Anna Paquin

Anna Helene Paquin, born July 24, 1982) 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. Her acting career took off almost half a decade later when she appeared in a string of successful films including She'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: brother Andrew a director, born in 1977, and sister Katya, born in 1980. Paquin's family moved to New Zealand when she was four. She attended the Raphael House Rudolf Steiner School until she was eight or nine. 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 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.

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. The Piano was made as a small independent movie 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 (now Verizon) in 1994.She also appeared as a voice in an audio book entitled The Magnificent Nose in 1994.

Theatrical career

Paquin with husband and fellow True Blood cast member Stephen Moyer, 2009

Paquin made her stage debut in 2001 in a production of The Glory of Living at the MCC Theater. She won a 2001–2002 Theatre World Award for her performance. She 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.

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

Feature films

Year Film Role Notes

1993 The Piano Flora McGrath Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

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 The 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 

1998 Castle in the Sky Sheeta (voice) 

1999 It's the Rage Annabel Lee TV movie

1999 She's All That Mackenzie Siler 

1999 A 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)

2004 Steamboy James Ray Steam (voice) 

2005 The 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 The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler Irena Sendler Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film

2010 Open House Jennie 

2010 The Romantics Lila 

2011 Margaret Lisa Cohen 

2011 Scream 4 Rachel Cameo appearance