Embeth Jean Davidtz (born August 11, 1965) is an American-born South African actress and director. She has appeared in movies such as Schindler's List, Matilda, Bridget Jones's Diary, and The Amazing Spider-Man, and in the television series In Treatment, Californication, and Mad Men. In 2024 Davidtz made her directorial debut with Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, an adaptation of the best-selling memoir of the same name by Alexandra Fuller about growing up on a farm in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The film had its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Davidtz was born on August 11, 1965, in Lafayette, Indiana, to South African parents John and Jean, while her father was studying chemical engineering at Purdue University. The family later moved to Trenton, New Jersey, and then to South Africa when Davidtz was nine years old Davidtz has Dutch, English, and French ancestry. She had to learn Afrikaans before attending school classes in South Africa, where her father took up a teaching post at Potchefstroom University. Davidtz graduated from The Glen High School in Pretoria in 1983 and studied at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. In 1992, Davidtz played the part of Sheila in Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness alongside Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams. The third movie in the Evil Dead franchise would eventually become a big cult classic worldwide. In 1993, Davidtz played the role of Helen Hirsch in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. In 1995, Davidtz had a central role in the fact-based film Murder in the First, and the Merchant Ivory Productions Feast of July.

Filmography

• 2025Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight — Nicola Fuller, Director, Screenplay, Producer
• 2023Retribution — Heather Turner
• 2022Not Okay — Judith
• Tales of the Walking Dead — Amanda
• 2021Old — Adult Maddox
• Love, Victor — Mrs. Campbell
• The Morning Show — Paige Jacobs
• The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe — Natasha Lytess
• 2014The Amazing Spider-Man 2 — Mary Parker
• 2013Europa Report — Dr. Samantha Unger
• 2013Paranoia — Judith Bolton
• Ray Donovan — Sonia Kovitzky
• 2012The Amazing Spider-Man — Mary Parker
• 2011The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo — Annika Blomkvist Giannini
• 20103 Backyards — The Actress
• 2009Winged Creatures — Lydia Jaspersen
• In Treatment — Amy
• Californication — Felicia Koons
• 2007Fracture — Jennifer Crawford
• Mad Men — Rebecca Pryce
• Grey's Anatomy — Nancy Shepherd (uncredited)
• 2005Junebug — Madeleine
• 2005Matilda's Movie Magic: The Making of 'Matilda' — Self, Thanks
• Shackleton — Rosalind Chetwynd
• 2002The Emperor's Club — Elizabeth
• 2001Bridget Jones's Diary — Natasha
• Citizen Baines — Ellen Baines Croland
• Scrubs — Maddie
• 2001The Hole — Dr. Philippa Horwood
• 2001Thir13en Ghosts — Kalina
• 1999Bicentennial Man — Little Miss / Portia
• 1999Last Rites — Dr. Lauren Riggs
• 1999Mansfield Park — Mary Crawford
• 1999Simon Magus — Leah
• 1998Fallen — Gretta Milano
• 1998The Gingerbread Man — Mallory Doss
• 1997The Garden of Redemption — Adriana
• 1996Matilda — Miss Honey
• 1995Feast of July — Bella Ford
• 1995Murder in the First — Mary McCasslin
• 1993Schindler's List — Helen Hirsch
• 1992Army of Darkness — Sheila
• 1992Deadly Matrimony — Dianne Masters
• 1992Till Death Us Do Part — Katherine Palliko
• 1991The Night of the 19th — Tessa van Dyk
• 1990Sweet Murder
• 1989A Private Life — Older Karen
• 1989Mutator — Jennifer
• Screen Two — Older Karen

Appearances as themselves (4)

• 2018An Oral History of: Schindler's List — Self (archive footage)
• 2014Nelson Mandela Redrawn — Self
• 2013Miracle Rising: South Africa — Self
• 2005My Movie About Making 'Matilda' by Mara Wilson — Self