Anna Paquin Biography

NAME: Anna Helene Paquin

OCCUPATION: Film Actress, Television Actress

BIRTH DATE: July 24, 1982 (Age: 29)

EDUCATION: Wellington Girls' College, Windward School, Los Angeles, Columbia University

PLACE OF BIRTH: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Actress. Born Anna Helene Paquin on July 24, 1982, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the youngest of three children. The daughter of educators, Paquin was studious and academically minded, showing an early interest in sports and music (she played cello and piano). In 1986, Paquin relocated to her parents' native country of New Zealand with her family, and led a typical middle-class childhood. But life changed for Anna at the age of 11, when she attended a movie audition with her older sister, Kate. Anna, whose only acting experience came from a performance as a skunk in a school play, went with her sister to the audition on a whim. The director was immediately taken with Anna, and selected her for a co-starring role in the art house film The Piano, also starring Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel.

In 2001, Anna became a citizen of New Zealand officially. Her more recent movie roles include parts in Rogue, X-Men and X2. Anna made her debut on the stage in 2001 in the production of The Glory of Living. For her performance in this play, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and won a Theatre World Award. In 2002, Anna appeared in the West End (London) production of This is Our Youth.

It was unclear which fact was more extraordinary about Anna Paquin - that she won an Academy Award at age 11 for her performance in "The Piano" (1993), or after her win, that she had no plans to continue acting. Movieg rs were thankful for her later change of heart, as the Canadian actress continued to give thoughtful, complex and occasionally seductive turns as an adult in a wide variety of projects ranging from big-budget blockbusters like the "X-Men" franchise to independent fare like Noah Bambauch's "The Squid and the Whale" (2005). But it was her foray onto the small screen that allowed for her most compelling performances, particularly as a 19th-century schoolteacher who campaigns for Native American rights in the Emmy-winning miniseries, "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" (HBO, 2007), for which she received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Paquin also shined in her first regular series television role, playing barmaid and telepath Sookie Stackhouse on Alan Ball's acclaimed "True Blood" (HBO, 2008- ), which only added to an already impressive career for the young actress.