section_path: Biography/Rise to prominence
section_name: Rise to prominence
paragraph_text: Rise to prominence
  
  Whalley found early success on British television with a lead role in Troy Kennedy Martin 's highly regarded and influential drama serial Edge of Darkness (BBC, 1985), for which she received a nomination for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress. At this time she appeared in Alan Bleasdale 's comedy film No Surrender (1985) and two films for Mike Newell: The Good Father (FilmFour, 1985) and the critically acclaimed Dance with a Stranger (Goldcrest, 1985). She also concluded her work at the Royal Court Theatre this year by performing the role of Bianca in William Gaskill 's production of Women Beware Women and then moved to the Royal National Theatre appearing as Dewey Dell in Peter Gill 's productions of As I Lay Dying at the Cottesloe Theatre.
  
  Further television success came with the key role of Nurse Mills in Dennis Potter 's drama serial The Singing Detective (BBC, 1986). She concluded her work with the Royal National Theatre that year by performing as Euphie and 1st Cutie in Peter Gill and John Burgess 's The Women. The following year she performed as Masha in Bill Kenwright and Elijah Moshinsky 's production of Three Sisters at the Albery Theatre and the Greenwich Theatre.
  
  Whalley met the American actor Val Kilmer in 1987 while filming her first US lead role in George Lucas and Ron Howard 's Academy Award nominated fantasy adventure Willow (1988). After her wedding to Kilmer in 1988, she moved to Los Angeles to continue her film career and began using 'Joanne Whalley-Kilmer' as her professional SAG-AFTRA name.
  
  Her most notable British film role to date was as Christine Keeler in Michael Caton-Jones 's historical drama Scandal (1989), a fictionalised account of the Profumo affair, which screened in competition at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, featuring John Hurt as Stephen Ward and Sir Ian McKellen as John Profumo. That same year she also co-starred with Kilmer in John Dahl 's neo-noir Kill Me Again (1989) and received a Theatre World Award for her performance of Geraldine Barklay in John Tillinger 's off-Broadway production of What the Butler Saw for the Manhattan Theatre Club.
  
  Further theatrical work came with her performance in the title role of Lulu in Ian McDiarmid 's production of The Lulu Plays at the Almeida Theatre in 1990 to 1991. Later that year she gave birth to her first child, Mercedes, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
  
  She recreated Margaret Mitchell 's iconic heroine Scarlett O'Hara, originally played by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939), in the Emmy Award -winning TV miniseries Scarlett (CBS, 1994). That same year she also played the lead role in Heywood Gould 's legal thriller Trial by Jury (1994). She gave birth to her second child, Jack, the following year.
  
  After her divorce from Kilmer in 1996, she changed her surname back to Whalley, starting with her lead role in Jon Amiel 's spy comedy The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997) starring Bill Murray. She played the title role of former US First Lady Jackie Kennedy in David Burton Morris's Emmy Award-winning miniseries Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (CBS, 2000).
  
  Whalley found early success on British television with a lead role in Troy Kennedy Martin 's highly regarded and influential drama serial Edge of Darkness (BBC, 1985), for which she received a nomination for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress. At this time she appeared in Alan Bleasdale 's comedy film No Surrender (1985) and two films for Mike Newell: The Good Father (FilmFour, 1985) and the critically acclaimed Dance with a Stranger (Goldcrest, 1985). She also concluded her work at the Royal Court Theatre this year by performing the role of Bianca in William Gaskill 's production of Women Beware Women and then moved to the Royal National Theatre appearing as Dewey Dell in Peter Gill 's productions of As I Lay Dying at the Cottesloe Theatre.
  
  Further television success came with the key role of Nurse Mills in Dennis Potter 's drama serial The Singing Detective (BBC, 1986). She concluded her work with the Royal National Theatre that year by performing as Euphie and 1st Cutie in Peter Gill and John Burgess 's The Women. The following year she performed as Masha in Bill Kenwright and Elijah Moshinsky 's production of Three Sisters at the Albery Theatre and the Greenwich Theatre.
  
  Whalley met the American actor Val Kilmer in 1987 while filming her first US lead role in George Lucas and Ron Howard 's Academy Award nominated fantasy adventure Willow (1988). After her wedding to Kilmer in 1988, she moved to Los Angeles to continue her film career and began using 'Joanne Whalley-Kilmer' as her professional SAG-AFTRA name.
  
  Her most notable British film role to date was as Christine Keeler in Michael Caton-Jones 's historical drama Scandal (1989), a fictionalised account of the Profumo affair, which screened in competition at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, featuring John Hurt as Stephen Ward and Sir Ian McKellen as John Profumo. That same year she also co-starred with Kilmer in John Dahl 's neo-noir Kill Me Again (1989) and received a Theatre World Award for her performance of Geraldine Barklay in John Tillinger 's off-Broadway production of What the Butler Saw for the Manhattan Theatre Club.
  
  Further theatrical work came with her performance in the title role of Lulu in Ian McDiarmid 's production of The Lulu Plays at the Almeida Theatre in 1990 to 1991. Later that year she gave birth to her first child, Mercedes, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
  
  She recreated Margaret Mitchell 's iconic heroine Scarlett O'Hara, originally played by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939), in the Emmy Award -winning TV miniseries Scarlett (CBS, 1994). That same year she also played the lead role in Heywood Gould 's legal thriller Trial by Jury (1994). She gave birth to her second child, Jack, the following year.
  
  After her divorce from Kilmer in 1996, she changed her surname back to Whalley, starting with her lead role in Jon Amiel 's spy comedy The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997) starring Bill Murray. She played the title role of former US First Lady Jackie Kennedy in David Burton Morris's Emmy Award-winning miniseries Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (CBS, 2000).