Katharine Lee McEwan is an English actress, screenwriter, and film producer. She gained recognition in 2015 with the award-winning independent feature filmSolitary, which she wrote and produced in addition to playing the lead role.
Early life
McEwan was born in Redcar, England where she spent her formative years being homeschooled and acting in local productions. Traditional education left her uninspired, so at the age of 18 she decided to forgo university and travel around the world instead. She visited a variety of countries including Australia before finally settling in Los Angeles where she now resides.
Career
McEwan returned to her love of acting in her 20s. She completed a summer program at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before continuing her studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. This is where she met Sasha Krane, the nephew of famous acting teacher Lee Strasberg and the Creative Director of Film and Theatre Production at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. They became longtime collaborators and married soon after. McEwan is an accomplished stage actress. She originated the role of Breda in Bernard Farell's 2007 production of Verdi Girls at the Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, California. She also played the role of Amanda Pryne in Noël Coward's Private Lives at the Long Beach Playhouse in Long Beach, California. After moving into independent film, McEwan decided "to create own role" and began writing the screenplay for Solitary, a feature-length drama set in Portsmouth, England. The story follows Nora, a troubled woman struggling to confront her past and reconnect with her estranged family. McEwan wanted to "explore family dynamics and what happens when the truth is sacrificed for an illusion of functionality show how damaging this culture of open secrets can be – not just for the individual victims, but for society as a whole." Solitary was directed by McEwan's husband Sasha Krane and executive produced by Roger Taylor of the British rock band Queen. Taylor also composed an original musical score for the film. In addition to playing the lead role of Nora, McEwan produced the film along with her lifelong friend Sarina Taylor, who also starred in the film as Nora's sister Shannon. During its year long festival run in 2015, the film received sixteen awards and thirteen nominations and was the opening night film of the 2015 London Independent Film Festival where it won Best UK Feature. When asked about doing a movie about such a tough topic, McEwan stated that everyone "...told us how hard it would be to make this movie, but luckily neither Sarina or I have ever been much for rules." In 2017 Katharine produced and acted in the short filmSwim written and directed by Mari Walker. Described as a "lissome and poignant LGBT film" Mari Walker’s trans coming-of-age story “Swim” won the Audience Awards for Fiction Feature Film and Short Film, respectively at the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival. McEwan is also an award winning narrator who has lent her voice to various audiobooks spanning genres such as fiction, fantasy, drama and more, including works by Maeve Binchy and Paula McLain.
