Emma Forrest

Emma Forrest (born 26 December 1976) is a British-American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. Born in London, she currently resides in Los Angeles.

Emma Forrest began her writing career at the age of fifteen when she wrote a story on Madonna for the London Evening Standard. A column in a national newspaper followed and so did the job title of full-time writer. Her "Generation X" column for the Sunday Times saw her leaving school to tour the world with various britpop/indie bands reporting on their "on the road" antics. The vanished Manic Street Preacher member Richey Edwards was the first person she ever interviewed. Emma has also worked for such publications as Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Time Out, The Guardian, NME, Interview and Blackbook, where she has interviewed celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Brad Pitt. Most recently, she contributed an essay to the record Ceremonials by Florence and the Machine.

She has written three novels: Namedropper (1998), Thin Skin (2002), and Cherries in the Snow (2005).

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 many well-known women, including Helen Oyeyemi, Marian Keyes and Sarah Jones.

Forrest has written a memoir, Your Voice In My Head (2011), concerning the death of her psychiatrist and her subsequent break-up with her partner. The memoir is being adapted into a feature film written by Forrest herself. The film will be directed by Francesca Gregorini and star Emma Watson in the lead role.

A screenplay by Forrest about the life of the late 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. She was listed on Variety's "Top Ten Screenwriters to Watch" in 2009. Another two screenplays are currently in development Know Your Rights (Film4) and How Could You Do This To Me which is as of now starring Miranda Cosgrove (Paramount Pictures).

Forrest was raised in a Jewish family in London.

Her American mother, Judy Raines, was also a writer, mainly for British television.

Forrest was in a relationship with the actor Colin Farrell, whom she met in 2008. She refers to him in her memoir as "GH," short for "Gypsy Husband."

In June 2012, Forrest married Animal Kingdom actor Ben Mendelsohn at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Forrest filed for divorce from Mendelsohn on 23 December 2016.

She has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder.

• Untogether (2017) (director, screenplay)