Anna Paquin Biography

Name:Anna Helene Paquin

Date of Birth:July 24, 1982

Place of Birth:Winnipeg, Manitoba,Canada

Anna Helene Paquin is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Paquin's first critically successful film was The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second youngest winner in history.Anna Paquin acting career took off almost half a decade later when she appeared in a string of successful films including Paquin's All That, Almost Famous and the X-Men franchise.

Paquin has received critical acclaim for her role as Sookie Stackhouse in the HBO series True Blood, for which she won the 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama.

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. Paquin is the youngest of three children; she has two older siblings: a brother, Andrew, a director, born in 1977, and a sister, Katya, born in 1980,who is the partner of Green party co-leader Russel Norman. Paquin's family moved to New Zealand when she was four. Anna Paquin attended the Raphael House Rudolf Steiner School until she was eight or nine. Anna Paquin musical childhood hobbies in New Zealand included playing the viola, cello and piano. Anna Paquin also participated in gymnastics, ballet, swimming and downhill skiing, though she did not have any hobbies related to acting.

While in New Zealand, Paquin attended Hutt Intermediate School from 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, where she moved with her mother following her parents' divorce in 1995. Anna Paquin graduated from Windward School in June 2000 and completed the school's community service requirement by working in an LA soup kitchen and at a special education center. Anna Paquin  studied at Columbia University for one year, but has since been on a leave of absence to continue her acting career.

Career

Child actress,It was in New Zealand in 1991 that Paquin became an actress by chance. 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 advertisement was run announcing an open audition. Paquin's sister read the ad and went to try out with a friend; Paquin herself tagged along because she had nothing better to do. 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.

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 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.

In 1996, she appeared in two movies. 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.

As a teenager, she had roles in films including A Walk on the Moon, Amistad, Hurlyburly, Anna Paquin's All That and Almost Famous.

X-Men and beyond Paquin returned to worldwide prominence with her role as the mutant superheroine Rogue in the Marvel Comics movie X-Men in 2000,its sequel X2 in 2003, and its third installment, X-Men: The Last Stand, in 2006.

Paquin in 2006 In the fall of 2006, she completed filming Blue State. Anna Paquin was the executive-producer of the film, the film having been made by Paquin Films, a production company formed by both her and her brother, Andrew Paquin. In November 2006, she completed the film Margaret.

In 2007, Paquin received an Emmy Award nomination for Supporting Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie for her role as Elaine Goodale in HBO's made-for-TV movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, based on Dee Brown's bestseller. Anna Paquin  also received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations in similar categories.

In 2008, Paquin appeared as waitress Sookie Stackhouse in the HBO series True Blood, 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, LA. Paquin won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series for her role in the show, and also won a Satellite Award in a similar category. Anna Paquin was also nominated for the same category in the 2009 Golden Globe Awards. The second season of True Blood premiered in the US in June 2009. Season three premiered in June 2010, and season 4 in June 2011.

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 biopic 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.Paquin's performance earned her a 2010 nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Film.

Paquin's film The Romantics, a romantic comedy with Josh Duhamel and Katie Holmes, was released in the US at selected theaters in September 2010.

Paquin was cast in a cameo role in Scream 4, which was released in 2011.

Anna Paquin next film is Straight A's, co-starring Ryan Phillippe, due for release in 2012.

Theatrical career Paquin made her stage debut in 2001 in a production of The Glory of Living at the MCC Theater. Anna Paquin won a 2001–2002 Theatre World Award for her performance.Anna Paquin has since appeared in a number of other plays, but only once outside the USA, when she appeared on the West End stage in London in a production of This is Our Youth in 2002.

