| Deborah Kara Unger | |
| Birth Date: | 1966 5, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Yearsactive: | 1989–present |
Deborah Kara Unger (born 12 May 1966)[1] [2] [3] is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films (1994), Crash (1996), The Game (1997), Payback (1999), The Hurricane (1999), White Noise (2005), Silent Hill (2006), 88 Minutes (2008) and The Way (2010).
Deborah Kara Unger was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to a nuclear disposal specialist mother and a gynaecologist father.[4] She was the first Canadian to be accepted into Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art.[5]
Upon graduation Unger found steady work in Australian films and television series, including Bangkok Hilton with Nicole Kidman. Following her return to North America in the early 1990s she appeared in David Lynch's 1993 HBO mini-series Hotel Room, and a year later appeared in opposite Christopher Lambert.[2] [5]
Unger's breakthrough role came in David Cronenberg's 1996 erotic drama Crash, about a group of people who take sexual pleasure from car accidents, a notable form of paraphilia.[5] Unger followed up her performance in Crash by starring with Michael Douglas in the psychological thriller The Game, directed by David Fincher. In 1998 she played Ava Gardner in HBO's The Rat Pack, and in 1999 she appeared in Payback with Mel Gibson, The Hurricane with Denzel Washington and the award-winning ensemble drama Sunshine.[2]
Unger appeared in many independent films in the early 2000s, such as Signs and Wonders, Ten Tiny Love Stories, Fear X, Thirteen, Stander, Hollywood North, Emile, Paranoia 1.0 and A Love Song for Bobby Long. She played a leading role opposite Sophia Loren and Mira Sorvino in the 2002 independent movie Between Strangers, 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.[6]
From 2005 to 2010, Unger appeared in White Noise, Things That Hang from Trees, The Alibi, Silent Hill, 88 Minutes, Walled In, Messages Deleted and The Way. She also appeared in the music video for "Jesus of Suburbia" by American rock band Green Day. In 2011, she took a starring role in the television series Combat Hospital, and in 2012 reprised her role as Dahlia Gillespie in the horror film sequel .[2]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Blood Oath | Sister Littell | Original title: Prisoners of the Sun | |
| 1990 | Breakaway | Marion | Original title: Escape from Madness | |
| 1991 | Till There Was You | Anna Vivaldi | ||
| 1992 | Whispers in the Dark | Eve Abergray | ||
| 1994 | Dr. Alexandra Johnson / Sarah Barrington | |||
| 1996 | Crash | Catherine Ballard | ||
| 1996 | No Way Home | Lorraine | ||
| 1997 | Keys to Tulsa | Vicky Michaels Stover | ||
| 1997 | Christine / Claire | |||
| 1998 | Luminous Motion | Mom | ||
| 1999 | Payback | Lynn Porter | ||
| 1999 | Marian Kerr | |||
| 1999 | Sunshine | Maj. Carole Kovács | ||
| 1999 | Lisa Peters | |||
| 2000 | Signs & Wonders | Katherine | ||
| 2002 | Colette Vaughn | |||
| 2002 | Between Strangers | Catherine | ||
| 2002 | Leo | Caroline | ||
| 2002 | Ten Tiny Love Stories | Seven | ||
| 2003 | Thirteen | Brooke LaLaine | ||
| 2003 | Fear X | Kate | ||
| 2003 | Hollywood North | Sandy Ryan | ||
| 2003 | Stander | Bekkie Stander | ||
| 2003 | Emile | Nadia / Nadia's Mother | ||
| 2004 | Paranoia 1.0 | Trish | ||
| 2005 | Georgianna | |||
| 2005 | White Noise | Sarah Tate | ||
| 2006 | Dorothy | |||
| 2006 | Things That Hang from Trees | Connie Mae Wheeler | ||
| 2006 | Silent Hill | Dahlia Gillespie | ||
| 2007 | 88 Minutes | Carol Lynn Johnson | ||
| 2007 | Shake Hands with the Devil | Emma | ||
| 2009 | Walled In | Mary | ||
| 2010 | Transparency | Danielle | ||
| 2010 | Sarah | |||
| 2010 | Sophie & Sheba | Tina Bradshaw | ||
| 2010 | Messages Deleted | Det. Lavery | ||
| 2011 | Lynn Court | |||
| 2012 | Helena | |||
| 2012 | Morgan Swinton | |||
| 2012 | 186 Dollars to Freedom | Consul Powers | ||
| 2012 | Dahlia Gillespie | |||
| 2013 | Samuel Bleak | Roselyn Ramirez | ||
| 2015 | Rehearsal | Ellen Sinclair | ||
| 2017 | Agnes | |||
| 2017 | Liz Archer | |||
| 2017 | Jackals | Kathy Powell | ||
| 2017 | Torch | Sister Ingrid | ||
| 2022 | The Long Night | The Master |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Bangkok Hilton | Astra | TV miniseries | ||
| 1990 | Rafferty's Rules | Jill Bennett | Episode: "Many Happy Returns" | ||
| 1993 | Hotel Room | Sasha | Episode: "Getting Rid of Robert" | ||
| 1994 | State of Emergency | Sue Payton | TV film | ||
| 1998 | Ava Gardner | TV film | |||
| 2009 | Angel and the Bad Man | Temperance | TV film | ||
| 2011 | Combat Hospital | Maj. Grace Pederson, M.D. | 13 episodes | ||
| 2015 | Samantha | TV film | |||
| 2015 | data-sort-value="Hollow, The" | The Hollow | Aunt Cora | TV film |
| Year | Result | Award | Category | Film | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Won | Seattle International Film Festival | Citation of Excellence for Ensemble Cast Performance | The Weekend | |
| Nominated | Genie Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role | Sunshine | ||
| 2003 | Nominated | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role | Between Strangers | ||
| Won | Dubrovnik International Film Festival | Libertas Award | |||
| Nominated | Sonoma Valley Film Festival | Imagery Honors Award | |||
| 2004 | Won | Method Fest | Best Actress | Emile | |
| 2005 | Won | Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema | Best Actress | One Point O | |
| 2010 | Won | Action on Film International Film Festival | Half-Life Award |