Anna Paquin

Anna Paquin Biography

Anna Helene Paquin (born 24 July 1982) is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Born in Manitoba and brought up in Wellington, New Zealand, Paquin studied at Hutt Intermediate School and 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 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.

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 multiple films of the X-Men franchise and was nominated for a Saturn Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in the first installment.

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 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 since 2010 to actor Stephen Moyer, with whom she has two children.

Early life

Paquin was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the daughter of Mary Paquin (ne 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), whose partner is the Green Party of New Zealand's former co-leader Russel Norman. Paquin is of Dutch, French and Irish descent. Paquin's family moved to New Zealand when she was four. 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.

While in New Zealand, Paquin attended Raphael House Rudolf Steiner School in Lower Hutt until she was 9yrs old then on to 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). 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.

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. 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. 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. She later made a series of television commercials for Manitoba Telecom Systems in her birth city of Winnipeg. 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.

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

Paquin played 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.

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. 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.

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.

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. 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. An alternate version of the film with all of Paquin's scenes reinstated was released as The Rogue Cut on 14 July 2015. Paquin voiced Ramsey in Disney"?Pixar's film The Good Dinosaur. She also played Nancy Holt, the wife of a Confederate soldier, in the 2016 miniseries Roots.

In June 2016, the Human Rights Campaign released a video in tribute to the victims of the 2016 Orlando gay nightclub shooting; in the video, Paquin and others told the stories of the people killed there.

Paquin starred in the Canadian crime drama Bellevue which airs on CBC Television and can next be seen in husband Stephen Moyer's directorial debut, The Parting Glass.

Personal life

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. They married on 21 August 2010 at a private residence in Malibu, California. Paquin and Moyer have fraternal twins called Charlie and Poppy, who were born in September 2012. Through her marriage to Moyer, Paquin also has a stepson, Billy (born in 2000), and a stepdaughter, Lilac (born in 2002). The family resides in Venice, Los Angeles, California.

Philanthropy and advocacy

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. 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". The video features Anna Paquin stating, "I'm Anna Paquin. I'm bisexual, and I give a damn". 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." 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.

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.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	'	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	'	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	Voice (English dub, 1998)
2004	Steamboy	James Ray Steam (voice)
2005	'	Lili
2006	X-Men: The Last Stand	Rogue / Marie
2007	Blue State	Chloe Hamon
2007	Mosaic	Maggie	Voice
2007	Trick 'r Treat	Laurie
2010	'	Lila Hayes
2010	Open House	Jennie
2011	Scream 4	Rachel	Cameo
2011	Margaret	Lisa Cohen
2011	'	Kim	Short film
2013	Straight A's	Katherine
2013	Free Ride	Christina
2014	X-Men: Days of Future Past	Rogue / Marie	Cameo, role expanded in The Rogue Cut
2015	The Good Dinosaur	Ramsey	Voice
2019	The Irishman	Peggy Sheeran	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	'	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	'	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	Episode: "Part 4"
2017	Bellevue	Annie Ryder	Lead role; 8 episodes
2017	Alias Grace	Nancy Montgomery	Miniseries
2017	Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams	Sarah	Episode: "Real Life"

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

Year	Award	Category	Work
1994	Academy Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	The Piano
1994	Los Angeles Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	The Piano
1994	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture	The Piano
1997	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress	Fly Away Home
1997	Young Artist Award	Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Drama Film	Fly Away Home
1998	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series - Leading Young Actress	The Member of the Wedding
1999	Young Artist Award	Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Drama Film	A Walk on the Moon
2000	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actress	A Walk on the Moon
2000	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Motion Picture	Almost Famous
2001	MTV Movie Awards	Best On-Screen Team	X-Men
2001	Saturn Award	Best Performance by a Younger Actor	X-Men
2001	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture	X-Men
2003	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Chemistry (with: Shawn Ashmore)	X2
2004	MTV Movie Awards	Best Kiss (with: Shawn Ashmore)	X2
2005	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Ensemble	The Distance From Here
2007	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie	Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
2008	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture	Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
2008	Satellite Award	Best Actress - Drama Series	True Blood
2008	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries	Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
2009	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama	True Blood
2009	Satellite Award	Best Ensemble - Television Series	True Blood
2009	Saturn Award	Best Actress in Television	True Blood
2009	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Summer TV Star: Female	True Blood
2009	Scream Award	Best Horror Actress	True Blood
2010	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture	The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler
2010	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama	True Blood
2010	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Drama Actress
2010	Satellite Award	Best Actress - Drama Series	True Blood
2010	Saturn Award	Best Actress on Television	True Blood
2010	Scream Award	Best Horror Actress	True Blood
2010	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	True Blood
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Summer TV Star: Female	True Blood
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	True Blood
2010	Saturn Award	Best Actress on Television	True Blood
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	True Blood
2011	London Film Critics' Circle	London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actress of the Year (ex aequo with Meryl Streep)	Margaret
2012	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	True Blood
2016	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Supporting Actress - Movie or Miniseries	Roots