Name: Anna Paquin

Birth Name: Anna Helene Paquin

Birthdate: July 24, 1982

Birthplace: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Anna Paquin was just an unknown kid when she was picked to play the angry younger daughter to Holly Hunter's mute, depressed bridegroom in The Piano. Her strong performance shocked audiences and impressed the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which handed the then 11-year-old the Best Supporting Actress trophy. To her credit, Anna has managed to avoid the typical pitfalls of child stardom. She's worked steadily post-Piano, starring as the young Jane Eyre in the 1993 biopic of the same name, and later earning her teen-star cred in films like Hurlyburly and She's All That. Anna developed a gift for portraying troubled teens, which she put to use in one of the biggest franchises ever: X-Men. Paquin played Rogue, the mutant whose touch can kill, in all three X-Men films.


1. Before landing her eventual Oscar-winning role in The Piano, Anna's only acting experience was playing a skunk in a school play.
2. She played the daughter of Jeff Daniels in Fly Away Home and then his romantic partner in The Squid and the Whale nine years later.
3. Paquin employs two agents (one in New Zealand, one in the U.S.) but she decides every project herself.
4. Like so many young celebs these days, Anna is a vegetarian.
5. She keeps her Oscar in her bedroom closet so her friends won't see it and feel the need to comment on it.


On her career: "None of the characters I've played are really like me. That would be boring. It wouldn't be acting."

2004: Academy Award: Best Supporting Actress, The Piano; Golden Globe nomination: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Motion Picture), The Piano

 

FILMS

X-Men: The Last Stand - (2006) - Actor
The Squid and the Whale (Special Edition)/Adaptation - (2006) - Actor
Steamboy - (2005) - Voice
The Squid and the Whale - (2005) - Actor
X2: X-Men United - (2003) - Actor
Buffalo Soldiers - (2003) - Actor
Darkness - (2003) - Actor
25th Hour - (2002) - Actor
X-Men - (2000) - Actor
Almost Famous - (2000) - Actor
Finding Forrester - (2000) - Actor
Fly Away Home/The Adventures Of Milo And Otis - (1999) - Actor
It's the Rage - (1999) - Actor
Hurlyburly - (1998) - Actor
A Walk on the Moon - (1998) - Actor
She's All That - (1998) - Actor
Amistad - (1997) - Actor
Jane Eyre - (1996) - Actor
Fly Away Home - (1996) - Actor
Member of the Wedding - (1996) - Actor
The Piano - (1993) - Actor
Castle in the Sky - (1986) - Voice