Saskia Reeves

Highly-touted blonde British player who followed a somewhat less than classical path to become a classical actress. Saskia Reeves performed in satirical revues at the Convent Garden Community Theatre and did puppet shows before earning a foothold on the stage. She performed in "Cathleen Ni Hollinan" at the Lyric Hammersmith in London, and joined the Cheek By Jowl Company for 18 months, starring in the group's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Reeves played Greta in an acclaimed production of "The Metamorphosis," and repeated her role in the BBC rendition of the effort. She also has done seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

But it was on film that Reeves won international notice and status. One critic gushed, "Saskia Reeves is an actress to watch for...Be the first on your block to see a Saskia Reeves film." Reeves' first screen performance was in "December Bride" (1990), in which she was an Irish housekeeper who has children by two brothers and flaunts convention by refusing to marry either. She switched to comedy for her second film, "Antonia & Jane," in which she played the former, a masochistic lost soul. In "Close My Eyes" (1991), Reeves was a woman who has a fling with her younger brother, and in "The Bridge" (1992), she is a woman who has an affair with artist Philip Wilson Steer and inspires a famous painting.

In 1994, Reeves was in "Traps," as a photojournalist with her husband in Vietnam of 1950 -- she is supposed to prop up the French position for colonialization, but comes to see the war on the horizon. She had a stunning success with "Butterfly Kiss" (1995), in which she was a sad soul whose life is pumping petrol until she meets and finds love with Amanda Plummer. Reeves has called this film, "'Thelma and Louise' on acid."

Reeves has appeared in some BBC productions, in addition to "Metamorphosis" and "Antonia & Jane" before its international big screen release. In 1992, she won raves for her one-woman "Two Monologues," particularly for "In My Defence" in which she was a young woman who wants to kill her terminally-ill mother.