbody horrorfilmAmerican Mary.
Katharine Isabelle Murray was born on November 2, 1981, inVancouver,British Columbia. Her parents are Graeme Murray, a production designer who has won twoEmmy Awardsfor work onThe X-Files, and Gail Johnson Murray, a writer and producer. Her paternal grandparents and maternal grandfather are fromScotland.Her paternal half-brother is Joshua Murray, a director and former actor.
Isabelle has been credited under several stage names during the course of her career.
She began her acting career at the age of eight as Katie Murray, playing an episodic role in the television seriesMacGyverin 1989. Then she continued to act in small episodic roles in television series and films such as:Cold Front,Immediate Family,The Last Winter,Burning Bridges,Children of the Dust,Salt Water Moose,andMarried to a Stranger.
Isabelle has worked with her half-brother Joshua Murray inCold FrontandThe Last Winter.In 1998, she worked with her father Graeme Murray on an episode ofThe X-Filestitled "Schizogeny".
In 1998, she played Lindsay Clark in the filmDisturbing Behavior, whereKatie Holmes,James Marsden, andNick Stahlwere her film partners.
She first found fame with the role ofGinger Fitzgeraldin the filmGinger Snaps, directed byJohn Fawcett; actressEmily Perkinsbecame her co-star in the film asBrigitte Fitzgerald. Casting took place in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Isabelle auditioned on the same day as Perkins at their agency in Vancouver, reading to one another off-camera. Screenwriter Karen Walton said that they were exactly as she had pictured the characters when their taped auditions had arrived.The film tells how during the filming of an amateur horror film, the two sisters find themselves being hunted by a monster.  One of the sisters is bitten, but her wounds heal incredibly fast leaving the sisters suspicious of what it is that's hunting them.
What Culturesaid:
Jessica Roakes ofThe Toastalso mentions the metaphorical nature of the character saying "Ginger’s body has betrayed her bymenstruating. This is a key tenet of the body-horror genre — the monstrous comes not just from the outside, but from within the human body, from infection or perversion or unwanted biological functions. In Ginger’s case, it is her metamorphosis from girl to woman that renders her monstrous."
The actress also portrayed the character in the sequelGinger Snaps 2: Unleashed(2004) and the prequelGinger Snaps Back: The Beginning.
Two years later, Isabelle appeared in the filmInsomnia.In this detective thriller directed byChristopher Nolan, the actress played along withAl Pacino,Robin WilliamsandHilary Swank. In 2012, Isabelle starred in the horror film twinsJen and Sylvia SoskaAmerican Mary.American Marypremiered at theLondon FrightFest Film Festivalon August 27, 2012. It received a limited theatrical run in the U.S. on May 31, 2013, and became available onvideo on demandon May 16, 2013.This role brought her many awards at various horror film festivals, including the "Fangoria Chainsaw Awards".
In 2008, Isabelle received theGemini Awardfor Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series for her role inThe Englishman's Boy.She later reunited with Perkins inAnother Cinderella Storywhere they played the daughters ofJane Lynch's character.
Cooperation with the gothic sisters continued in 2014 when Isabelle played a major role in their 2006 horror sequel,See No Evil 2. Later, she played a major role in the thrillerPrimate. In 2015, the film88starred Isabelle, after she played a cameo role in the filmThe Girl in the Photographs.
Also, she played a small role in the short filmIteration 1and one of the main roles in the action filmCountdownin 2016. In 2019, Isabelle was cast as Vera Stone in theNetflixhorror-dramaseries,The Order.
Despite acting in a large number of gory films and television productions, Isabelle isuneasy with the sight of realblood.
In 2003, Isabelle almost died from aviral infection, which caused one of herlungsto collapse, as well askidneyfailure. She fell into acomaand had to be put on aventilator. Isabelle made this revelation in 2020, on herInstagramaccount.