Paquin with husband and True Blood costar Stephen Moyer, 2009 

Personal life

On August 5, 2009, it was announced that Paquin was engaged to her True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer, whom she had been dating since filming the series pilot in 2007.On August 21, 2010, Paquin and Moyer married at a private residence in Malibu, California. Through her marriage to Moyer, Paquin has a step-son, Billy, born in 2000, and a step-daughter, Lilac, born in 2002. Paquin and Moyer reside in Venice, Los Angeles.
On April 1, 2010, Paquin came out as bisexual in a public service announcement for the Give a Damn campaign as part of the True Colors Fund, an advocacy group organized by Cyndi Lauper dedicated to LGBT equality.

Filmography/Television

1993 Piano, TheThe Piano Flora McGrath Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Supporting Actress

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture 

1996 Jane Eyre Jane Eyre (Young)  

1996 Fly Away Home Amy Alden Nominated—Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress 

1997 Member of the Wedding, TheThe Member of the Wedding Frankie Addams TV movie

Nominated—Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series – Leading Young Actress 

1997 Amistad Isabela II of Spain  

1998 Hurlyburly Donna  

1999 It's the Rage Annabel Lee TV movie 

1999 Anna Paquin's All That Mackenzie Siler  

1999 Walk on the Moon, AA Walk on the Moon Alison Kantrowitz Nominated—Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress 

2000 X-Men Rogue/Marie Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress — Science Fiction

Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor

Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team (with Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman and James Marsden) 

2000 Almost Famous Polexia Aphrodisia Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 

2000 Finding Forrester Claire Spence  

2001 Buffalo Soldiers Robyn Lee  

2002 Darkness Regina  

2002 25th Hour Mary D'Annunzio  

2003 X2 Rogue/Marie Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Chemistry (with Shawn Ashmore)

Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Shawn Ashmore) 

2003 Castle in the Sky Sheeta (voice)  

2004 Steamboy James Ray Steam (voice)  

2005 Squid and the Whale, TheThe Squid and the Whale Lili Thorn Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast 

2005 Joan Of Arc Joan (voice) TV movie 

2006 X-Men: The Last Stand Rogue/Marie  

2006 Hannibal Rising Chamber Maid  

2007 Blue State Chloe Hamon  

2007 Mosaic Maggie Nelson (voice)  

2007 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Elaine Goodale Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Television Film 

2008 Trick 'r Treat Laurie  

2009 Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, TheThe Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler Irena Sendler Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film 

2010 House, OpenOpen House Jennie  

2010 Romantics, TheThe Romantics Lila  

2011 Margaret Lisa Cohen Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress 

2011 Scream 4 Rachel Cameo appearance 

2011 The Carrier Kim Short 

2012 Free Ride Christina Filming 

2012 Straight A's Katherine Filming 

Year Title Role Notes 

Television 2008–

present True Blood Sookie Stackhouse Series Lead

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama (2008)

People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Drama Actress (2010)

Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama (2008)

Satellite Award for Best Cast – Television Series (2009)

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama (2009)

Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama (2010)

Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television (2009)

Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television (2010)

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2009) 

2011 Phineas and Ferb Kristin Episode: The Curse of Candace 

Theatre creditsThe Glory of Living; MCC Theater, New York, 2001 – Lisa (Won Theatre World Award (Outstanding Actress) in 2002 for the role) 

This is Our Youth; Garrick Theatre, London, 2002 – Jessica Goldman (nominated for Drama Desk Award (Outstanding Actress) for the role) 

Manuscript (Reading); Falmouth Academy, New York, 2003 – Elizabeth Hawkins 

Drug Buddy (Reading); Manhattan Theater Club, 2003 – Wendy 

Roulette; Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York, 2004 – Jenny 

The Distance From Here; MCC Theater, New York, 2004 – Shari (Won Drama Desk Award (Outstanding Cast Ensemble) in 2004) 

The 24 Hour Plays, South Of The Border; MCC Theater, 2004 – Maylene 

After Ashley; Vineyard Theatre, New York, 2005 – Julie Bell 

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead; (Reading); Westside Theatre, New York, 2005 – Marcy 

The 24 Hour Plays, The Blizzard; MCC Theater, 2006 – Jenny