Born near London and raised in Brighton, McElhone honed her craft in various stage productions throughout Britain. The elegant brunette with expressive eyes and high cheekbones studied at LAMBDA and landed her first stage role in "The Count of Monte Cristo" in the early 1990s. After amassing other credits (including a stint performing Shakespeare at an open-air theater in London), McElhone was cast as the mistress of the famous Spanish painter in "Surviving Picasso". She subsequently appeared in the British TV production of "Karaoke" (1996), written by Dennis Potter and landed feature roles as Brad Pitt's love interest in Alan J. Pakula's "The Devil's Own" (1997) and the young version of the title character in "Mrs. Dalloway" (1998). A co-starring role opposite Robert De Niro in the actioner "Ronin" followed by a primary supporting role in Peter Weir's "The Truman Show" (both 1998) exposed McElhone to a larger audience. She was next featured in Kenneth Branagh's musical adaptation of "Love's Labour's Lost" (2000).