Anna Paquin
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Anna Paquin | |
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![]() Paquin at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International | |
Born | Anna Helene Paquin July 24, 1982 |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1993–present |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Anna Helene Paquin (/ˈpækwɪn/; born July 24, 1982) is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress.[1][2][3] Born in Manitoba and brought up in Wellington, New Zealand, Paquin studied at Hutt Intermediate School and the Wellington Girls' College in New Zealand before moving to Los Angeles during her youth where she studied at Windward School and went on to complete a year at Columbia University before leaving post-secondary to focus on her acting career. As a child, she beat out 5000 candidates for the role of Flora McGrath in Jane Campion's romantic drama film The Piano (1993), despite having had little to no acting experience prior to getting the role. For her performance, she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the age of 11, making her the second-youngest Academy Award winner in Oscar history.[4]
Paquin went on to become a successful child actress, receiving multiple Young Artist Award nominations for her roles in Fly Away Home (1996), The Member of the Wedding (1997), and A Walk on the Moon (1999), and was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for appearing in Cameron Crowe's comedy-drama film Almost Famous (2000). She played mutant superheroine Rogue in the X-Men franchise (2000–present) and she was nominated for a Saturn Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in the first installment of the franchise.
Paquin is also known for playing the lead role of Sookie Stackhouse in the HBO vampire drama television series True Blood (2008-2014). For her performance in the series, Paquin won the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama in 2009[5] and was nominated for an additional Golden Globe Award in 2010, as well as three Saturn Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2010. Among other accolades, Paquin has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her work on the 2007 television film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and a Golden Globe Award for her work on the 2009 television film The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. Paquin has been married to actor Stephen Moyer since 2010, with whom she has two children.
Early life
Paquin was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the daughter of Mary Paquin (née Brophy), an English teacher and native of Wellington, New Zealand, and Brian Paquin, a high school Physical Education teacher from Canada. Paquin has two older siblings: Andrew (born 1977), a director, and Katya (born 1980),[6][7] whose partner is the Green Party of New Zealand's former co-leader Russel Norman.[8] Paquin's family moved to New Zealand when she was four. She attended the Raphael House Rudolf Steiner School until she was eight or nine.[9] Her musical childhood hobbies in New Zealand included playing the viola, cello and piano. She also participated in gymnastics, ballet, swimming and downhill skiing, though she did not have any hobbies related to acting.[10][11]
While in New Zealand, Paquin attended Hutt Intermediate School (1994–95). Having begun her secondary education in Wellington at Wellington Girls' College, she completed her high school diploma at Windward School in Los Angeles, after moving to the U.S. with her mother following her parents' divorce (1995).[12] She graduated from Windward School in June 2000 and completed the school's Community Service requirement by working in a soup kitchen and at a Special Education Centre. She studied at Columbia University for one year but has since been on a leave of absence to continue her acting career.
Career
Child actress
Director Jane Campion was looking for a little girl to play a main role in The Piano, set to film in New Zealand, and a newspaper advertisement was run announcing an open audition. Paquin's sister read the ad and went to try out with a friend; this inspired Paquin to also audition. When Campion met Paquin—whose only acting experience had been as a skunk in a school play—she was very impressed with the nine-year-old's performance of the monologue about Flora's father, and she was chosen from among the 5000 candidates.[11]
When The Piano was released in 1993 it was lauded by critics, won prizes at a number of film festivals, and eventually became a popular film among a wide audience. Paquin's debut performance in the film earned her the 1993 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the age of 11, making her the second-youngest Oscar winner in history, behind Tatum O'Neal.[11] The Piano was made as a small independent film and wasn't expected to be widely known, and Paquin and her family did not plan to continue in the acting circles.[10] However, she was invited to the William Morris Agency, and she kept receiving offers for new roles. She systematically refused them, but she did appear in three commercials for the phone company MCI in 1994.[13] She later made a series of television commercials for Manitoba Telecom Systems in her birth city of Winnipeg.[14] She also appeared as a voice in an audio book entitled The Magnificent Nose in 1994.
