A highly precocious, dark-haired actress, Anna Paquin gave an extraordinary, Oscar-winning performance as the fiercely articulate daughter--and voice--of a feisty mute woman (Holly Hunter) in Jane Campion's sensuous film "The Piano" (1993). Just 11 years old at the time, Paquin was (to date) the second youngest person to ever win an Academy Award. Easily embarrassed when talking about her success or fame, the young woman kept her statuette in the back of a closet for years so as not to make non-acting friends and family feel uncomfortable.

Paquin proved that her outstanding debut was no fluke when she earned raves for her portrayal of the young Jane (played as an adult by Charlotte Gainsbourg) in Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of "Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre" (1996). But her biggest role since winning the Oscar was as the daughter of a man (Jeff Daniels) who teaches geese to migrate with the aid of ultra-light planes in Carroll Ballard's "Fly Away Home" (also 1996). The actress who has never had an acting lesson followed that role up with a cameo appearance as the young Queen of Spain in Steven Spielberg's historical drama "Amistad" (1997).

In 1998, Paquin traded in her corset for more contemporary lingerie and played a sexy scene stealer in a pivotal supporting role opposite Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey in the Hollywood satire "Hurlyburly". The following year, she donned cut off shorts and a halter top to play Diane Lane and Liev Schreiber's rebellious hippie chick daughter in the 1960s drama "A Walk on the Moon". That same year, she also had a small part in the frothy teen romance "She's All That", playing Freddie Prinze Jr.'s younger sister with a knack with makeup. Not wanting to be typecast in typical teenage or period roles, Paquin followed with terrific turns as the genetic mutant Rogue in the big-screen version of Marvel Comic's "X-Men" and as a soulful groupie in love with Jason Lee's 1970s rocker in Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" (both 2000). She also held her own with acting heavyweights F. Murray Abraham and Sean Connery in the inspirational drama "Finding Forrester", the story of an unlikely friendship between a reclusive novelist and a gifted scholar-athlete.

In 2002, Paquin was cast in Spike Lee's crime drama feature "The 25th Hour," a feature that starred Edward Norton as a man who is forced to reevaluate his life before serving a seven year jail sentence.