Zoe Kazan
| Zoe Kazan | |
|---|---|
 Kazan at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival |
|
| Born | Zoe Swicord Kazan September 9, 1983 [1] Los Angeles, California, US |
| Occupation | actress, playwright |
| Years active | 2006–present |
Zoe Swicord Kazan[2] (born September 9, 1983[1]) is an American actress and playwright.
Contents |
[edit] Early life and education
Kazan was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord, and the granddaughter of film and theatre director Elia Kazan.[3] She was educated at the private Windward School in Mar Vista and Marlborough School in Hancock Park, Los Angeles, and Yale University, from which she graduated in 2005.
[edit] Acting career
After her film debut in 2003 playing Samantha in Swordswallowers and Thin Men, Kazan went on to play her first professional stage role in the 2006 off-Broadway revival of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie starring Cynthia Nixon. In 2007 she had a small role in The Savages, which starred Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. She also guest appeared in an episode of supernatural drama Medium as a friend of the main character's younger self. She next appeared in the films Fracture and In the Valley of Elah. In the fall of the same year, she returned to the stage in a Playwrights Horizons production of 100 Saints You Should Know and Jonathan Marc Sherman's Things We Want, directed by Ethan Hawke.
In January 2008, Kazan made her Broadway debut opposite S. Epatha Merkerson and Kevin Anderson in a revival of William Inge's Come Back, Little Sheba. Ben Brantley of The New York Times called her performance "first-rate," adding, "Ms. Kazan is terrific in conveying the character’s self-consciousness."[4] In the fall, she appeared on Broadway as Masha in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull opposite Kristin Scott Thomas and Peter Sarsgaard.[5] The same year she had roles in August, Me and Orson Welles and Revolutionary Road.
Kazan is also a playwright. In 2009, her play Absalom premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, KY. The play, about a father's tense relationships with his children, had been extensively read and workshopped since Kazan's junior year at Yale University.[6] She capped off the year playing Meryl Streep's daughter in the Nancy Meyers comedy It's Complicated. She appeared in the Broadway production of A Behanding in Spokane with Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell until June 6, 2010. She also played a main role in the movies I Hate Valentine's Day and The Exploding Girl, which were both released in 2009.
In 2010, she had a main role in the comedy-drama happythankyoumoreplease as Mary Catherine, the cousin of Josh Radnor's character. She also starred as Millie Gately in 2010 (alongside Paul Dano, playing her husband) in Kelly Reichardt's independent western drama Meek's Cutoff. In the fall, Kazan played Harper Pitt in Signature Theatre Company's 20th Anniversary production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America.[7] On the small screen, Kazan then appeared in four episodes of HBO's Bored to Death as Nina, the love interest of a fictionalized Jonathan Ames played by Jason Schwartzman.
Her next project, for which she wrote the screenplay, is a comedy-romance film directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris titled He Loves Me, starring Antonio Banderas, Deborah Ann Woll and Steve Coogan. She will also star in the film as Ruby alongside her partner Paul Dano once again. The film is currently in post-production, awaiting a 2012 release.[8]
[edit] Personal life
Kazan lives in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn.
As of April 2009, Kazan is romantically linked to actor Paul Dano.[9]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Swordswallowers and Thin Men | Samantha | Film debut |
| 2007 | The Savages | Student | |
| 2007 | Fracture | Mona | |
| 2007 | In the Valley of Elah | Angie | |
| 2008 | August | Gal Employee | |
| 2008 | Me and Orson Welles | Gretta Adler | |
| 2008 | Revolutionary Road | Maureen Grube | |
| 2009 | The Exploding Girl | Ivy | Lead role |
| 2009 | The Private Lives of Pippa Lee | Grace Lee | |
| 2009 | I Hate Valentine's Day | Tammy Greenwood | |
| 2009 | It's Complicated | Gabby Adler | |
| 2010 | happythankyoumoreplease | Mary Catherine | |
| 2010 | Meek's Cutoff | Millie Gately | |
| 2012 | He Loves Me | Ruby | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Medium | Izzy | Episode "The Boy Next Door" |
| 2008 | Speechless | Stood Up Girl #2 | TV documentary |
| 2008 | After Iraq | Herself | Video documentary |
| 2008 | HBO First Look | Herself | Episode "The Making of 'Revolutionary Road'" |
| 2010 | Bored to Death | Nina | 4 episodes |
| 2011 | Showing Up | Herself | Documentary |
[edit] References
- ^ a b "30 Under 30 – Zoe Kazan". BroadwaySpace.com. 2011. http://www.broadwayspace.com/page/30-under-30-zoe-kazan. "Age: 27 (09/09/83)"
- ^ "CUE & A: Zoe Kazan". Playbill.com. March 9, 2010. http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/137395-PLAYBILLCOMS-CUE-A-Zoe-Kazan-.
- ^ "Nicholas Kazan Biography". FilmReference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/21/Nicholas-Kazan.html.
- ^ "Theater Review: 'Come Back, Little Sheba'". January 25, 2008. http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/theater/reviews/25sheb.html.
- ^ "The Seagull". Internet Broadway Database. http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=480037. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
- ^ "Zoe Kazan, Charles L. Mee, Naomi Wallace Are Among 2009 Humana Fest Writers". Playbill.com. November 13, 2008. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/123305-Zoe_Kazan_Charles_L._Mee_Naomi_Wallace_Are_Among_2009_Humana_Fest_Writers. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
- ^ "Announcing the Cast of ANGELS IN AMERICA". Signature Theatre Company. 2010. http://signaturetheatre.blogspot.com/2010/06/announcing-cast-of-angels-in-america.html.
- ^ "Steve Coogan joins rom-com 'He Loves Me'". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a329730/steve-coogan-joins-rom-com-he-loves-me.html/. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
- ^ Ryzik, Melena. "Chasing Stardom, in No Particular Rush". New York Times. April 1, 2009.
