Meaghan Oppenheimer Biography

Meaghan Oppenheimer wrote and starred in the 2010 short film ‘Hot Mess’, which revolves around two roommates and secretive lovers. She then started developing the screenplay for ‘We Are Your Friends’ with Max Joseph, who also directed the film. Released in 2015, the musical drama stars Zac Efron, Wes Bentley, and Emily Ratajkowski. The film garnered mixed reviews and grossed 11.1 million at the box office against a $2 million budget.

In 2013, her screenplay ‘The Remains’ was picked for that year’s Black List, an annual list of best screenplays yet to be turned into movies. In 2015, she co-wrote the season one episode ‘Not Fade Away’ of AMC’s dystopian horror drama series ‘Fear the Walking Dead’.

In December 2015, it was revealed and she was writing a new drama series for ABC which would be produced by Reese Witherspoon. By March 2016, Penelope Ann Miller and T. R. Knight were attached to the project. Initially developed under the working title ‘Meaghan Oppenheimer Pilot’, the series was later named ‘Broken’. However, only one episode was made before ABC scrapped it.

Set in Oppenheimer’s home city of Tulsa, ‘Queen America’ is a black comedy that began airing on Facebook Watch on November 18, 2018. The series stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Vicki Ellis, an extremely successful beauty pageant coach. This is Oppenheimer’s first project as a showrunner/executive producer.

In 2000, Oppenheimer made her screen debut in the pilot episode of the Disney Channel comedy series ‘Even Stevens’, portraying a character named Amy. Airing between 2000 and 2003, the series served as the launchpad for the careers of Shia LaBeouf and Christy Carlson Romano. In 2010, she had her big screen debut in Justin S. Monroe’s comedy-drama ‘The Rock 'n' Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher’. Playing the role of Renee, she shared screen space with Jack Roberts, Peter Bedgood, and Marshall Bell.

Oppenheimer was cast as Drew Walker in the short-lived television series ‘stalkTALK’ (2011). She then appeared in the television movie ‘LoveFinder’, which also stars Matthew Nicklaw and Tim Rock. In 2012, she reprised her role in the video short ‘LoveFinder: The Virals’. In 2011, Oppenheimer essayed the role of Bree in the television series ‘How to Marry a Billionaire’.

Oppenheimer was born on March 28, 1986, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, to Reed and Gabrielle Oppenheimer. She has three siblings, two brothers, Eric and Luke, and one sister, Sophie. Her father studied history and anthropology at Yale University. Over the years, he has been affiliated with several charities, serving as the charter member of Hunger Project, founding chairman of the Grameen Foundation USA, and board member of Trees of Life and Chiapas International. Her mother has degrees in history (from Wheaton College) and art history (from Hunter College). She also has a doctorate degree from the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU. Gabrielle has served as an assistant director at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. The family runs a private non-profit organization named The Reed Jules Oppenheimer Foundation (RJOF). Set up in 2012, RJOF promotes hunger and poverty reduction initiatives, education, environmental and human sustainability, and social justice, through wildlife conservation, agroecology, tree planting, microfinance, music festivals, personal empowerment strategies, and programs that elevate awareness. They are active in US, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Paraguay, Honduras, Vietnam, Russia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya.

In 2005, Oppenheimer graduated from Holland Hall and subsequently relocated to New York to study at the NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, from where she received her degree in drama in 2009. She made regular appearances in local theatre productions and TV shows in Tulsa. When she was in New York, she considered pursuing a career in theatre. However, she eventually relocated to Los Angeles to work in films and television.

Sometime in 2015, Oppenheimer began dating Welsh actor Tom Ellis. In March 2017, the couple got engaged. Ellis was previously married to ‘EastEnders’ star Tamzin Outhwaite from 2006 to 2014. They have two daughters together, Marnie Mae and Florence Elsie. He has another daughter, named Nora, with former girlfriend Estelle Morgan.