1. The daughter of actress Bibi Besch, Mathis made her film debut in Pump Up the Volume, and later co-starred or appeared in such films as FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Super Mario Bros.
28 Facts About Samantha Mathis
1. 2.
Samantha Mathis has had recurring roles on The Strain as New York City Councilwoman Justine Feraldo, and on Billions as Taylor Mason Capital COO Sara Hammon.
3.
Samantha Mathis was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of Donald Samantha Mathis and Austrian-American actress Bibi Besch.
4.
Samantha Mathis's parents divorced when she was two years old, and Mathis was brought up by her mother.
5.
Samantha Mathis relocated with her mother to Los Angeles, California, at the age of five.
6.
Besch tried to discourage Samantha Mathis from pursuing acting, but growing up on locations, in theaters, and in acting classes, Samantha Mathis knew she wanted to act.
7.
Samantha Mathis decided to become an actress at the age of twelve.
8.
Samantha Mathis's first starring role in a feature film was that of Nora in Pump Up the Volume, opposite Christian Slater, whom she briefly dated at the time.
9.
Samantha Mathis dyed her natural blonde hair black for the role in an effort to change her image from sweet and innocent to strong-willed.
10.
Samantha Mathis appeared in the television films Extreme Close-up, 83 Hours 'til Dawn and To My Daughter in 1990.
11.
Samantha Mathis next appeared in the comedy This Is My Life, written and directed by Nora Ephron, playing an insecure teenager.
12.
Samantha Mathis appeared in the play Fortinbras in New York City in October 1992.
13.
Samantha Mathis co-starred with River Phoenix in The Thing Called Love.
14.
Samantha Mathis appeared in the 1994 film adaptation of Little Women, and in How to Make an American Quilt, both starring Winona Ryder.
15.
Samantha Mathis then appeared in The American President, playing the assistant to the President of the United States.
16.
Samantha Mathis costarred with Christian Slater again, along with John Travolta, in John Woo's Broken Arrow.
17.
Samantha Mathis took a little over a year off from acting after her mother died in 1996 from breast cancer.
18.
Samantha Mathis later appeared in American Psycho, a film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's 1991 novel of the same name.
19.
Samantha Mathis starred in Attraction and in The Simian Line.
20.
Samantha Mathis starred in the TNT television miniseries The Mists of Avalon.
21.
Samantha Mathis had a guest role on the ABC television show Lost as Olivia Goodspeed.
22.
Samantha Mathis played Jane Fonda's daughter in the Broadway show "33 Variations".
23.
Samantha Mathis appeared in an off-Broadway production of the play, Love, Loss, and What I Wore, at New York City's Westside Theatre in October 2011.
24.
In 2013, Samantha Mathis played psychiatrist Alice Calvert on the CBS television series Under the Dome, based on a novel by Stephen King.
25.
Samantha Mathis met actor River Phoenix on the set of the 1993 film The Thing Called Love.
26.
Samantha Mathis was with Phoenix on October 31,1993, the night he died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital of a drug overdose after collapsing outside The Viper Room in West Hollywood, California.
27.
Samantha Mathis took a role in the film Jack and Sarah, which was shot in London, to get out of the country after Phoenix's death because of the excessive press coverage.
28.
Samantha Mathis spoke for the first time publicly about the death of Phoenix in an interview with The Guardian in 2018.