Chloë Sevigny

Chloë Sevigny
Born	Chloe Stevens Sevigny
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70m)

Chloë Stevens Sevigny (born November 18, 1974) is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated American actress and model. Sevigny, who became well known for starring in a string of critically acclaimed, well received independent films in the 1990s, experienced her mainstream breakout role as Lana in Boys Don't Cry (1999), for which she received an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

More recently, Sevigny has enjoyed success playing Nicki Grant, on the American television series Big Love, as a woman married to a polygamist.

Biography

Early life

Sevigny was born Chloe Stevens Sevigny in Darien, Connecticut to H. David Sevigny, an accountant turned interior painter, and Janine Malinowski. Sevigny's mother is a Polish American who grew up in Roxborough and her father was the distant descendant of a 17th-century French aristocrat, the marquise de Sévigné; he died from cancer in 1996. She has an older sibling, Paul Sevigny, who is now a New York DJ. Sevigny was strictly raised in the Catholic religion and attended Darien High School. While in high school, she babysat Topher Grace on several occasions.

Sevigny moved into her own apartment at age 18 in Brooklyn, and after hanging out with Manhattan skateboarders, she was spotted on an East Village street by a fashion editor of Sassy Magazine, who was so impressed by Sevigny's distinct, attractive style that she asked her to intern at the magazine. She later modeled in the magazine as well as for x-girl, the fashion label of Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. During that time, author Jay McInerney saw her around New York City and wrote a seven-page article about her for The New Yorker, in which he dubbed her the new "it-girl". Sevigny is well known today for her fashion icon status. She appeared on the album cover of The Gigolo Aunts' 1994 recording Flippin' Out.

Early roles: 1995 - 1999

Sevigny made her film debut in the controversial low budget, independent film Kids (1995). The film was written by independent filmmaker Harmony Korine. The film was given an NC-17 rating by the MPAA for its graphic sexuality involving minors, and drug use. Kids was released to mixed reviews by critics, some praising it for its social commentary on aimless teenagers; other criticized it as exploitative. The film quickly accumulated a cult following. She followed Kids with the independent film Trees Lounge (1996), starring as Steve Buscemi's best friend's daughter, and his object of affection.

Sevigny then starred in the critically divisive, cult film Gummo (1997), directed and written by Harmony Korine. The film details the destructive, anti-social life of residents of a land-locked, isolated Midwest American town of Xenia, Ohio. The film was heavily targeted by critics, many criticized it for being pretentiously graphic. This followed with roles in other independent films such as Palmetto (1997) and The Last Days of Disco (1998), alongside Kate Beckinsale.

Sevigny rose to prominent attention and heavy critical praise after playing the girlfriend of a young transsexual man in the factual Boys Don't Cry (1999), which earned her Best Supporting Actress nominations for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award. Kenneth Truran of The Los Angeles Times said: "Lana is played with haunting immediacy by the versatile Chloe Sevigny"., while Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times stated "The Lana character is crucial to the movie, and although Hilary Swank deserves all praise for her performance as Brandon, it is Sevigny who provides our entrance into the story.". Sevigny also won an Independent Spirit Award for her role.

Later roles and success: 2000 - present

She followed this film with a supporting role in the controversial American Psycho (2000), as well as teaming up with Korine once again for Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) and A Map of the World (1999). Afterward, she had roles in Demonlover (2002), Party Monster (2003), Death of a Dynasty (2003), and Dogville (2003).

After Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst both turned down roles in The Brown Bunny (2003), Sevigny took on the role as Daisy, which involved performing unsimulated fellatio during a scene in the film with co-star and director Vincent Gallo, who was rumoured to be her boyfriend at the time, however Gallo states they were "less than friends". She said about the role, "I knew people would not understand it. It's a shame people write so many things when they haven't seen it. When you see the film, it makes more sense. It's an art film. It should be playing in museums. It's like an Andy Warhol movie." After the film's release, the William Morris Agency dropped her as a client. She quickly signed on with another agency and continues to be successful in both modeling and acting, with roles in Shattered Glass (2003), Melinda and Melinda (2004), Manderlay (2004), Broken Flowers (2005), 3 Needles (2005), Lying (2006) and Sisters (2006).

2006-present

In 2006, Sevigny co-starred in a new HBO television series, Big Love, about a family of polygamists. She plays the conniving, shopaholic daughter of a cult leader. She also had roles in Catherine and Peter, scheduled for 2008, and Zodiac, which was released in early 2007.

Sevigny is a favorite of trendy magazines (she first graced the cover of Interview before Kids even came out), and she has modeled for a number of designers and brands, including Miu Miu, H&M, and MAC Cosmetics. But Sevigny is far from fond of her iconic status: “For some reason the public has embraced me as a fashion icon, and I feel like it has diminished me as an actress, or I don’t get as much recognition as an actress, and that upsets me”.

Sevigny has been in a number of cover photo shoots and interviews, such as in the January 2007 issue of "House and Garden" Subversive Spirit which illustrated her sense of style in both personal apparel and interior design of her Eastside New York towhnouse.

Personal life

Sevigny currently owns an apartment in East Village in Manhattan, which she bought for $1.2 million in 2006. While her romantic life is often hidden from the limelight, Sevigny has been romantically linked to the actor Vincent Gallo, musician Matt McAuley of the group A.R.E. Weapons, the playwright Jeff Smeenge, photographer Patrick O'Dell and filmmaker Harmony Korine— with whom she has been romantically involved since her teenage years, among others. Sevigny has also said, "I've questioned issues of gender and sexuality since I was a teenager, and I did some experimenting." "I always ended up getting involved with my close girlfriends, and that was really bad." "I love women -- they're beautiful. What more can I say?" She is a huge Morrissey fan and once remarked "His manager saw me on the tour in Boston and told me, ‘I said to Morrissey, “That girl Chloé is there.” Morrissey said, “You mean the model?”’ And I wanted to kill myself that he thinks I’m a model, not an actress. God. That’s disappointing.”

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Kids	Jennie	Independent Spirit Award for Best Newcomer Actress
1996	Trees Lounge	Debbie
1997	Gummo	Dot
1998	Palmetto	Odette
	The Last Days of Disco	Alice Kinnon
1999	Boys Don't Cry	Lana Tisedale	Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress
	Julien Donkey-Boy	Pearl
	A Map of the World	Carole Mackessy
2000	American Psycho	Jean
2002	Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet		Segment #1. Into the Night
	Demonlover	Elise Lipsky
2003	Party Monster	Gitsie
	Death of a Dynasty	Sexy Woman No. 1
	Dogville	Liz Henson
	The Brown Bunny	Daisy
	Shattered Glass	Caitlin Avey
2004	Melinda and Melinda	Laurel
	Manderlay	Philomena
2005	Broken Flowers	Carmen's assistant
	Mrs. Harris (TV)	Lynne Tryforos
2006	Lying	Megan
	Sisters	Grace Collier
2007	Zodiac	Melanie
2008	Catherine and Peter	Catherine	Filming in 2006, 2007 - early 2008 release

External links

• Chloë Sevigny at IMDb
• Template:Nndb name