Deborah Kara Unger (born 12 May 1966) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' Highlander III: The Sorcerer'' (1994), ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch ...

'' (1996), '' The Game'' (1997), '' Payback'' (1999), '' The Hurricane'' (1999), ''

White Noise In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used, with this or similar meanings, in many scientific and technical disciplines ...

'' (2005), ''

Silent Hill is a horror anthology media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four video games in the series, '' Silent Hill'', ''Silent Hill 2'', ''Silent Hill 3'' and '' ...

'' (2006), ''

88 Minutes ''88 Minutes'' is a 2007 thriller film directed by Jon Avnet and starring Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, William Forsythe, Deborah Kara Unger, Amy Brenneman, Neal McDonough and Benjamin McKenzie. In the film, famed forensic psychiatris ...

'' (2008) and '' The Way'' (2010).

Early life

Deborah Kara Unger was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, Canada to a nuclear disposal specialist mother and a

gynaecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined ar ...

father. She was the first Canadian to be accepted into

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, many of Australia's leading actors and directors trained at NIDA, including Cat ...

Career

Upon graduation Unger found steady work in

n films and television series, including ''

Bangkok Hilton ''Bangkok Hilton'' is a three-part Australian mini-series made in 1989 by Kennedy Miller Productions and directed by Ken Cameron. The title of the mini-series is the nickname of a fictional Bangkok prison in which the main protagonist (Nicol ...

'' with

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

. Following her return to North America in the early 1990s she appeared in

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

's 1993 HBO mini-series ''

Hotel Room A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

'', and a year later appeared in '' Highlander III: The Sorcerer'' opposite

Christopher Lambert Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert (; ; born March 29, 1957) is a French-American actor, producer, and novelist. He started his career playing supporting parts in several French films, and became internationally famous for portraying T ...

. Unger's breakthrough role came in

David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation ...

's 1996 erotic drama ''

'', about a group of people who take sexual pleasure from car accidents, a notable form of

paraphilia Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything ot ...

. Unger followed up her performance in ''Crash'' by starring with

Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AF ...

in the psychological thriller '' The Game'', directed by

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. F ...

. In 1998 she played

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...

in HBO's '' The Rat Pack'', and in 1999 she appeared in '' Payback'' with

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...

, '' The Hurricane'' with

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

and the award-winning ensemble drama '' Sunshine''. Unger appeared in many independent films in the early 2000s, such as ''

Signs and Wonders Signs and wonders refers to experiences that are perceived to be miraculous as being normative in the modern Christian experience, and is a phrase associated with groups that are a part of modern charismatic movements and Pentecostalism. This ...

'', '' Ten Tiny Love Stories'', '' Fear X'', ''

Thirteen Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

'', '' Stander'', ''

Hollywood North Hollywood North is a colloquialism used to describe film production industries and/or film locations north of its namesake, Hollywood, California. The term has been applied principally to the film industry in Canada, specifically to the city of T ...

'', '' Emile'', ''

Paranoia 1.0 ''Paranoia: 1.0'' (originally ''One Point O'', also known as ''1.0'', ''One Point Zero'', ''Version 1.0'', and ''Virus 1.0'') is a 2004 cyberpunk dystopian horror mystery written and directed by Jeff Renfroe and Marteinn Thorsson. The film is a K ...

'' and ''

A Love Song for Bobby Long ''A Love Song for Bobby Long'' is a 2004 American psychological drama film directed and written by Shainee Gabel, based on the novel ''Off Magazine Street'' by Ronald Everett Capps. It stars John Travolta as the title character, an aging alcoho ...

''. She played a leading role opposite

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

and

Mira Sorvino Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born September 28, 1967) is an American actress. She won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Woody Allen's '' Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995). She also starred in the films ...

in the 2002 independent movie ''

Between Strangers ''Between Strangers'' is a 2002 film written and directed by Edoardo Ponti. It stars an ensemble cast including Sophia Loren, Mira Sorvino, Deborah Kara Unger, Pete Postlethwaite, Klaus Maria Brandauer, and Malcolm McDowell. It premiered at the V ...

'', about three women who confront their pasts which changes their futures, for which she was nominated on Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. From 2005 to 2010, Unger appeared in ''

'', ''

Things That Hang from Trees ''Things That Hang from Trees'' is a 2006 drama film directed by Ido Mizrahy and written by Aaron Louis Tordini. It is based on the novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most ...

'', '' The Alibi'', ''

'', ''

Walled In ''Walled In'' is a Canadian-made 2009 horror- thriller directed and co-written by Gilles Paquet-Brenner and starring Mischa Barton, Cameron Bright, and Deborah Kara Unger. The film is based on the best-selling French novel ''Les Emmurés'' by ...

'', ''

Messages Deleted ''Messages Deleted'' is a 2009 Canadian horror thriller film starring Matthew Lillard, with a screenplay by Larry Cohen, the last Cohen screenplay to be filmed before his death in 2019. Plot A screenwriting teacher is forced to live out the plot ...

'' and '' The Way''. She also appeared in the music video for " Jesus of Suburbia" by American rock band

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a ...

. In 2011 she took a starring role in the television series ''

Combat Hospital ''Combat Hospital'' is a medical drama television series, filmed in Toronto, that debuted on Global in Canada and ABC in the United States on June 21, 2011. Its final episode was broadcast on September 6, 2011. The series was known for a time by ...

'', and in 2012 reprised her role as

Dahlia Gillespie The survival horror video games series ''Silent Hill'' features a large cast of characters. The games' player characters are " everymen", in contrast to action-oriented survival horror video game series featuring combat-trained player characte ...

in the horror film sequel '' Silent Hill: Revelation''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
Interview with Deborah Kara Unger on Eurochannel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unger, Deborah Kara 1966 births Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Living people Actresses from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses