Anna Paquin Movies
An Oscar winner at the age of eleven for her performance in The Piano, Anna Paquin was the first New Zealander to receive the Best Supporting Actress honor and one of the youngest Oscar winners ever. Born July 24, 1982 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Paquin was raised in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. After making her stage bow at the age of seven as a skunk in a school production, she decided to audition for the part of Holly Hunter's precocious daughter in Jane Campion's The Piano. One of 5000 applicants, Paquin--whose previous work was limited to TV commercials--won the role, and with both the success of the 1993 film and her Oscar win, entered the realm of international fame. Aside from a series of TV ads for a computer company, Paquin retreated from the limelight until 1996, when she emerged, now a teenager, in the acclaimed family drama Fly Away Home. That same year, she could be seen playing a younger version of the title character in Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of Jane Eyre.After playing Queen Isabella in Steven Spielberg's Amistad (1997), Paquin assumed her first adult role, portraying a teenage runaway presented as a "care package" to two Hollywood bottom feeders in Hurlyburly (1998). The following year, she stepped back into more wholesome coming-of-age territory, playing Diane Lane's daughter in the critically acclaimed A Walk on the Moon and taking advantage of the current teensploitation wave with a small role in the popular high school comedy She's All That. That same year, she appeared in the star-studded ensemble drama All the Rage, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.
By 1999, Paquin was ready to reach a larger audience as an adult actress, and she found the perfect vehicle for this with the role of teenaged mutant Rogue in the movie big-budget comic book adaptation X-Men. She would reprise the role for the movie's sequels in 2003 and 2006, while also making modest, critically acclaimed appearances in movies like 25th Hour and The Squid and the Whale. Then in 2008, Paquin landed the part of telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse in the sexy vampire series True Blood on HBO. Based on a series of mystery novels, fans at first balked at the Kiwi actress's ability to embody the thoroughly Southern character, but Paquin won over old and new fans alike, pushing the series to become a massive success. Additionally, Paquin would find personal fulfillment on the set of True Blood as well, as she and co-star Stephen Moyer would strike up a romance and eventually get married in 2010. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret stars Anna Paquin stars as Lisa, an emotionally immature, overly-articulate 17-year-old Manhattanite with an emotionally carnivorous actress for a mother and a distant businessman father who lives on the West Coast with his new, younger wife. One day, while trolling the upper west side for a cowboy hat, she spots a bus driver (Mark Ruffalo) sporting the perfect ten-gallon headwear. She tries to get his attention, and, while distracted, he causes a fatal accident.
After the bus driver is found to be faultless, due in part to Lisa's initial statement to the police, she seeks out the victim's best friend (Jeannie Berlin) and together they find a lawyer willing to bring a case against the bus company as well as the driver. Meanwhile, she's still dealing with all the regular stress in her life including a nice guy with a crush on her, a jerk who she calls when she's ready to lose her virginity, her mother picking fights with her so that she can get emotionally worked up enough to be marvelous on stage, hating her father's new wife, and verbally destroying any classmate who express the slightest bit of empathy for Muslims (Lisa is still full of righteous anger 5 years after 9/11).
Margaret was the subject of much turmoil during a lengthy post-production period in which the director attempted to get a longer cut of the film released to theaters. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, (more)
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) comes face to face with her greatest fear after returning home to Woodsboro and getting caught in the center of another bloodbath in this sequel from director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson. Touring the country in promotion of her new self-help book, Sidney arrives in Woodsboro and quickly reconnects with her old friend Sheriff Dewey (David Arquette), who has recently gotten married to Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). Though a much-welcomed family reunion with her aunt Kate (Mary McDonnell) and cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) goes a long way in helping Sidney lay her tragic past to rest, old fears come back with a vengeance when Ghostface reappears on a murderous mission to make up for lost time. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, (more)
Wedding bells are bringing together a group of old friends as well as reawakening some old rivalries in this comedy drama. Lila Hayes (Anna Paquin) and Tom McDevon (Josh Duhamel) first met when they were attending the same Ivy League college, and they became part of a circle of close friends who called themselves The Romantics. Six years after graduating, Lila and Tom are getting married, and their friends are seeing each other for the first time in years as they come together for the wedding. Laura Rosen (Katie Holmes), Lila's college roommate, has been invited to be the maid of honor, but while they're close friends, Laura has a secret -- she had a fling with Tom while he was dating Lila and she knows they still have feelings for one another. As the wedding day arrives, the occasion (and an open bar) brings some old skeletons out of the closet, especially as Lila's brother, Chip (Elijah Wood), confesses his attraction to Laura. Also starring Candice Bergen and Malin Akerman, The Romantics was written and directed by Galt Niederhoffer, who adapted the screenplay from her own novel; the film received its world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel, (more)
A woman trying to move on with her life is thrown into a potentially deadly situation in this independent thriller. Alice (Rachel Blanchard) has just broken up with her husband and has decided to sell the house they shared. Alice has been showing her home to prospective buyers when a strange couple sneaks into the house, David (Brian Geraghty) and Lila (Tricia Helfer). David and Lila are psychotic murderers who promptly kill a friend who was visiting Alice; Lila orders David to murder Alice as well, but for some reason he hesitates and instead locks her in a crawlspace in the basement. Over the next several days, David and Lily engage in kinky sex and pretend to live a life of bourgeois domesticity while slaughtering anyone who makes the mistake of stopping by the house; Alice, meanwhile, hears what's happening from her hiding place and begins to understand the strange bond between her captors and David's interest in her. Open House was the first feature film from director Andrew Paquin; his sister, Anna Paquin, appears in a supporting role, as does her True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brian Geraghty, Rachel Blanchard, (more)
Prolific director Bryan Singer takes a turn towards horror as the producer of this Halloween shocker directed by X2 and Superman Returns screenwriter Mike Dougherty. With four interwoven tales concerning a high-school principal who moonlights as a vicious serial killer, a college-age virgin who's saving herself for that special someone, a woman whose hatred of Halloween is only exceeded by her husband's love of the mischievous holiday, and a callous group of teens who carry out an unforgivably cruel prank, this fall frightener mixes Tarantino-style storytelling with the kind of chills that can only occur on the darkest day of the year. Brian Cox, Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, and Leslie Bibb all star in a Halloween treat that's sure to deliver a few nasty tricks. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brian Cox, Anna Paquin, (more)
True Blood chronicles the backwoods Louisiana town of Bon Temps...where vampires have emerged from the coffin, and no longer need humans for their fix. Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) works as a waitress at the rural bar Merlotte's. Though outwardly a typical young woman, she keeps a dangerous secret: she has the ability to hear the thoughts of others. Her situation is further complicated when the bar gets its first vampire patron -- 173-year old Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) -- and the two outsiders are immediately drawn to each other. Delivering the best of what audiences have come to expect from creator and executive producer Alan Ball (American Beauty, Six Feet Under), True Blood is a dark and sexy tale that boldly delves into the heart -- and the neck -- of the Deep South.
- Starring:
- Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, (more)
Director Yves Simoneau explores the plight of the American Indian in the later half of the 19th century in this docudrama exploring the effects of westward expansion and based on the book by Dee Brown. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Aidan Quinn, Adam Beach, (more)
A disillusioned leftist pulls up stakes for the Great White North in this independent comedy-drama. It's 2004, and John Logue (Breckin Meyer) is a political activist working for the Democratic presidential campaign in Ohio. After a few drinks too many, John is interviewed on camera by a local broadcast journalist, and he announces that if George W. Bush is re-elected, he'll leave the country and move to Canada. A few days later, Bush narrowly defeats John Kerry, and John falls into a deep depression. After returning home to San Francisco, John ponders his alcohol-fueled pledge, and learns that a handful of leftists north of the border have formed a group called "Marry A Canadian," which provides contact with sympathetic singles willing to wed American expatriates hoping to escape the Bush regime and gain Canadian citizenship. John decides to give "Marry A Canadian" a try, and places a classified to find someone willing to split gas and keep him company as he heads for Vancouver. An attractive young woman named Chloe (Anna Paquin) contacts John and agrees to travel with him, but once they're on the road, he learns that politics are not Chloe's primary reason for leaving the States. Blue State received its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Breckin Meyer, Anna Paquin, (more)
The fantasy adventure film Stan Lee Presents: Mosaic tells the tale of Maggie Nelson, an average teenage girl who one day discovers she has superpowers. Around the same time, she befriends a mentor, who informs her of her role in helping bring peace to factions that have been at war for hundreds of years. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anna Paquin, Kirby Morrow, (more)
The explosive X-Men motion picture trilogy officially draws to a close with this release that finds Rush Hour director Brett Ratner stepping in for Bryan Singer to tell the tale of a newly discovered mutant "cure," and the polarizing effect it has on mutant/man relations. With the pressure on mutants to give up their powers and pledge alliance with the human race reaching a critical turning point, Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) urges tolerance and understanding as his nemesis Magneto (Ian McKellen) gathers a powerful resistance in preparation for the ultimate war against humankind. Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, and James Marsden return to reprise the roles they played in the previous two X-Men films, with Kelsey Grammer and Vinnie Jones joining the cast as Beast and Juggernaut respectively. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, (more)
Two boys learn the hard way about how a marriage falls apart in this independent comedy drama. Bernard (Jeff Daniels) is a novelist whose career has gone into a slow decline as he spends more time teaching and less time writing. His wife, Joan (Laura Linney), meanwhile, has recently begun publishing her own work to widespread acclaim, which only increases the growing tension between them. One day, Bernard and Joan's two sons -- 16-year-old Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and 12-year-old Frank (Owen Kline) -- are told that their parents are separating, with Bernard renting a house on the other side of their Park Slope, Brooklyn, neighborhood. As the parents set up a schedule for spending time with their children, Walt and Jesse can hardly imagine that things could get more combative between their folks, but they do, as Joan begins dating Ivan (William Baldwin), Frank's tennis instructor, and Bernard starts sharing the house with Lili (Anna Paquin), one of his students. Meanwhile, the two boys begin taking sides in the battle between their parents, with Walt taking after his father and Frank siding with his mom. Based on writer/director Noah Baumbach's own childhood experiences with his parents' divorce, The Squid and the Whale won prizes for writing and direction at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, (more)
- 2005
- Add Joan of Arc: Child of War, Soldier of God to Queue Add Joan of Arc: Child of War, Soldier of God to top of Queue
Joan of Arc: Child of War, Soldier of God offers a look at the short but influential life of the girl who claimed to hear the voice of God, and led troops into battle based on what she was told. Narrated by Alfred Molina, the film features Academy Award winner Anna Paquin providing the voice of Joan. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
Katsuhiro Otomo, director of the groundbreaking anime feature Akira (1988), returns with this visually striking fusion of the past and the future. It's the Industrial Age in England, reimagined, and various and sundry inventors and scientists are arriving in Britain to hawk their products while capitalism rears its ugly head. A gadget-happy British lad named Ray (voice of Anna Paquin) receives a mysterious package from his grandfather Lloyd Steam (Patrick Stewart) -- a tiny ball that turns out to be an engine toting immense power. As it happens, several of these little balls run the O'Hara pavilion, a massive, mobile fortress. Ray later discovers that his dad and grandfather are located inside of the pavilion; his dad, Eddie, has become mesmerized by O'Hara and subject to their whims, while Lloyd suspects that O'Hara may want to use the balls for nefarious purposes, and tries to put a definitive end to those plans. Indeed, the O'Hara people soon take over the Great Exhibition and turn it into a veritable circus for weapons dealers. Meanwhile, Ray starts to develop feelings for a young girl named Scarlett O'Hara. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anne Suzuki, Manami Konishi, (more)
When a failed assassination attempt occurs on the President's (Cotter Smith) life by the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), it's Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his School for Gifted Youngsters who are targeted for the crime. While Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Storm (Halle Berry) try and locate the assassin, Cyclops (James Marsden) and Xavier (also known as 'Professor X') seek answers from their old foe Magneto (Ian McKellan) in his glass cell...Little do they know they're walking into a trap set by the villainous William Stryker (Brian Cox), a mysterious governmental figure that figures into Wolverine's (Hugh Jackman) secretive past, along with information about the X-Men's operation, supplied by Magneto through a mind-controlling agent. Meanwhile Wolverine, just home from a failed mission to regain his memory, is in charge of the students when a crack-commando team led by Stryker infiltrates the school by order of the President. With a mansion full of young, powerful mutants and the ferocious Wolverine in babysitter mode, can he defend the school against the one man who can answer his questions? What roles do the sinister Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) and Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) have in all of this? Why does Stryker want Professor X and his Cerebro machine? With the war between humanity and mutants escalating to extremes, can the rest of the X-Men trust their old foes to help them? Director Bryan Singer returns and raises the stakes in this sequel to the highly lauded 2000 adaptation of Marvel Comics' X-Men. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, (more)
Directed by Jaume Balagueró, Darkness follows father and husband Mark (Iain Glen), his wife (Lena Olin), and their two children (Anna Paquin and Stephan Enquist) on their move to an outwardly quaint country home. Though the initial housewarming party is widely celebrated by neighbors, their houseguests become steadily fewer as a series of creepy happenings indicate that the house is home to more than their family. Sure enough, the lights begin to flicker incessantly on and off, while Mark's Huntington's disease makes a comeback after a ten-year dormancy. Regina (Paquin) expects that the problem stems from the house itself, but no one believes her. Determined to prove her case (particularly after mysterious noose marks begin to appear on her brother's neck), Regina decides to pay a visit to the man (Fermi Rexach) who built the house to begin with. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, (more)
A man has one day to put his life in order before a long stretch in prison in this drama directed by Spike Lee. Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) is a man who came from a working class family in New York. Monty's best friends Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Slaughtery (Barry Pepper) went on to distinguished careers as, respectively, a high school teacher and a bonds trader, but Monty took a different path and began dealing drugs. While Monty's trade has made him plenty of money, it hasn't brought him much respect from his family and friends, and while Jacob and Slaughtery have stayed in touch, Monty's lifestyle has led them to keep their distance. One night, Monty is relaxing at home with his girlfriend Naturelle (Rosario Dawson) when the police show up; Monty is arrested, and after a trial he's sentenced to seven years in prison. On his last day of freedom before he goes to jail, Monty tries to make amends with his father (Brian Cox) and goes out on the town with Jacob and Slaughtery. With both of his friends facing emotional crises of their own, Monty finds himself wondering where his life took a wrong turn and if there's any way left to redeem himself. Along the way, Monty begins to suspect that Naturelle may have turned him in, and he has to deal with Kostya Novotny (Tony Siragusa), an ill-tempered drug supplier who has unfinished business with him. 25th Hour was scripted by David Benioff, who adapted the story from his novel of the same name. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, (more)
Australian director Gregor Jordan makes his sophomore effort with this tale about crooked U.S. soldiers based in Germany during the waning days of the cold war. Special Fourth Class soldier Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix) guards against the Soviets while on duty, and rips off the U.S. military while off duty. Handsome, calculating, and thoroughly amoral, Elwood runs a profitable black-market business that operates just below the official radar. He and his associates make drugs to sell to his fellow GIs; steal Army supplies, selling them to a German connection; and a host of other dirty deeds. One day, he and his gang uncover some loot that will land them some real money -- high-tech military weaponry. As they try to quietly offload the stuff, the new sergeant, Robert K. Lee (Scott Glenn), catches on to Elwood's nefarious deeds and sets out to put him out of businesses. Elwood, in turn, catches on to the fact that Lee has a very attractive daughter (Anna Paquin) and sets out to bed her. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joaquin Phoenix, Anna Paquin, (more)
Writer and director Cameron Crowe's experiences as a teenage rock journalist -- he was a regular contributor to Rolling Stone while still in high school -- inspired this coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old boy hitting the road with an up-and-coming rock band in the early 1970s. Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand) is a bright, loving, but strict single parent whose distrust of rock music and fears about drug use have helped to drive a wedge between herself and her two children, Anita (Zooey Deschanel) and William (Patrick Fugit). Anita rebels by dropping out of school and becoming a stewardess, but William makes something of his love of rock & roll by writing album reviews for a local underground newspaper. William's work attracts the attention of Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), editor of renegade rock magazine Creem, who takes William under his wing and gives him his first professional writing assignment -- covering a Black Sabbath concert. While William is unable to score an interview with the headliners, the opening act, Stillwater, are more than happy to chat with a reporter, even if he's still too young to drive, and William's piece on the group in Creem gains him a new admirer in Ben Fong-Torres (Terry Chen), an editor at Rolling Stone. Torres offers William an assignment for a 3,000-word cover story on Stillwater, and over the objections of his mother (whose parting words are "Don't use drugs!"), and after some stern advice from Bangs (who says under no circumstances should he become friends with a band he's covering), Williams joins Stillwater on tour, where he becomes friendly with guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee). William also becomes enamored of Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), a groupie traveling with the band who is no older than William, but is deeply involved with Russell. Lester Bangs and Ben Fong-Torres, incidentally, were real-life rock writers Crowe worked with closely during his days as a journalist. Almost Famous' original score was composed by Nancy Wilson of Heart (who is also Crowe's wife).
~ Mark Deming, Rovi
~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, (more)
- 2000
- PG13
- Add X-Men to Queue Add X-Men to top of Queue
One of the most popular superhero teams in comic book history finally comes to the screen in this big-budget adaptation of the long-running Marvel Comics series. Psychic Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) leads a school of skilled mutants called X-Men, a peacekeeping force to safeguard the world against a race of genetically mutated humans known as Homo Sapiens Superior. However, Magneto (Ian McKellen), a mutant with a powerful magnetic charge, has also begun to organize a team to strike first against what he believes to be a threat from humanity. When he kidnaps Rogue (Anna Paquin) from the X-Men's compound, Xavier and his forces must rescue her, even as they continue to vie with Magneto for the fearsomely strong mutant battler Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Both Xavier and Magneto also have to contend with Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison), a heartless political leader who wants a final solution against mutants on both sides. Fighting for the forces of virtue with the X-Men are Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, Halle Berry as Storm, and James Marsden as Cyclops; Rebecca Romjin-Stamos as Mystique, Ray Park as the Toad, and Tyler Mane as Sabretooth are the minions of Magneto. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, (more)
In the spirit of his Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting, Gus Van Sant directs this tale of the unlikely bond that develops between an aging, reclusive novelist named Forrester (Sean Connery) -- who hasn't written anything since winning a Pulitzer Prize decades earlier -- and Jamal (Rob Brown), a 16-year-old with a hidden desire to be a writer. When Jamal is cited for his athleticism in basketball by an elite Manhattan prep school, he is forced to adapt to an environment far from his South Bronx upbringing, and a small mishap leads him to the eccentric, uneasy Forrester. After their initial apprehension of each other, they begin to fuel each other's fire for writing, and become unlikely friends despite their ages and backgrounds. Forrester's devotion to Jamal becomes enhanced when he must defend allegations of plagiarism enforced by Professor Crawford (F. Murray Abraham), jeopardizing Jamal's future. The film also features Anna Paquin, Busta Rhymes, and Zane Copeland, Jr.. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Rob Brown, (more)
Director James D. Stern debuts with this darkly comedic, archly ironic look at America's obsession with guns. The film opens with Helen and Warren Harding (Joan Allen and Jeff Daniels) awaking one night to the sounds of their suburban trophy getting broken into. Warren grabs his trusty handgun and blows away the intruder, only to complain about the blood spots on his newly purchased bathrobe from Sundance. The unlucky guy turns out to be Warren's business partner, and it does not take long for him to wonder out loud if his wife and the dead man were having an affair. Meanwhile, Warren's lawyer Tim (Andre Braugher), whose civil-rights leading father was gunned down when he was a boy, receives a handsome gun from his film fanatic boyfriend Chris (David Schwimmer). Others involved include the young nymphet Annabel Lee (Anna Paquin) and her thuggishly violent brother Sidney (Giovanni Ribisi); Mr. Morgan (Gary Sinise), an eccentric and extremely paranoid Internet tycoon; and Tennel (Josh Brolin), a video store manager turned poet. All of these characters have their own personal axes to grind and all have easy access to guns. The result is as violent as it is senseless. All the Rage was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joan Allen, Andre Braugher, (more)
If Hollywood can shoehorn William Shakespeare into the teen-movie treatment with Romeo and Juliet, and Jane Austen with Clueless (from her novel, Emma), why not George Bernard Shaw? While his Pygmalion has been staged and filmed endless times, most famously as the musical My Fair Lady, here Shaw goes to high school. This time around, a Los Angeles' school's most popular guy Zack (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) loses his girlfriend Taylor (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) to television star Brock Hudson (Scream's Matthew Lillard). Zack then vows to his friends that he can take any girl in school and turn her into the prom queen. With five weeks until the prom, his friends pick weird, art nerd Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook). Zack predictably gets more than he bargained for as he falls in love with his "creation." Eldon Hudson and Kieran Culkin, stars of The Mighty, play Laney's best friend and little brother, respectively. Robert Iscove, director of television's Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, makes his big-screen debut. ~ Chris Gore, Rovi
- Starring:
- Freddie Prinze, Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook, (more)
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