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| Anna Paquin |
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"Honestly, if you're trying to get past a bouncer, distract them with how cute your puppy is and they won't ask any questions."
| Date of Birth: July 24, 1982 |
| Birthplace: Manitoba, Canada |
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| Anna Paquin became instantly famous when she won an Oscar at the age of 11 for her performance in The Piano (1993). Although she continued to act in small yet prestigious roles as she grew up and finished school, she is best known these days for playing Rogue in the popular X-Men movies. |
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| We've long been admirers of Anna Paquin's prodigious, inborn talent. Now that she's made the successful transition from child star to elegant young woman, we have a whole new set of reasons to be enamored by Anna. |
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Anna Helene Paquin was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on July 24, 1982. Both of Anna's parents are educators; her Canadian father, Brian, is a phys-ed teacher, while her New Zealand-born mother, Mary, teaches English. Anna has two older siblings: brother Andrew, born in 1977, and sister Katya, born in 1980. When Anna was 4 years old, the Paquins moved to New Zealand, although they still returned regularly to visit the Canadian side of the family.
It was in New Zealand in the early 1990s that Anna became an actress by a remarkable fluke. Director Jane Campion was looking for a little girl to play a key role in The Piano, set to film in New Zealand, and a newspaper ad was run announcing an open audition. Anna's sister read the ad and went to try out with a friend; Anna tagged along because she had nothing better to do. When Campion met Anna -- whose only acting experience had been as a skunk in a school play -- she was blown away. The director later recalled: "It is rare to find someone so young with such an instinct for performance."
Anna was cast to play the role of Flora McGrath, the young daughter of a Scottish mail-order bride -- played by Holly Hunter -- who was sent to New Zealand to be married. Then 10-year-old Anna had the most dialogue in the film since her character served as her mute mother's interpreter. Ironically, the film's violence and nudity earned it an R rating, so Anna couldn't even watch it in its entirety when it was released.
But the critics certainly watched the whole thing and were bowled over by Anna's fiercely nuanced performance. The Film Critics Circle of Australia named her Best Supporting Actress, as did the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. However, the greatest acclaim came when Anna was awarded the 1993 Best Supporting Actress Oscar, becoming the second-youngest person to win an Academy Award (Anna was only a few months older than the record-holder, Tatum O'Neal, had been when she won).
In 1995, Anna's parents divorced and Anna moved in with her mother. She continued acting while attending an all-girls school in New Zealand, starring in the uplifting Fly Away Home (1996) and appearing as the young Jane in Jane Eyre (1996). Before long, Anna moved to Los Angeles to pursue a more active career.
During her teen years, she had notable roles in such films as Amistad (1997), Hurlyburly (1998), A Walk on the Moon (1999), All the Rage (1999), Almost Famous (2000), and Finding Forrester (2000). In the summer of 2000, she played Rogue in the much-anticipated X-Men movie, and would later appear in its 2003 and 2006 sequels.
Anna toned down her burgeoning film career in the fall of 2000, when she began attending Columbia University, majoring in English. During her school days, Anna's film output slowed: She appeared only in Buffalo Soldiers (2001), 25th Hour (2002) and X-Men 2 (2003). However, she branched out into theater, performing onstage in The Glory of Living, This is Our Youth, and Roulette.
In 2004, Anna shared a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble Performance in the play The Distance From Here, and she was also a presenter at the Tony Awards. In the following years, Anna returned to film in The Squid and the Whale (2005), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and Blue State (2007). |
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© Dimitrios Kambouris
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