Emma Forrest

{{Short description|British-American film director, screenwriter and novelist}}

{{Infobox writer

| image = Emma Forrest.jpg

| caption = Forrest in 2009

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1976|12|26}}

| birth_place = London, England

| death_date =

| death_place =

| occupation = Writer, director

| nationality = British
American

| period = 1993–present

| genre =

| children = 1

| subject =

| movement =

| notableworks =

| website = {{URL|https://www.emmaforrest.com}}

| spouse = {{Marriage|Ben Mendelsohn|2012|2016|reason=divorced}}

}}

Emma Forrest (born 26 December 1976) is an English{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/apr/10/i-showed-bruce-springsteen-my-bruce-springsteen-tattoo-he-said-he-didnt-like-it | title=I showed Bruce Springsteen my Bruce Springsteen tattoo. He said he didn't like it | newspaper=The Guardian | date=10 April 2023 | last1=Forrest | first1=Emma }} film director, screenwriter and novelist.

Early life

Forrest was born in London, England, to a Jewish family.{{cite news |url=http://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-features/46964/interview-emma-forrest |first=Brigit |last=Grant |date=24 March 2011 |title=Interview: Emma Forrest |newspaper=The Jewish Chronicle}} Her American mother, Judy Raines, was also a writer, mainly for British television, and her father is British.

Journalism

At age fifteen, Forrest wrote a story on Madonna for the London Evening Standard. She left school to write her "Generation X" column for the Sunday Times, writing about various britpop/indie bands "on the road". The Manic Street Preacher member Richey Edwards was the first person Forrest interviewed for the column.

Forrest has worked for Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Time Out, The Guardian, NME and Interview and Blackbook, for whom she interviewed Snoop Dogg and Brad Pitt. In the autumn of 2011, she contributed an essay to the album Ceremonials by Florence and the Machine that was included in the CD booklet.http://emmaforrest.blogspot.com/ {{User-generated source|date=August 2022}}

Novels

Forrest has written four novels: Namedropper (1998), Thin Skin (2002), Cherries in the Snow (2005) and Royals, which was released in the UK on 31 October 2019.

Anthologies

In 2001 Forrest contributed to an anthology on the writer J. D. Salinger titled Love & Squalor, with an essay describing Salinger's influence on some current young writers. In 2007 she co-wrote and edited her first non-fiction book, Damage Control – Women on the Therapists, Beauticians, and Trainers Who Navigate Their Bodies, which was an anthology of essays of the emotional pain women suffer for their own physical wellbeing. The book features contributions from women, including Helen Oyeyemi, Marian Keyes and Sarah Jones.

Memoir

File:Bookbits - 2011-02-16 Emma Forrest-Your Voice In My Head.vorb.oga

Forrest wrote a memoir, Your Voice in My Head (2011), concerning the death of her psychiatrist and her subsequent break-up with her partner.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jan/08/emma-forrest-your-voice-my-head-extract |first=Emma |last=Forrest |title=Your Voice in My Head (extract) |date=8 January 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian}}{{cite web |url=http://www.theawl.com/2011/05/when-your-shrink-dies-emma-forrests-therapy-memoir |title=When Your Shrink Dies: Emma Forrest's Therapy Memoir |date=2 May 2011 |first=Maud |last=Newton |work=The Awl}} The memoir was announced as a feature film adaptation to be written by Forrest and directed by Francesca Gregorini, with Emma Watson in the lead role.{{cite web |url=https://collider.com/emma-watson-your-voice-in-my-head-francesca-gregorini/ |first=Adam |last=Chitwood |date=7 September 2013 |title=Emma Watson to Star in "Your Voice in My Head" for Director Francesca Gregorini |work=Collider}}

In August 2022, Forrest published a second memoir, Busy Being Free, concerning her divorce and return to living in London as a single parent.{{Cite news |title=Notes from a Hollywood divorce: 'We had a primal connection. But we hung by a thread for years' |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jul/06/notes-from-hollywood-divorce-emma-forrest-ben-mendelsohn}}

Screenwriting

A screenplay by Forrest about musician Jeff Buckley, Becoming Music, was bought by Brad Pitt's production company Plan B Entertainment in September 2000. In 2009 her screenplay LIARS (AE) was bought by Scott Rudin at Miramax, with Richard Linklater attached to direct. In 2009 she was listed on Variety{{'}}s "Top Ten Screenwriters to Watch".{{cite journal |url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006599.html?categoryId=3186&cs=1 |title=Emma Forrest: 10 Screenwriters to Watch |first=Adam |last=Dawtrey |date=28 July 2009 |journal=Variety}} Other screenplays in development:Know Your Rights (Film4) and How Could You Do This To Me (Paramount Pictures).

Personal life

Forrest was in a relationship with actor Colin Farrell, whom she met in 2008. She refers to him in her memoir as "GH", short for "Gypsy Husband".{{cite news |url=https://nypost.com/2011/05/01/an-affair-to-remember-3/ |newspaper=New York Post |first=Sheila |last=McClear |title=An affair to remember |date=1 May 2011}}

In June 2012, Forrest married Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn.{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/from-red-carpet-to-wedding-aisle/story-fn6bn80a-1226393521049 |title=From red carpet to wedding aisle |date=12 June 2012 |newspaper=Herald Sun}} They had one child together in 2014 and divorced in 2016.

She has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder.{{cite web |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/cutting-words-2461738 |title=Cutting Words |newspaper=The Scotsman |date=1 June 2005 |accessdate=8 May 2023}}