Madchen Amick

A student of dance, music and art as a child in Reno, Nevada, Madchen Amick decided to focus on acting as a teenager, and shortly thereafter, she got her major break in David Lynch's innovative TV series Twin Peaks (1990). After moving to L.A. at 16, Amick appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Baywatch, and mounted a small role in The Borrower (1991), John McNaughton's ill-fated gorefest about a roving alien of ere-shifting appearance who rips heads from his victims and uses them as his own. Amick became famous, however, as waitress Shelly Johnson, one of several beautiful young small-town women harboring terrible secrets, on the much-praised and memorably-eccentric Twin Peaks. More a succès d'estime than a long-running hit, Twin Peaks still seemed poised to jump-start the careers of the principal actors, including Amick. Alas, this expectation failed to materialize. Her performance in Lynch's feature/prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), however, became a de facto cameo. Although Amick followed Twin Peaks with starring roles in the Stephen King horror fest Sleepwalkers (1992), and as the femme fatale in the neo-noir Dream Lover (1994), she worked more consistently in B-films, including the romantic comedy French Exit (1995), sci-fi thriller Bombshell (1996) and TV movies such as Love, Cheat and Steal (1993). Amick returned to 1990s series TV twice in two high-profile failures, CBS' Central Park West (1995) and ABC's 1998 edition of Fantasy Island - not exactly high-prestige assignments. Nevertheless, by the early 2000s, the actress began her ascension to greater prestige and recognition with a few guest appearances on the prime-time dramedy The Gilmore Girls (as Sherry Tinsdale). Circa fall 2007, Amick also landed second billing in the prime-time series drama Viva Laughlin. In that program, the actress plays Natalie Holden, the wife of a young entrepreneur (Lloyd Owen) trying to realize his dream of opening up a casino in Laughlin, Nevada. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide