Alberta Watson

Alberta Watson (born March 6, 1955) is a  Canadian  film and  television  actress. ==Early life == She was born in Toronto, Ontario, christened Faith Susan Alberta Watson.[2]  She grew up in Toronto with her mother Grace, a factory worker, and her brother. She began performing with a local Toronto theater group, T.H.O.G. (Theater House of God),[3]  of the Bathurst Street United Church at age 15.[4]  She took a workshop for the Hair musical.[5]  While doing this workshop she did Hamlet, which was directed by René Bonnière[6]  who later directed her in La Femme Nikita.[7] ==Acting career == <p style="line-height:19.190340042114258px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Watson got her first role at age 19 in a CBC movie called Honor Thy Father.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-elm_3-1" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[3] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-tsun_8-0" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8]  Early in her career she portrayed the role of Mitzi in George Kaczender's<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  In Praise of Older Women (1978), for which she received a Genie nomination. A year later she received the Best Actress award at the Yorkton Film Festival for "Exposure".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-imdb_4-1" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[4]  She then moved Los Angeles, California and later to New York City.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-star00_10-0" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.190340042114258px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Watson lived in New Jersey for eight years<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-sfe_11-0" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]  with her husband until they divorced.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-star_7-1" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7]  She then returned to Toronto and focused on finding roles in independent films. She worked with director Colleen Murphy on the film Shoemaker (1996), for which she received a second Genie nomination for Best Actress.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-imdb_4-2" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[4]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.190340042114258px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Among her well-known film roles are the bed-ridden mother Susan Aibelli in the 1994 American independent film Spanking the Monkey, Lauren Murphy (the mother of Jonny Lee Miller's character Dade, aka "Crash Override"/"Zero Cool") in the 1995 cult film Hackers, and Risa in the 1997 Academy Award nominated Canadian film The Sweet Hereafter, directed by Atom Egoyan.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.190340042114258px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">In Spanking the Monkey, Watson plays her favorite character,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-tvguide_12-0" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12]  a mother who has an incestuous relationship with her son. The role was turned down by several actresses such as Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange and others.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-star94_2-1" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[2]  Watson has said:<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-star_7-2" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7] <p style="line-height:19.190340042114258px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Watson played the major role of Madeline in the TV series La Femme Nikita for four seasons from 1997–2001 (with guest appearances in the short fifth season). During the show's second season (in 1998), Watson was diagnosed with lymphoma, for which she had to undergo chemotherapy treatment which caused her to lose her hair.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-tvguide_12-1" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-little_13-0" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  Producers at La Femme Nikita worked around her treatment and limited her appearances.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-little_13-1" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  Watson wore wigs in the show when she lost her hair.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-little_13-2" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]  When her hair started to grow, she sported the short haircut in her role as Madeline in the show's third season.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-little_13-3" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.190340042114258px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Alberta Watson's first name inspired the character Alberta Green in the first season of 24.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="line-height:1em;white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed]  In 2005, Watson joined the cast of 24, playing CTU Director Erin Driscoll for 12 episodes of the show's fourth season.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.190340042114258px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">During 2007 and 2008, Watson played a supporting role in the Canadian television series The Border as the Minister of Public Safety.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.190340042114258px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">In 2010, Alberta Watson guest-starred in Heartland, a series on CBC Television, and she won a 2011 Gemini Award for her portrayal of Sarah Craven.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.190340042114258px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">In the first season of Nikita, the 2010 CW series based on the Luc Besson film rather than 1997 series, she played the role of the Senator, one of the many public figures to privately fund the secret anti-terrorist organization known as Division. During Season 2, she guest-stars playing this character, whose name is Madeline Pierce (a nod from the Nikita producers to her iconic character "Madeline" in the 1997 series). ==Filmography<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> == ===Feature and television films<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> === ===Television series<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> ===
 * In Praise of Older Women (1978) ... as Mitzi
 * The Soldier (1982) ... as Susan Goodman
 * The Keep (1983) ... as Eva Cuza
 * Red Earth, White Earth (1987)
 * Spanking the Monkey (1994) ... as Susan Aibelli
 * Hackers (1995) ... as Lauren Murphy
 * Giant Mine (1996) ... as Peggy Witte
 * Sweet Angel Mine (1996) ... as Megan
 * Gotti (1996) ... as Victoria Gotti
 * The Sweet Hereafter (1997) ... as Risa
 * Deeply (2000) ... as Fiona McKay
 * Tart (2001) ... as Lily Storm
 * Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) ... as Hansel's Mom/Hedwig Schmitt
 * Irish Eyes (2002) ... as Anne Phelan
 * The Wild Dogs (2002) ... as Natalie
 * The Prince and Me (2004) ... as Amy Morgan
 * Puppets Who Kill ("Bill Sue's") (2004) ... as Judge
 * A Lobster Tale (2006) ... as Martha Brewer
 * Away from her (2006)... as Dr. Fischer
 * The Border (2007) ... as Suzanne Fleischer
 * Growing Op (2008)... as Marilla
 * Helen (2008)... as Dr.Sherman
 * The Spine (2009)...as Mary Rutherford
 * King of Kensington ("War and Peace") (1980) ... as Mitzi
 * Hill Street Blues ("Fuched Again") (1984) ... as Prostitute
 * The Hitchhiker ("Remembering Melody") (1984) ... as Jill Friedlander
 * The Equalizer ("The Distant Fire") (1985) ... as Carla Holden
 * Buck James [1987].... as Rebecca Meyer
 * Street Legal ("Tango Bellarosa") (1987) ... as Mercedes Puentes, ("Partners and Other Strangers") (1989) ... as Maria Lopez
 * Law & Order ("His Hour Upon the Stage") (1991) ... as Hanley, ("Skin Deep") (1992) ... as Angela Brandt
 * The Outer Limits (1995) ... as Lynda Tillman
 * La Femme Nikita (1997–2001) ... as Madeline
 * 1-800-Missing (2003) (pilot) ... Mrs. Mastriani
 * The Newsroom (2004) ... as Susan
 * 24 (2005) ... as Erin Driscoll
 * Heartland (2010)...as Sarah Craven
 * Nikita (2011)... as Madeline Pierce