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, on ABC's '' Once Upon a Time''.

Life and career

Mader was born in 1977 in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She worked as a model in New York City for a year, appearing in adverts for L'Oréal, Colgate and Wella Hair. She began her television career on the ABC daytime soap operas ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

'' as Morgan Gordon, and ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

'' as Margaret Cochran. She also appeared on the soap opera ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...

'' in 2003. Also in 2003, Mader began acting in films, with '' Mimic 3: Sentinel'', a direct-to-DVD sequel. '' Hitch'' two years later, was her first theatrical release, albeit without a credit. In 2006 she had a small role in '' The Devil Wears Prada'' as Jocelyn, the assistant editor whose suggestion for a story about springtime floral prints draws a withering reply from Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestley. 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 In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

''. 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'' 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. 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 the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

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

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

Sean Maguire Sean Maguire (born 18 April 1976) is an English-American actor and singer who has been professionally making films, television shows and performing on stage for over 40 years. Originally from London, Maguire started his career at age five starr ...

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 in 2019. Mader announced the birth of her second child in 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web

References

External links

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