In 1996, she appeared in two films. The first role was as young Jane in Jane Eyre. The other was a lead part in Fly Away Home playing a young girl who, after her mother dies, moves in with her father and finds solace in taking care of orphaned goslings.[15]
As a teenager, she had roles in films, including A Walk on the Moon, Amistad, Hurlyburly, She's All That and Almost Famous.
X-Men, True Blood and beyond
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Anna_Paquin_2009_adjusted.jpg/170px-Anna_Paquin_2009_adjusted.jpg)
Paquin played the mutant superheroine Rogue in the Marvel Comics movie X-Men in 2000,[4] its sequel X2 in 2003, and its third installment, X-Men: The Last Stand, in 2006.
Between 2006 and 2007, she starred in, as well as executive-produced Blue State. The film is made by Paquin Films, a production company formed by both her and her brother, Andrew Paquin.[16] In November 2006, she completed the film Margaret, which was released in 2011. She played Elaine Goodale in HBO's made-for-TV film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, based on Dee Brown's best-seller. In 2007, she played the role of Laurie in the horror film Trick 'r Treat, which was released in 2009.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/Sookie_%28TB%29.jpg/150px-Sookie_%28TB%29.jpg)
Paquin was cast as waitress Sookie Stackhouse in the HBO series True Blood in 2008, her first role in a TV series. The show is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, set in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. While working on True Blood, she started dating co-star Stephen Moyer and later married him in 2010.
In 2009, Paquin played Irena Sendler, a Polish woman hailed as a heroine of the Holocaust, in The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, a CBS TV film biographical film based on the book Mother of the Children of the Holocaust: The Irena Sendler Story, by Anna Mieszkowska. The film was made in Latvia, and was a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation for the network.[17]
In 2010, Paquin's film The Romantics, a romantic comedy with Josh Duhamel and Katie Holmes, was released in the US at selected cinemas in September. She played a cameo role in Scream 4, alongside Kristen Bell in 2011.[18] She also played the voice of Kristin on an episode of Phineas and Ferb.
Paquin reprised her role as Rogue in the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past, but most of her scenes were cut out for the theatrical release.[19][20] An alterate version of the film with all of Paquin's scenes reinstated was released as The Rogue Cut on 14 July 2015.[21] Paquin voiced Ramsey in Disney•Pixar's film, The Good Dinosaur.[22] She will also play Nancy Holt, the wife of a Confederate soldier, in the remake of Roots.[23]
Personal life
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Stephen_Moyer_%26_Anna_Paquin.jpg/220px-Stephen_Moyer_%26_Anna_Paquin.jpg)
On 5 August 2009, Paquin announced her engagement to her True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer, whom she had been dating since filming the series pilot in 2007.[24][25] They married on 21 August 2010 at a private residence in Malibu, California.[26] Paquin and Moyer have a son, Charlie, and a daughter, Poppy, who are fraternal twins born in September 2012.[27][28][29] Through her marriage to Moyer, Paquin also has a stepson, Billy (born in 2000), and a stepdaughter, Lilac (born in 2002).[30] The family resides in Venice, Los Angeles, California.[31]
On 1 April 2010, Paquin came out as bisexual in a public service announcement for the Give a Damn campaign as part of the True Colours Fund, an advocacy group organized by Cyndi Lauper dedicated to LGBT equality.[32] The True Colours Fund was created to "inspire and engage everyone, especially straight people, to become active participants in the advancement of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality".[33] The video features Anna Paquin stating, "I'm Anna Paquin. I'm bisexual, and I give a damn".[34] When asked about her participation in the video, Paquin responded by saying, "It wasn't like it was a big secret, it was just a cause I cared about and privately supported, but not one that I had ever had an opportunity to speak out about in a way that would be useful. Obviously I know that one person's voice doesn't necessarily do that much, but I just wanted to do my bit."[35] In May 2012, in an Us Weekly interview Paquin rejected the notion that bisexuality is a choice. "My sexuality is not made up, for a bisexual, it's not about gender. That's not the deciding factor to who they're attracted to," stated Paquin.[36]
