Best Known As: Oscar-winning co-star of A Beautiful Mind
Jennifer Connelly won an Academy Award as best supporting actress for playing the wife of mathematician John Forbes Nash in A Beautiful Mind (2001, with Russell Crowe as Nash). Connelly was only 15 when she landed her first big role, in Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy feature The Labyrinth (co-starring David Bowie). She grew up to become a voluptuous leading lady in a variety of films, including the sex-tinged drama The Hot Spot (1990), John Hughes's Career Opportunities (1990), the cartoony The Rocketeer (1991, with a villainous Timothy Dalton) and Inventing the Abbots (1997, with Liv Tyler and Billy Crudup). She has also starred in the short-lived TV series The $treet (2000), as Jackson Pollock's mistress in the film Pollock (2000), with Ben Kingsley in The House of Sand and Fog (2003), and as a journalist on the trail of Leonardo DiCaprio's naughty diamond smuggler in Blood Diamond (2006).
Like Jodie Foster, Connelly enrolled in Yale University; Connelly later transferred to Stanford... Connelly married actor Paul Bettany, who also appeared in A Beautiful Mind, in a private ceremony in Scotland in December of 2002.
Career Highlights: Pollock, Requiem for a Dream, Waking the Dead
First Major Screen Credit: Phenomena (1984)
Biography
Once described as resembling a teenage Elizabeth Taylor, one gets the feeling that Jennifer Connelly may, with her winning of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in A Beautiful Mind (2001), have finally found what she once referred to as, "the film I'm really proud of and really love." And though she has graced the screens of theaters since 1984, Connelly remains a capable and versatile actress undefined by any single role or film.
Born in the Catskill Mountains of mid-state New York in December of 1970, and raised in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City, Connelly got her start in show business as a model at the age of ten. Quickly coming into high demand due to her striking beauty, Connelly often traveled abroad, where she eventually made her acting debut. The burgeoning actress landed her first role in an episode of the British horror anthology Tales of the Unexpected, and soon found work in small roles such as the Duran Duran music video for "Union of the Snake" before making her feature debut in Sergio Leone's sprawling gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America.
Connelly's next film role, as a gifted schoolgirl who teams with an entomologist to solve a string of murders in Dario Argento's Phenomena, proved that the young actress was well capable of handling leading roles. After a memorable Dorothy-esque turn in Jim Henson's fantasy adventure Labyrinth (1986), in which she must rescue her brother from Goblin King David Bowie, Connelly seemed to almost disappear for a short while. Subsequent appearances in such forgettable films as The Hot Spot and The Rocketeer, while frequent and helping the actress to maintain visibility, remained unchallenging and did little to advance her career.
Things began to look up for the talented actress in the mid-'90s. Maturing into an actress capable of taking on challenging roles, Connelly's portrayal of a sensitive lesbian who befriends college freshman Kristy Swanson in John Singleton's Higher Learning hinted at abilities previously unexplored. After small roles in such well-received films as Lee Tamahori's Mulholland Falls and Alex Proyas' Dark City, Connelly was nominated for an Independent Spirit award for her portrayal of a burned-out junkie in Darren Aronofsky's emotionally jarring Requiem for a Dream (2000). In addition, 2000 brought Connelly her first recurring television role, in the fast-paced Wall Street weekly The $treet, and a role in Ed Harris' directing debut, the Jackson Pollock biopic Pollock. The following year found Connelly at a turning point in director Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind. As the loyal wife of famed mathematician turned paranoid schizophrenic John Forbes Nash Jr. (portrayed in the film by Gladiator star Russell Crowe), Connelly once again showed her versatility and ability to gracefully shine amidst such notable talents as Crowe and Howard. With her roles in the early 2000s increasing in both emotional scope and dimension, Connellywould next appear in acclaimed director Ang Lee's eagerly anticipated The Hulk before taking the female lead in The House of Sand and Fog (both 2003). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
At the age of ten, Connelly's career started in newspaper and magazine ads, then moved to television commercials. These led to movie auditions and her first film role was as "young Deborah Gelly", a supporting role in Sergio Leone's 1984 gangster epic, Once Upon a Time in America, filmed mostly in 1982 when she was eleven.[7] She next starred in Italianhorror-director Dario Argento's Phenomena (1985) and in the coming-of-age movie Seven Minutes in Heaven.
Early career
Connelly became a star with her next picture, the fantasyLabyrinth (1986), playing Sarah, a teenager who wishes her baby brother into the world of goblins ruled by goblin king Jareth (David Bowie). The film disappointed at the box office, but gained a following among fantasy fans. Connelly starred in several obscure films, such as Etoile (1988) and Some Girls (1988). The Dennis Hopper-directed The Hot Spot (1990) was not a success, either critically or commercially. Another film, Career Opportunities, was more successful and is considered a teen cult classic. It and Hot Spot threatened to typecast her in the "sexpot" stereotype with both films emphasizing her voluptuous figure, particularly Hot Spot, which contained her first topless scene. It would be the first of seven movies in which she appeared nude. Connelly was featured on the cover of Esquire in August 1991, as part of the "Women We Love" feature.[8] She appeared alongside Jason Priestley in the Roy Orbison music video for "I Drove All Night" in 1992. Connelly began studying English at Yale, and two years later transferred to Stanford.
Connelly starred in two films in 2003: Hulk and House of Sand and Fog. Hulk was something of a box office disappointment, but afforded Connelly the chance to work with noted director Ang Lee. House of Sand and Fog, based on the novel by Andre Dubus III, was reminiscent of much of her independent film work of the late 1990s. Connelly appeared in the 2005 horror filmDark Water, which was based on a Japanese film. In 2006, Connelly appeared in two films, both of which were nominated for multiple Academy Awards. She played a major role in an adaptation of the novel Little Children alongside Kate Winslet. Although her role as Kathy Adamson is very important in the novel, director Todd Field gave her character less screen time, instead focusing on the characters played by Winslet and Patrick Wilson. She also played a journalist in Blood Diamond opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. She next appeared in Reservation Road with Joaquin Phoenix, which was given a limited release in the fall of 2007.
^ Kalogerakis, George. "Mind Games", New York (magazine), February 18, 2002. Accessed November 15, 2007. "Connelly grew up mostly in Brooklyn Heights, the daughter of a clothing-manufacturer father and antiques-dealer mother. She attended Saint Ann's and started modeling when she was 10."
