- Born
- Birth nameKatharine Isobel Murray
- Nickname
- Katie
- Height5′ 5″ (1.65 m)
- Katharine Isabelle was born Katharine Isobel Murray in Vancouver, British Columbia to Graeme Murray, an art director and production designer who has won two Emmy Awards for his special effects work on the television series The X-Files (1993) and Gail Murray, an amateur Vancouver writer and producer. Isabelle is the sister of journalist and former child actor Joshua Murray.
Breaking into acting in 1989 with parts in the films Cousins (1989), Cold Front (1989) and The Madonna (1989) episode of MacGyver (1985), Isabelle quickly proved herself as a skilled actress.
In 1992, she played the role of Erica Sanderson in Knight Moves (1992). American audiences took notice of her as Lindsay Clark in the teen thriller Disturbing Behavior (1998).
In 2000, Isabelle landed the lead role in the cult-favorite Ginger Snaps (2000), where her stand-out performance will leave a mark in the minds of viewers.
Continuing her busy career, she portrayed Tia in Bones (2001), Paige Fleming in Turning Paige (2001) and Tanya Francke in Insomnia (2002), opposite Al Pacino.
Throughout the 2000s, Isabelle appeared in several horror and slasher films, including Carrie (2002), Spooky House (2001), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), opposite Robert Englund as well as Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004) and Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004).
She was also in varied independent films, among which Falling Angels (2003), On the Corner (2003), The Last Casino (2004), Everything's Gone Green (2006), the short film Favourite People List (2009), and Frankie & Alice (2010).
Isabelle has guest-starred in numerous popular television series throughout her career, some notable ones being The X-Files (1993), Da Vinci's Inquest (1998), Smallville (2001) and Supernatural (2005).
In 2008, she received the Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series for her role as Norma Carlyle in the praised TV adaptation The Englishman's Boy (2008).
In 2012, Isabelle starred in the controversial horror film American Mary (2012) which earned her special mention at the Austin Fantastic Fest in addition to a Festival Trophy Award for Best Actress, a Special Award for Best Actress, a Fright Meter Award for Best Actress and a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Leading Actress.
Followed appearances in 13 Eerie (2013), Torment (2013) and Lawrence & Holloman (2013) for which she obtained a Leo Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance by a Female in a Motion Picture.
She also caught the eye of many with her magnetic portrayal of Margot Verger in the second and third seasons of the critically acclaimed NBC TV series Hannibal (2013).
In 2014, she reunited with American Mary (2012) creators Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska in See No Evil 2 (2014).
In 2015, Isabelle starred in the thriller film 88 (2015) and the horror film The Girl in the Photographs (2015). That year, she could also be seen in the indie film How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town (2015), alongside Jewel Staite, Lauren Lee Smith and Ennis Esmer.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Sam013024, Anon, Hellraiser1287
- ParentsGail Murray
- RelativesJoshua Murray(Sibling)
- Husky voice
- Was originally asked to audition to play Lori in Freddy vs. Jason (2003), but when she arrived, director Ronny Yu asked her to audition for the role of Gibb, claiming she would better suit a more liberal role. Katharine reluctantly accepted.
Yu failed to tell her she would be expected to do the nude scenes, which would spark friction between the two during shooting when she made it clear she would not do the nude scenes. - Along with the coincidence of Katharine and Emily Perkins auditioning for Ginger Snaps (2000) on the same day, the two actresses were also born in the same hospital, attended the same pre-school, elementary school and private school and worked through the same talent agency.
- Katharine refuses to do nude scenes and has had a body double for every instance where such a scene exists, including the bed and shower scenes in Freddy vs. Jason (2003), the rising from the bed scene in Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004) and the bed scene in Engaged to Kill (2006), to name but three. The same woman body-doubled the latter two.
- She said that when she went to a pharmacy after a day of shooting Ginger Snaps (2000), the people there thought she'd been beaten up since she was still covered in fake blood.
- In addition to the Ginger Snaps (2000) trilogy, Katharine and her co-star Emily Perkins have played sisters in Another Cinderella Story (2008).
- [on American Mary (2012)] I have some friends who are just too scared to see it. My brother has seen it at least six times and still can't watch one scene in particular, but my mother made it through the whole thing without any problem at all. My dad was the very first person I went to with the script - to make sure I wasn't crazy for loving this. I knew if my dad liked it, it was good.
- [2003] [on her experience working on Freddy vs. Jason (2003)] I hate to say it, but I was really expecting a little bit more. It's just the same-old, same-old. There's nothing to it - it's all about running around and screaming, 'No, Freddy, don't!'
- I mean, I've been working for 28 years or whatever and I definitely have done quite a bit of horror, but I wouldn't say it's the majority of what I've done. I don't seek out to horror, or non-horror. I seek out to work. As a working Canadian actor, I kinda want to work.
- Even going back to Ginger Snaps (2000) days, to see women like us who are strong - who are independent, who are going to put up, you know, a real good fight and not just be victimized - reflected back to ourselves, I think it's important. I'm not sure if growing up I saw women like myself, like April [Mullen], like the [Twisted Twins, Jen and Sylvia Soska], reflected back. You know, women who had things worked out, who had more integrity, who had more strength of character. I'm thrilled when I find one of those characters on paper. And [to have them] supported by women like that as well? Ain't nothing wrong with that!
- [on her status of horror icon] I don't watch a lot of horror movies. I'm a bit of a chicken, and I even get psychologically scarred [laughs]. But I would much rather be a horror icon who's known for really cool female characters that are multi-dimensional, interesting, motivated in ways that people don't normally see women in films being motivated. I'm thrilled to have that. I would prefer that over the sweet, hot, good girl next door neighbor type. The roles I've been fortunate enough to have been given are some of the greatest female characters I've seen in any genre, in any film or television medium. I'm more than thrilled to have them be mine!
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