Rebecca Leigh Mader (born 24 April 1977) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Charlotte Lewis in the ABC series '' Lost'', and as Zelena, the

Wicked Witch of the West The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent ''Oz'' novels, it is the Nome King who is ...

, on ABC's ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in t ...

'', for which she garnered critical acclaim.

Life and career

Mader was born in 1977 in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She worked as a model in New York City for a year, appearing in adverts for

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, ...

, Colgate and

Wella Wella AG is a German hair care company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1880 by Franz Ströher, it specialises in hair care, styling and colorants sold to individuals as well as hairdressers and was controlled by Procter & Gam ...

Hair. She began her television career on the ABC daytime soap operas '' All My Children'' as Morgan Gordon, and '' One Life to Live'' as Margaret Cochran. She also appeared on the soap opera '' Guiding Light'' in 2003. Mader has made a number of guest appearances on television shows. In 2006, she had a series regular role on the short-lived Fox legal drama ''

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

''. In 2008, Mader began starring as anthropologist Charlotte Lewis on ABC series ''Lost''. She appeared in the show from 2008 to 2009 and in two episodes in 2010. In 2011, she had a recurring role on '' No Ordinary Family'', and in 2012, she made a guest starring appearance on the Fox science-fiction series ''

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts * Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe" * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * The Fringe, the ...

'' as Jessica Holt. Also in 2012, Mader starred in the short-lived ABC comedy series '' Work It''. In June 2013, Mader made her stage debut in the role of Barrie in the one-act comedy ''The Third Date'' at the

Hollywood Fringe Festival The Hollywood Fringe Festival is an annual fringe theatre festival in Hollywood, California. Most indoor venues for the festival are in and around Hollywood Theatre Row, a stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. Founder Ben Hill ...

. In December 2013, Mader was cast as the Wicked Witch of the West, a new antagonist for the second half of the third season of ''Once Upon a Time''. She also made guest appearances during the second half of the fourth season and was later promoted to a series regular for the fifth and sixth seasons. In May 2017, Mader announced that she would not be returning for the seventh season of the show due to a creative decision by the showrunners. However, in September 2017, it was announced that Mader would be reprising her role as Zelena in a recurring capacity for the second half of the seventh season. In all, she made seven appearances in the seventh season, including the series finale " Leaving Storybrooke". In May 2020, during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

lockdown in California, Mader created the "At Home with Sean and Bex" interview series on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

with ''Once Upon a Time'' co-star

Sean Maguire Sean Maguire (born 18 April 1976 in Ilford, London) is a British-American actor and singer, who rose to fame in 1988 when at the age of eleven he took on the role of "Tegs" Ratcliffe on the BBC children's drama ''Grange Hill'', in which he r ...

Personal life

Mader's first husband was businessman Joseph Arongino. They divorced in 2008. On 29 December 2014, Mader announced her engagement to producer Marcus Kayne. The two were married on 23 November 2016 and she gave birth to their first child Milo, a son, in November 2019. Mader announced on 7 April 2021 that she was expecting her second child, a girl. Mader announced the birth of her second child, a girl, Bailey, who was born September 2, 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mader, Rebecca English female models English film actresses English television actresses English soap opera actresses Living people English expatriates in the United States People from Cambridge Actresses from Cambridgeshire 1977 births English emigrants to the United States