Samantha Mathis

Samantha Mathis Biography

 Date of Birth
12 May 1970, Manhattan, New York, USA
Nickname
Sammy
Height
5' 5" (1.65 m)
Samantha Mathis was born in New York in 1970 to Bibi Besch, an aspiring actress at the time. Her first acting job was in a commercial for baby products with her mother. Since her parents divorced when she was only three years old, Samantha was very exposed to the acting industry from a very young age, which made her almost destined to become an actress. Samantha's first feature film was Pump Up the Volume (1990) opposite her on- and off-screen love at the time, Christian Slater. This movie also marked her first topless scene, but Samantha has now grown up and moved on to more demanding roles, such as the part of Terry Carmichael in the action-packed film Broken Arrow (1996).

Trivia
Daughter of Bibi Besch.

Younger half-brother and half-sister appeared as extras in Super Mario Bros. (1993). Younger half-brother aspires to be a film director.

Is a vegetarian.

Accompanied River Phoenix to The Viper Room on the night he died.

Became best friends with Sandra Bullock when they made The Thing Called Love (1993) together.

Played a victim of John Travolta in The Punisher (2004). Previously, she played the love interest of the main hero in Broken Arrow (1996), in which the villain was also played by Travolta.

Spoke fluent German from childhood, stemming from her Austrian royal ancestry.

Granddaughter of Gusti Huber.

Launched a successful on-line flora design firm called Succulent LA with designer and partner Ryann Davis. Five percent of the proceeds go to the Green Coast Foundation.

Read for the role of Susannah in 'Legends of the Fall' and was considered, by Spielberg, for the role of Tinkerbell in 'Hook'.

Starred in five movies with a lead actor named "Christian." She was in Pump Up the Volume, Fern Gully, and Broken Arrow with Christian Slater, and in Little Women and American Psycho with Christian Bale.


Personal Quotes
Samantha says that kissing ex-boyfriend Christian Slater in Broken Arrow (1996) was "like kissing your brother".

[About her role in The Mists of Avalon (2001) (TV), directed by German-born Uli Edel, specifically the infamous "threesome" scene]: The guys have on boxers, but I've just got, like, a piece of nude stretchy material taped to my breasts and my legs. And then suddenly Uli yells out of the darkness, "Remember you're doing it for ze kingdom, for ze kingdom!"

"I think, you know...it just changes you (the drug overdose of River Phoenix), I know for me it was never an issue, about that lifestyle. I learned relationships aren't very important, or worth it, I mean even River wasn't worth my time. I've grown, I'm not 23 anymore and he'll always be "Forever Young". It goes down to priorities. I didn't need that hassle." - on moving on and what is meaningful to her. A British Interview 1996.

(On River Phoenix) "The nicest memory I have of him is when we went down to his family's property in Costa Rica, and we'd eat these mangoes for breakfast. River had them dripping all over him. When he ate, he ate with his hands. For me, he'll always be that beautiful, drippy mess."

(On River Phoenix) I feel blessed to have worked with him and to have known him. He challenged me as an actress, he was always surprising and startlingly honest. He was an all too fleeting presence in my life, a beautiful young man. Who will always be in my heart.

[about having experienced strange reactions to on-the-job nudity in the past] People don't know whether to look at you or talk to you. And you feel... fine! People are talking about baseball stats, and you're just going, 'OK, you can be normal now!'.

We have such an uptight relationship with nudity in America, and I think that's really unfortunate.

My mom always said, 'You got birthing hips'. Sometimes I wish they were a little smaller. But I don't want to look like a boy, you know?

Samantha Mathis

Samantha Mathis

Samantha Mathis

Samantha Mathis

Samantha Mathis

Samantha Mathis

Samantha Mathis

Samantha Mathis

Samantha Mathis

Samantha Mathis - [Jul-2001] - (part 1)

'Big Dream' by Samantha Mathis