Paula Patton is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles, CA in 1975 to a schoolteacher mother and lawyer father, Patton grew up in the City of Angels where she attended Hamilton High School’s Academy of Music, a performing arts high school on L.A.’s Westside. An active student, Patton performed in a number of plays at her school, including a role as Abigail in “The Crucible,” but became interested in filmmaking as a teenager as well. After attending the University of Southern California’s summer film program between her junior and senior years of high school, Patton began to make short films. Landing a spot on the PBS series “The Ride,” a reality series that followed four young filmmakers across the country as they documented young life in America, Patton put off her first semester of college at the University of California, Berkeley. Intent on pursuing her love of film, Patton later transferred to USC’s prestigious film program, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in critical studies in 1997.

After obtaining her degree, Patton began to pursue PA work. She landed a gig in the industry as an assistant to Howie Mandelon his short-lived talk show, “The Howie MandelShow” (1998-99). Next, Patton landed a stint as a PA on the Freddie Prinze Jr.comedy, “Boys and Girls” (2000). She went on to land an entry-level position on the Discovery Health Network’s “Medical Diaries” (2000-02), a documentary series about the field of medicine. Patton’s position was soon upped to segment producer, and she continued with the series for two years until its cancellation in 2002.

Patton began to book film roles quickly. Landing her first role in 2005, she appeared in the romantic comedy “Hitch” alongside Will Smith and Eva Mendes That same year, she also landed a small part in the independent drama “London” (2005) and was cast in the role of Detective Angela Kellogg on the short-lived Fox crime drama, “Murder Book” (2005). Patton was then cast as sultry nightclub singer Angel Davenport in the prohibition-era musical, “Idlewild” (2006). Next, Patton landed another prominent role – this time as a young woman in peril opposite Denzel Washington in the Tony Scott thriller, “Déjà Vu” (2006).

She also played television reporter Kate Madison in 2008's Swing Vote. Currently she appears in the film Mirrors, alongside Kiefer Sutherlandand in This Wednesday in 2008.