Born Anna Helene Paquin in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on July 24th, 1982, Anna was the third and youngest child to parents Brian and Mary Paquin. At the young age of 4, Anna’s family moved to Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Having only played a skunk in a school play at 7, she tagged along with her sister, Katya to an open casting call for The Piano in New Zealand and won the role of Flora McGrath at 9. The role would earn her Golden Globe, LAFCA and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. On March 21st, 1994 at the age of 11, she surprised the world (and herself) when she became the second youngest winner of an Academy Award. Unsure about a career in film, besides a commercial filmed for MCI, Anna would not be on screen again until 1996 when she played Young Jane Eyre in Franco Zeffirelli’s version of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and starred in the family drama Fly Away Home as Amy Alden. Anna’s parents divorced during the filming of Fly Away Home, which Anna has referred to as the unhappiest moment of her life. The next year, she had a minor role in Amistad as Queen Isabella II of Spain and cut off her hair for the role of Frankie in the TV movie The Member of The Wedding.

At 15, Anna moved to Los Angeles with her mother to further pursue a career in acting. That same year, she would take her first adult role as Donna in the film adaptation of Hurlyburly with Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey. She then went on to play roles in the acclaimed A Walk On The Moon, the independent film All The Rage (also referred to as It’s The Rage), and the teen comedy She’s All That in 1999. She also voiced Sheeta in Disney’s English dub of Castle in The Sky, which would not see DVD release until 2003. While finishing her last year of high school at Windward School in Los Angeles, she starred in Almost Famous, Finding Forrester and X-Men. Aside from her Oscar-winning role in The Piano, X-Men became the role Anna would be most known for around the world starring as the film adaptation of beloved comic character Rogue. After graduating in 2000, she moved to New York City to begin college at Columbia University. She completed a year and is currently deferred.

Next, she co-starred with Joaquin Phoenix in the indie Buffalo Soldiers in 2001. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival just three days before the tragic events of 9/11 which delayed release of the film in the United States until 2003. She also filmed Darkness that year which was slowly released around the world between 2002 and 2004. Towards the end of 2001, Anna would make her New York stage debut as Lisa in the off-Broadway play The Glory of Living directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, which earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the Drama Desk Awards. She has referred to Hoffman as one of the Gods of her universe for “beating into submission every last little bad habit I had as an actor”. A few months later in 2002, she would make her second appearance on stage, only this time in London where she starred with Jake Gyllenhaal and Hayden Christensen in This Is Our Youth as Jessica. After returning to New York to take a short break before going to shoot X2 in Vancouver, Anna was offered the role of Mary D’Annunzio in Spike Lee’s 25th Hour. She jumped at the chance to work with Spike Lee and even pierced her navel for the role. In 2003, Anna returned to the big screen reprising Rogue in X-Men’s sequel X2: X-Men United.

In 2004, she returned to the off-Broadway stage not once but twice, first starring in Roulette and shortly after that The Distance From Here. That same year, she voiced the male character James Ray Steam in the English dub of Steamboy and participated in the 24 Hour Plays on Broadway. Next up was After Ashley in 2005 where she starred opposite Kieran Culkin as Julie Bell. The independent film The Squid and The Whale, that was filmed in the summer of 2004 also saw limited release in New York and Los Angeles in 2005. She filmed her starring role in Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret during her break from filming the third X-Men later that year. Lonergan wrote the main role in Margaret with Anna in mind to play the lead role of Lisa, and the film has got people wondering if there’s a second Oscar nomination in Anna’s future, but the film, which was supposed to be out in fall 2006 and then 2007 has since been delayed again until 2008.

Along with the release of X-Men The Last Stand in 2006, Anna decided to give producing a shot. She formed the production company Paquin Films with her brother, Andrew. The company’s first film is Blue State, a comedy starring Breckin Meyer and Anna, was filmed in Winnipeg in April 2006. The film made it’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2007, and hit other film festivals through 2007 as well before skipping a theatrical release and hitting DVD in February 2008. In October 2006, Anna participated in the 24 Hour Plays on Broadway again alongside Kieran Culkin, Gaby Hoffmann and others. In late 2006, Anna completed the HBO film Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee in the role of Elaine Goodale Eastman with Aidan Quinn and Adam Beach, the film made it’s premiere on HBO in May 2007. The role would lead to a Golden Globe, SAG and Emmy nomination. She also finished Trick ‘R Treat in late 2006 as Laurie with Brian Cox and Dylan Baker, the film was originally set for release October 5th, 2007, and after a push back to an undetermined date in 2008, Warner Brothers decided to drop distribution of the film in April 2008.

In late February 2007, it was announced that Anna will make her debut into television series starring as Sookie Stackhouse in HBO’s “True Blood”. The pilot filmed in June 2007 and HBO picked up the series in August 2007. Filming began for the series in late September but was halted in November after the WGA strike began, it resumed in March 2008 when the WGA strike ended in February, the first season completed filming in July 2008. “True Blood” will premiere on HBO at 9pm starting September 7th, 2008.

Written by Crystal for Anna Paquin Online. Last updated 8/15/08.