Kari Matchett

Infobox Person
name=Kari Matchett


caption=
birth_date=Birth date and age|1970|3|25|mf=y
birth_place=Spalding, Saskatchewan
death_date=
death_place=

Kari Matchett (born March 25, 1970 in Spalding, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian actress in television and film. She is probably best known for her role as Mariel Underlay on the cult TV series "Invasion".

Early years

Matchett attended high school at Lethbridge Collegiate Institute in Lethbridge, Alberta. She later studied at the National Theatre School in Montreal, Quebec, and the Moscow Theatre School.

Matchett performed on stage for three years at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada.

Career

In Canada her first major role was on "The Rez" and her first starring role was as Colleen Blessed in "Power Play" (1998–2000). Matchett was a key member of the repertory cast of the A&E TV series "A Nero Wolfe Mystery" (2001–2002), in which she played numerous femmes fatale and had a recurring role as Lily Rowan. On the short-lived but highly reviewed show "Wonderfalls", she played the character Beth, the lesbian love interest of the main character's sister, Sharon Tyler.

Her next major role was as Detective Elaine Bender in "Blue Murder" in 2004. Unrelated to her character in 2004, she guest starred on an episode of the same TV show ("Blue Murder") as a suspect in a murder investigation in 2001.

In 2005 she had a starring role in the short-lived but now cult ABC TV series, "Invasion", a series about aliens taking the form of humans. She has also appeared as Mary Tate on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and in both "Shark" and "Wild Card".

She played a single mother stalked by her boyfriend in "Intimate Stranger", a made-for-TV movie in 2006.

In 2007 she joined the cast of "24", as Lisa Miller, assistant to Powers Boothe's Vice President Noah Daniels who steps in as acting president when an attempt is made on the life of the president. In June 2007, the TNT series "Heartland" debuted with Matchett playing the role of Kate Armstrong, and in November 2007, Matchett appeared on the American television program "ER", playing a new attending physician, Skye Wexler.

Her most notable film role was in a 2002 film about curling entitled "Men with Brooms".

Awards

*2000, Nominee, Gemini Award
"Power Play"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Role in a Dramatic Series
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
*2001, Nominee, Gemini Award
"A Colder Kind of Death"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
*2001, Winner, Gemini Award
"Blue Murder"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
*2003, Nominee, ACTRA Toronto Award
"A Nero Wolfe Mystery"
Outstanding Performance – Female
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists [ [http://www.actratoronto.com/home/awardsrealease.htm ACTRA Award Revived in Honour of 60th Anniversary] : Ten Award Nominees Announced by ACTRA Toronto (February 3, 2003); [http://www.actratoronto.com/awards05/main1.htm The ACTRA Awards in Toronto] ; retrieved 7-1-08]

References

External links

*imdb | id = 0558182 | name = Kari Matchett
*Kari Matchett at [http://www.northernstars.ca/actorsmno/matchett_kari.html Northern Stars]
* [http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20050725_109441_109441 Maclean's] (July 22, 2005) article on Kari Matchett and "Invasion"