Marianne Jean-Baptiste

British actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste first became known to an international audience through her breakthrough performance in Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies (1996). Jean-Baptiste has received Best Supporting Actress Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations for her measured, insightful portrayal of a young woman who is reunited with her biological mother who gave her up for adoption at birth. Jean-Baptiste subsequently began doing steady work in both film and television, appearing in a disparate number of films, including Noah Baumbach's Mr. Jealousy (1997), the psychological thriller A Murder of Crows (1998), the independent comedy How to Make the Cruelest Month (1998), and Nancy Savoca's The 24-Hour Woman (1999). The beginning of the next decade founding Jean-Baptiste scoring roles in the thriller The Cell, the comedy drama 28 Days, and the thriller Spy Game. In 2002 she took on a role in the Jerry Bruckheimer produced CBS television series Without a Trace as FBI agent Vivian Johnson who works in the missing persons division.

In addition to acting, Jean-Baptiste is also a composer. She supplied the music for Leigh's Career Girls in 1997.

~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide