Katherine Waterston Net Worth

What is Katherine Waterston's net worth?

Katherine Waterston is a British-American actress who has a net worth of $2 million. Katherine Waterston has established herself as a versatile and fearless actress whose career spans independent cinema, major franchises, television, and theater. Since emerging in the mid-2000s, she has earned critical acclaim for portraying strong-willed characters in films like "The Babysitters" (2008) and her breakthrough role in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" (2014). Her distinctive talent has caught the attention of renowned directors including Ridley Scott, Steven Soderbergh, and Danny Boyle. While maintaining her independent film roots, Waterston has gained mainstream recognition through her roles as Tina Goldstein in the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise and as Daniels in "Alien: Covenant." Her compelling performances are characterized by emotional depth, authenticity, and a willingness to take creative risks.

Early Life and Education

Katherine Boyer Waterston was born on March 3, 1980, in Westminster, London, where her parents were working at the time. She is the daughter of Academy Award-nominated actor Sam Waterston and former model Lynn Louisa Woodruff. Growing up with acting in her blood, Katherine has three siblings who also pursued careers in the entertainment industry: her sister Elisabeth Waterston and brother Graham Waterston, as well as an older half-brother, James Waterston, all of whom are involved in acting or directing.

Though born in London, Waterston was raised in Connecticut. She attended the prestigious Loomis Chaffee School, graduating in 1998, before pursuing higher education at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she earned a B.F.A. in Acting. Initially, Waterston had intended to double major in theater and photography at NYU, but found the workload too demanding and chose to focus solely on developing her acting skills.

Getty Images

Early Career and Stage Work

Waterston's professional acting journey began with a small screen debut in the television pilot "Americana" (2004), directed by David Schwimmer. She also appeared in the short film "Orchids," directed by actress-turned-director Bryce Dallas Howard. Her feature film debut came in 2007 with Tony Gilroy's Oscar-nominated legal thriller "Michael Clayton," though it was a minor role.

Throughout her early career, Waterston balanced film work with significant stage performances. In 2007, she performed in Julian Sheppard's play "Los Angeles," followed by Adam Rapp's "Kindness" in 2008. Her theater credits also include playing Gena in the original Off-Broadway production of Leslye Headland's "Bachelorette" in 2010, and appearing as Anya in the Classic Stage Company revival of "The Cherry Orchard" in 2011. Her connection to the theater world ran deep, as Rapp's 2011 three-play collection "The Hallway Trilogy" was dedicated to her, and she appeared as Rose Hathaway in "Part 1: Rose" during its premiere at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.

Breakthrough and Rise to Prominence

Waterston's first starring film role came in the 2007 independent drama "The Babysitters," where she played a resourceful honors student who creates an escort service while babysitting for suburban clients. This led to a series of supporting roles in independent films including "Taking Woodstock" (2009), "Enter Nowhere" (2011), "Being Flynn" (2012), and "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" (2013).

Her true breakthrough came with Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" (2014), based on the Thomas Pynchon novel. Waterston played Shasta Fay Hepworth, the former lover of Joaquin Phoenix's drug-addled private investigator Doc Sportello. Her bold, uninhibited performance garnered widespread critical acclaim and nominations from the Satellite Awards and Denver Film Critics Society.

(Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic)

Mainstream Success and Franchise Work

Following the attention she received for "Inherent Vice," Waterston's career reached new heights. In 2015, she portrayed Chrisann Brennan, the high school girlfriend of Steve Jobs and mother of his daughter Lisa, in Danny Boyle's biographical drama "Steve Jobs," starring opposite Michael Fassbender.

Waterston achieved international recognition when cast as Tina Goldstein, a former Auror working for the Magical Congress of the United States of America, in the 2016 "Harry Potter" spin-off "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." The film was both a critical and commercial success, grossing $814 million worldwide. She reprised the role in "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" (2018) and made a brief appearance in "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" (2022).

In 2017, Waterston reunited with Michael Fassbender in Ridley Scott's science fiction horror film "Alien: Covenant." That same year, she also appeared in Steven Soderbergh's comedy-drama "Logan Lucky" and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's historical drama "The Current War."

Recent Work and Artistic Evolution

In recent years, Waterston has continued to balance roles in independent films with more mainstream projects. Her starring roles in independent cinema include appearances in "State Like Sleep" (2018), Jonah Hill's directorial debut "Mid90s" (2018), the biographical adventure "Amundsen" (2019), and the period drama "The World to Come" (2020), where she starred alongside Vanessa Kirby, Casey Affleck, and Christopher Abbott.

Waterston has also expanded her presence in television. In 2020, she starred in the British-American horror drama series "The Third Day" alongside Jude Law. In 2022, she joined the cast of the second season of HBO's period drama series "Perry Mason." More recently, she has appeared in projects including "The End We Start From," "Black Flies," and "Slow Horses."

Who's Richer?

Katherine
Waterston

Compare!

Eddie
Redmayne