Paquin also supports other charities and foundations such as the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Elton John AIDS Foundation, and The Art of Elysium.[37]
Filmography
Film
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Anna_Paquin.jpg/170px-Anna_Paquin.jpg)
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | The Piano | Flora McGrath | |
1996 | Jane Eyre | Young Jane Eyre | |
1996 | Fly Away Home | Amy Alden | |
1997 | Amistad | Queen Isabella II of Spain | |
1998 | Hurlyburly | Donna | |
1999 | A Walk on the Moon | Alison Kantrowitz | |
1999 | She's All That | Mackenzie Siler | |
1999 | It's the Rage | Annabel Lee | |
2000 | X-Men | Rogue / Marie | |
2000 | Almost Famous | Polexia Aphrodisia | |
2000 | Finding Forrester | Claire Spence | |
2001 | Buffalo Soldiers | Robyn Lee | |
2002 | Darkness | Regina | |
2002 | 25th Hour | Mary D'Annunzio | |
2003 | X2 | Rogue / Marie | |
2003 | Laputa: Castle in the Sky | Sheeta | |
2004 | Steamboy | James Ray Steam (voice) | |
2005 | The Squid and the Whale | Lili | |
2006 | X-Men: The Last Stand | Rogue / Marie | |
2007 | Blue State | Chloe Hamon | |
2007 | Mosaic | Maggie | Voice |
2007 | Trick 'r Treat | Laurie | |
2010 | The Romantics | Lila Hayes | |
2010 | Open House | Jennie | |
2011 | Scream 4 | Rachel | Cameo |
2011 | Margaret | Lisa Cohen | |
2011 | The Carrier | Kim | Short film |
2013 | Straight A's | Katherine | |
2013 | Free Ride | Christina | |
2014 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | Rogue / Marie | Cameo |
2015 | X-Men: Days of Future Past – The Rogue Cut | Rogue / Marie | |
2015 | The Good Dinosaur | Ramsey | Voice |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | The Member of the Wedding | Frankie Adams | Television movie |
2007 | Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee | Elaine Goodale | Television movie |
2008–14 | True Blood | Sookie Stackhouse | Lead Role; 80 episodes |
2009 | The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler | Irena Sendler | Television movie |
2011 | Phineas and Ferb | Kristen (voice) | Episode: "The Curse of Candace" |
2013 | Susanna | Katie | Lead Role; 6 episodes (Webseries) |
2016 | Roots | Nancy Holt | Lead Role |
Theatre credits
Year | Title | Role | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | The Glory of Living | Lisa | MCC Theater |
2002 | This is Our Youth | Jessica Goldman | Garrick Theatre |
2003 | Manuscript | Elizabeth Hawkins | Falmouth Academy |
2003 | Drug Buddy | Wendy | Manhattan Theatre Club |
2004 | Roulette | Jenny | Ensemble Studio Theatre |
2004 | The Distance From Here | Shari | MCC Theater |
2004 | The 24 Hour Plays, South Of The Border | Maylene | MCC Theater |
2005 | After Ashley | Julie Bell | Vineyard Theatre |
2005 | Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead | Marcy | Westside Theatre |
2006 | The 24 Hour Plays, The Blizzard | Jenny | MCC Theater |
Awards and nominations
See also
References
- ^ Interview: Anna Paquin
- ^ "True Blood musical in the works, says show composer". cbc.ca. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
Starring Canadian-born, New Zealand actress Anna Paquin as Stackhouse
- ^ Corry, Dominic (15 February 2013). "Dominic Corry: New Zealand's Oscar heroes". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
Canadian-born Kiwi Anna Paquin
- ^ a b Crisell, Luke (21 May 2007). "Rogue Star". New York Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 May 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
{{cite news}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.goldenglobes.com/anna-paquin
- ^ "X Appeal". The Guardian. London. 6 August 2000. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
- ^ "Anna Paquin Biography (1982–)". filmreference.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ Vance, Andrea (2 November 2011). "Hanging out with the political Wags". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
- ^ "X Patriate Anna Paquin". The New Zealand Herald. May 2003. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
- ^ a b Verhaeghe, Melanie (Summer 1994). "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". Homemakers magazine.
