Mädchen Amick

Early life

Amick was born in Sparks, Nevada, a few miles east of Reno, the daughter of Judy, a medical office manager, and Bill Amick, a musician. Amick's parents are partly German; the name Mädchen (in German pronounced [ˈmɛːtçn̩]), which means "girl" in German, was chosen by her parents, because they wanted an unusual name. She is also of Norwegian, Swedish, English and Irish descent. As a young girl, Amick was encouraged by her parents to follow her creative instincts. She learned to play the piano, bass, violin and guitar and took lessons in tap, ballet, jazz and modern dance. In 1987, at the age of 16, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.

Career

After moving to Los Angeles, Amick appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) as well as in The Borrower (1991). Amick got her first break when director David Lynch chose her to play waitress Shelly Johnson on the TV series Twin Peaks. Amick's character endured physical abuse at the hands of her criminal husband, Leo, and was one of the most popular characters, ensuring her return in the feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. In 1992, Amick appeared in the Stephen King horror movie Sleepwalkers. She has also appeared in television movies, such as Love, Cheat and Steal (1993).

A highlight of Amick's film career is the 1994 feature film Dream Lover, a thriller in which she co-starred with James Spader. Amick also appeared in the romantic comedy French Exit (1995) and the science fiction thriller Bombshell (1996). Amick's return to network television came in the fall of 1995 with the much-publicized CBS primetime soap opera Central Park West. In 1998, Amick starred in the updated edition of Fantasy Island. Both shows only lasted one season.

After a decade of roles that failed to ignite the publicity Twin Peaks had, Amick gradually became a noticeable face in television with recurring roles on Gilmore Girls, ER, Jake in Progress, and Joey. In 2006, Amick was a regular in the sitcom Freddie which was subsequently cancelled. Amick guest starred in a number of episodes of the serial thriller Kidnapped on NBC, playing a strange and deadly assassin. She also had a recurring role in the second season of Dawson's Creek as the lead character's substitute film studies teacher. In 2007, she had a lead role in the short-lived CBS musical series Viva Laughlin.

Amick had a recurring role in season 2 of Gossip Girl as Nate Archibald's "cougar" love interest, and she also appears in the second season of the Showtime series Californication. In 2008, Amick starred as Christian Slater's wife on the NBC series My Own Worst Enemy. In 2010, Amick played Danielle Marchetti on the FX series Damages.

In 2011 she appeared in the post-apocalyptic film Priest. In 2013, Amick began starring in the Lifetime supernatural drama Witches of East End opposite Julia Ormond, Rachel Boston and Jenna Dewan-Tatum. Amick's character Wendy Beauchamp was originally a guest star, but she later became a permanent character after shooting the pilot episode. On August 6, 2015 Amick joined the cast of American Horror Story: Hotel as a mother whose son is ailing. She has been cast in her original role, Shelly Johnson, for the 2017 Showtime continuation of Twin Peaks.

Personal life

Amick has been married to songwriter David Alexis since 1992. They have two children.