A successful child actress in the 1980s and an A-list movie star today, the gorgeous Jennifer Connelly brings a grace and subtlety to her on-screen persona that surely makes other actresses of her generation supremely envious. Soon to be seen in the drama “Little Children” with Kate Winslet and in the Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle “Blood Diamond”, the Oscar-winning actress is sure to remain one of Hollywood’s most celebrated stars.
Connelly was born in the Catskill Mountains, New York on December 12, 1970 to parents of Irish-Catholic and Jewish descent. Except for a brief period in Woodstock, New York, Connelly was raised in Brooklyn Heights and attended the prestigious St. Ann’s School. One of her father’s close friends was an advertising executive, and convinced the family that Jennifer should audition for modeling and television commercials. The venture proved successful, and Connelly soon made an impressive film debut in Sergio Leone’s stunning 1984 gangster drama “Once Upon a Time in America”.
Especially when considering her very limited experience, Connelly nabbed some incredible roles in her teens, following up the Leone picture with the lead in famed Italian horror director Dario Argento’s 1985 gross-out “Phenomena”. Arguably Argento’s weirdest picture (quite the distinction given his repertoire), Connelly played a student at a posh all-girls boarding school who uses her ability to communicate with insects to track down a deranged mutant serial killer. Her next major role turned into another cult classic, the David Bowie-starring Jim Henson fantasy classic “Labyrinth”. Now an adult, Connelly starred in “Some Girls” in 1988 with Patrick Dempsey, “Hot Spot” in 1990, and the teen classic “Career Opportunities” and Disney’s live-action fantasy “The Rocketeer” in 1991.
Until Connelly’s dramatic breakthrough in 2000, none of her films were significant box office successes, with many of them considered major failures. However, a surprising number of them, from Leone’s final film to “Labyrinth”, “Career Opportunities”, 1998’s “Dark City”, and others are now regarded as classics of their respective genres. Her consistent choice of off-beat roles for quirky directors made this pattern dominate the first 20 years of her career until a trio of films in 2000, “Waking the Dead”, “Pollock”, and “Requiem for a Dream”, made her extremely popular as a serious actress. Ironically, “Requiem” was the film that truly pushed her onto the mainstream radar, even though it remains her most grueling, unglamorous role. Playing a sometime-prostitute and heroin addict opposite Jared Leto, Connelly’s raw performance in the Darren Aronofsky-directed film earned her heaps of critical acclaim and an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Connelly was arguably the emotional center of the film, achieving heart-wrenching moments of stillness in the otherwise insanely paced and visually hyperbolic film.
Her star broke through the roof after “Requiem”, and she received an Oscar for the following year’s Ron Howard-directed “A Beautiful Mind”. Playing Russell Crowe’s wife in the popular, award-winning biopic, Connelly impressed in one of her most conventional roles. Since then she has starred in the blockbuster “Hulk”, the devastatingly depressing “House of Sand and Fog”, and the moody 2005 horror picture “Dark Water”. She is currently married to “A Beautiful Mind” co-star Paul Bettany, and has one son with the actor.