Anna Paquin
Anna Hélène Paquin ( ; born 24 July 1982) is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. She made her acting debut portraying Flora McGrath in the romantic drama film "The Piano" (1993), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 11, making her the second-youngest winner in Oscar history. She was 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 a nomination for the 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 also appeared in the films "Jane Eyre" (1996) and "Amistad" (1997). Paquin continued to perform prominent roles into adulthood, portraying mutant superheroine Rogue in the "X-Men" franchise (2000–2014), for which she was nominated for a Saturn Award for her performance in the first installment. Her other film credits include "25th Hour" (2002), "Trick 'r Treat" (2007), "Margaret" (2011), "The Good Dinosaur" (2015), and "The Irishman" (2019). She played 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 was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her work on the television film "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" (2007). She received an additional Golden Globe Award nomination for her  work on the television film "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler" (2009). 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 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 9 years old, then 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 in 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, where she lived in Carman Hall, but dropped out to continue her acting career. Career. 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 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 to pursue acting. However, she was invited to the William Morris Agency, and she kept receiving offers for new roles. She systematically rejected 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 audiobook 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 other films, including "A Walk on the Moon", "Finding Forrester", "Amistad", "Hurlyburly", "She's All That" and "Almost Famous" as well as the English dub of "Castle in the Sky". Paquin played the mutant superhero Rogue in the Marvel Comics movie "X -Men" in 2000, its sequel "X2" in 2003, and its third installment, "", 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 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, garnering a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. 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. The series saw Paquin doing nude scenes for the first time. 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 "", but most of her scenes were cut out for the theatrical release. An alternative version of the film with all of Paquin's scenes reinstated was released as "" 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 Orlando nightclub shooting; in the video, Paquin and others told the stories of the  people killed there. Later in 2017 Paquin starred in television series "Bellevue", also being the executive producer, and acted as Nancy Montgomery in television miniserie "Alias Grace." In 2018 she acted in husband Stephen Moyer's directorial debut, "The Parting Glass", and in Laurie Collyer's comedy-drama film "Furlough." In 2019, Paquin appeared in Martin Scorsese's critically-acclaimed drama, "The Irishman". That year she also produced and starred as Robyn in television series "Flack" and appeared in the television series "The Affair." In 2021 she portrayed the wife of Kurt Warner in the biographical Christian sports film, "American  Underdog". Paquin will star in "A Friend of the Family" for Peacock. 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 gave birth to fraternal twins, Charlie and Poppy, on September 12, 2012, and through her marriage to Moyer, she 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 Colors Fund, an advocacy group organised by Cyndi Lauper dedicated to LGBT equality. The True Colors 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. In 2014, she described herself on Twitter as "Proud to be a happily married bisexual mother". 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.