Biography
Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald was planning to go to drama school when director
Danny Boyle cast her in
Trainspotting (1996). A surprise international hit, it featured Macdonald, a native of Glasgow, as the acid-tongued schoolgirl who gives heroin junkie
Ewan McGregor one of the more memorable nights -- and surprises -- of his young life.
Following the film's great success, Macdonald began finding steady work in a number of films as both a lead and supporting player. In the immediate wake of
Trainspotting, she could be seen playing the title character, a teenage prostitute, in
Stella Does Tricks. Subsequently, she nabbed a lead role in the period drama
Cousin Bette (1997) and a small but memorable part in the lavish historical epic
Elizabeth (1998). In 1999, Macdonald was featured in four very diverse films: the first,
My Life So Far, cast her as a young girl growing up in 1920s Scotland, while
Entropy featured the actress in the thoroughly modern milieu of the 20-something romantic angst drama. Later that year, Macdonald appeared in
Mike Figgis'
The Loss of Sexual Innocence, playing the young girlfriend of the film's protagonist; and in
Gregg Araki's
Splendor, a romantic comedy in which she played the blue-haired best friend of the film's heroine.
After a slew of similar supporting roles, including a memorable turn as the daughter of
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and
Colin Firth in
My Life So Far, MacDonald was given possibly her biggest break since
Trainspotting when
Robert Altman cast her as a lead (albeit one of many) in
Gosford Park (2001). One-part comedy of manners, one-part murder mystery, the film featured MacDonald in the pivotal role of a young maid who finds herself caught up in a whirl of intrigue, deception, and exceedingly tiresome snobs over the course of a hectic weekend at a country estate. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide