Born July 24, 1982 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and raised in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, Anna Paquin, at age eleven, was the first New Zealander to receive the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, for her performance in The Piano, and the second youngest Oscar winner ever. After making her stage bow at the age of seven as a skunk in a school production, she auditioned for the part of Flora in Jane Campion's The Piano. Hand picked from 5000 girls.

With the success of the 1993 film and an Oscar, she won international fame. But Paquin retreated from the limelight until 1996, when she emerged, in the acclaimed family drama Fly Away Home. That same year, she could be seen playing a younger version of the title character in Jane Eyre. After playing Queen Isabella in Steven Spielberg's Amistad, Paquin assumed her first adult role in 1998, in the film Hurlyburly. The following year she appeared in the critically acclaimed A Walk on the Moon. [Full Bio]