- ^ a b c Dutka, Elaine (11 January 1994). "A Young Star is Born in the Piano". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Hobson, Louis B. (2 September 1996). "Real-Life Acting Difficult for Paquin". Calgary Sun.
- ^ "Verizon and MCI Close Merger, Creating a Stronger Competitor for Advanced Communications Services". New York: Verizon Communications. 5 January 2006.
- ^ "Anna Paquin to be MTS's Celebrity Spokesperson Academy Award Winning Actor Stars in MTS Commercials Beginning Today". CNW Group. Winnipeg. 6 October 1997. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ^ Lambert, Pam (16 April 1996). "Paquicking it in". People.
- ^ Halle, Karina (25 August 2006). "Anna Paquin: filmmaker and risk-taker". Independent Filmmakers Alliance Newsletter. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ "Academy Award And Recent Golden Globe Award Winner Anna Paquin Stars in 'The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler,' A New "Hallmark Hall Of Fame" Presentation to Be Broadcast Sunday, 19 April on the CBS Television Network". CBS press release via TheFutonCritic.com. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ Clark, Cindy (25 August 2010). "Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell to appear in 'Scream 4'". USA Today. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ Chitwood, Adam (26 January 2013). "Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, and Shawn Ashmore Returning for X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST". Collider. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
- ^ "Anna Paquin's Rogue Will be Present for X-Men: Days of Future Past". 16 April 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ^ Evry, Max (5 May 2015). "Bryan Singer Reveals X-Men: Days of Future Past Rogue Cut Release Date". Periscope via SuperheroHype.com. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ^ "Meet the New Cast of Disney•Pixar's The Good Dinosaur". The Walt Disney Company. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ^ "'Roots' TV Movie Adds Forest Whitaker, Anna Paquin, More to Cast". Variety. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ^ "True Blood's True Romance", TV Guide, 24 February 2009
- ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (5 August 2009). "Anna Paquin & Stephen Moyer Are Engaged! – Engagements, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer". People. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ Chiu, David (22 August 2010). ""True Blood" Co-Stars Get Hitched". WNBC. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
- ^ Michaud, Sarah; Jordan, Julie (11 September 2012). "Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer Welcome Twins". People. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- ^ "It's a Baby Boy and a Girl for Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer!". Life & Style. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
- ^ "Stephen Moyer Reveals Names of Twins with Anna Paquin". People. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
- ^ Haynes, Lorien (19 July 2009). "Interview with a Vampire". New York Post. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ "Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer Get Married!". Us Weekly. 21 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
- ^ Singh, Anita (1 April 2010). "True Blood star Anna Paquin comes out as bisexual". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
{{cite news}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
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suggested) (help) - ^ Official True Colors Fund website
- ^ "Anna Paquin: I'm Bisexual (VIDEO)". The Huffington Post. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Anna Paquin: Why I Came Out As Bisexual". The Huffington Post. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Beth Anne Macaluso (3 May 2012). "Pregnant Anna Paquin: My Bisexuality Is Not "Made Up"". usmagazine.com.
- ^ "Anna Paquin's Charity Work bio". Look To The Stars.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Anna Paquin at IMDb
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- Use dmy dates from March 2012
- 1982 births
- 20th-century Canadian actresses
- 21st-century Canadian actresses
- Actresses from Winnipeg
- Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
- Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners
- Bisexual actors
- Bisexual women
- Canadian child actresses
- Canadian people of New Zealand descent
- Canadian emigrants to New Zealand
- Canadian emigrants to the United States
- Canadian expatriate actresses in the United States
- Canadian film actresses
- Canadian television actresses
- Canadian voice actresses
- Columbia University alumni
- LGBT entertainers from Canada
- Living people
- New Zealand film actresses
- New Zealand people of Canadian descent
- New Zealand television actresses
- New Zealand voice actresses
- People educated at Wellington Girls' College
- Waldorf school alumni
- LGBT people from New Zealand