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Anna Paquin

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Anna Paquin

Birth name Anna Helene Paquin
Born July 24 1982 (1982-07-24) (age 25)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CN

Anna Helene Paquin (born July 24, 1982) is an Academy Award-winning and Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated New Zealand actress. Her breakthrough performance was in The Piano, which earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting actress as the second youngest winner in history.[1] She was nine years old when the movie was made, and has continued acting since. She is also the first Canadian born actress to win Best Supporting Actress.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Paquin was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the child of Brian, a New Zealand high school physical education teacher, and Mary (née Brophy) Paquin, an English teacher and native of Wellington, New Zealand.[2][3] Paquin moved to New Zealand when she was four. She attended the Raphael House Rudolf Steiner School until she was eight or nine.[4] Her musical childhood hobbies in New Zealand included playing the viola, cello and piano. She has also done gymnastics, ballet, swimming and downhill skiing, but she didn't have hobbies related to acting.[5][6] While in New Zealand, Paquin attended Hutt Intermediate School from 1994-1995, where she completed Form 1 and 2. Having begun her secondary education in Wellington, New Zealand, she completed her high school diploma at Windward School in Los Angeles, where she moved with her mother following her parents' divorce.[7]

Acclaim as a Child Actress

Paquin's big-screen debut happened when she attended the open audition for Flora for The Piano. Her sister was going to the audition, and she wanted to go too.[1] The director was impressed by nine-year-old Paquin's performance of the monologue about Flora's father, and she was chosen among the 5000 candidates.[6]

When the The Piano was released in 1993 it was lauded by critics, won prizes at a number of film festivals, and eventually became a popular movie among a wide audience. Paquin's debut performance in the film earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the age of eleven, making her the second-youngest Oscar winner in history after Tatum O'Neal.[6]

Paquin as Flora, telling the story about her father in The Piano
Paquin as Flora, telling the story about her father in The Piano

The Piano was made as a small independent movie and wasn't supposed to be widely known, and Paquin and her family didn't plan to continue in the acting circles.[5] However, she was invited to the prestigious 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 (currently WorldCom).[8] In 1996, she appeared in two movies. The first role was a smallish one 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.[9] As a teenager, she had roles in several small films, such as The Member of the Wedding, Amistad, Hurlyburly and She's All That. She graduated from Windward School in West Los Angeles, California in June 2000 and completed the school's community service requirement by working in an LA soup kitchen and at a special education center. She studied at Columbia University for one year, but has since been on a leave of absence in order to continue her acting career.[1] In 2001, she acquired New Zealand citizenship.

New fame in X-Men

Paquin returned to worldwide prominence with her role as Rogue in the blockbuster X-Men movie in 2000,[1] its sequel X2: X-Men United in 2003, and its third installment X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006. Paquin made her stage debut in 2001 in a production of The Glory of Living at the MCC Theater. She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, and won a Theatre World Award for her performance. In 2002, Paquin appeared on the West End stage in a production of This is Our Youth. In the summer of 2006, she completed filming Blue State which she also executive-produced. In November 2006, she completed Margaret, scheduled for release by Fox Searchlight in 2007. In July 2007, Paquin received an Emmy Award nomination for Supporting Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie for her role as Elaine Goodale in the HBO's Made-for-TV movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, based on Dee Brown's bestseller. HBO has announced that Paquin will be starring in the lead role of the new series True Blood based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris.[10] Paquin lives in the West Village in New York City.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1993 The Piano Flora McGrath Oscar-winning performance
1996 Jane Eyre Young Jane Eyre
Fly Away Home Amy Alden
1997 Amistad Queen Isabella II
1998 Hurlyburly Donna
Castle in the Sky Sheeta
1999 A Walk On The Moon Alison Kantrowitz
She's All That Mackenzie Siler
All The Rage Annabel Lee
2000 X-Men Rogue/Marie D'Ancanto
Almost Famous Polexia Aphrodisia
Finding Forrester Claire Spence
2001 Buffalo Soldiers Robyn Lee
2002 Darkness Regina
25th Hour Mary D'Annunzio
2003 X2 Rogue/Marie D'Ancanto
2004 Steamboy (English dub) James Ray Steam(voice)
2005 The Squid and the Whale Lili
2006 X-Men: The Last Stand Rogue/Marie D'Ancanto
2007 Blue State Chloe
Mosaic Maggie Nelson Voice
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Elaine Goodale Eastman
2008 Trick 'r Treat Laurie awaiting release
Margaret Lisa Cohen awaiting release

Awards

Won

Nominations

Awards
Academy Award
Preceded by
Marisa Tomeí
for My Cousin Vinny
Best Supporting Actress
for The Piano
1993
Succeeded by
Dianne Wiest
for Bullets over Broadway
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Preceded by
Judy Davis
for Husbands and Wives
Best Supporting Actress
for The Piano
1993
Succeeded by
Dianne Wiest
for Bullets over Broadway

References

  1. ^ a b c d Crisell, Luke. "Rogue Star", New York Magazine, 2007-05-21. Retrieved on 2007-05-21. 
  2. ^ "X Appeal", Guardian Unlimited, 2000-08-06. Retrieved on 2007-05-21. 
  3. ^ Anna Paquin Biography (1982-). filmreference.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-31.
  4. ^ "X Patriate Anna Paquin", NZHerald.co.nz, May 2003. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. 
  5. ^ a b Verhaeghe, Melanie (Summer 1994), "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", Homemakers magazine.
  6. ^ a b c Dutka, Elaine. "A Young Star is Born in the Piano", Los Angeles Times, 1994-01-11. 
  7. ^ Hobson, Louis B.. "Real-Life Acting Difficult for Paquin", Calgary Sun, 1996-09-02. 
  8. ^ Ressner, Jefferey. "I'd Like to Thanks My Dog...", Time, 1994-04-04. 
  9. ^ Lambert, Pam. "Paquicking it in", 1996-04-16. 
  10. ^ "Paquin Bites Into True Blood", scifi.com, 26 February 2007. 

External links

Persondata
NAME Paquin, Anna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 24, 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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Anna Paquin from Wíkipedia. ©2006 by Wíkipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. View a list of authors or edit this article.

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