Alice Evans
Alice Evans (born 2 August 1968) is an English-American actress. 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 and Janet Evans. She was raised in Bristol, and attended Henbury school, along with her two brothers, Anthony and Philip. She graduated from University College London with a in French and Italian. 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 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". 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", "Brothers & Sisters", "Lost", and "Grimm". Evans also had a recurring turn as the villainous Esther on "The Vampire Diaries" and "The Originals". Personal life. In 2001, Evans was described as residing in Paris with her fiancé Olivier Widmaier Picasso, a grandson of painter Pablo Picasso. They were in a relationship for eight years until she broke their engagement. Evans first met actor Ioan Gruffudd during the  filming of "102 Dalmatians". They became engaged on New Year's Day 2006 and married on 14 September 2007 in Mexico. 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, Ioan Gruffudd filed for, and was granted, a temporary restraining order against his estranged wife. 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. External links.