Jennifer Connelly Biography

Biography

Early Life

Jennifer Lynn Connelly was born December 12th, 1970, in New York. Although acting was to become her career, she initially began in a rather different line of work. On the suggestion of one of her father’s friends, she entered the business of child modelling, signing with the Ford Agency. This presented young Jennifer with numerous opportunities across the globe, appearing in magazine and television advertisements. While on one such trip, she make an acting debut of sorts as a cult member in the music video for 'Union of the Snake' by Duran Duran. In 1986, she recorded a pop song of her own entitled 'Monologue of Love', singing in Japanese. Despite becoming a sought after model, she continued to attend St. Anns’ School in Brooklyn Heights, where she completed both her primary and secondary education.

Move Into Acting

Jennifer made her full acting debut while in England, landing a small part in Tales of the Unexpected, a television series based on short stories by Roald Dahl. Also in 1982, she made the transition into feature films. Sergio Leone cast her as Deborah in his gangster film, Once Upon a Time in America - in which she would appear alongside other acting legends such as Robert De Niro. Although her involvement in the film was relatively minor, it was enough to get her noticed by producers. Aged 14, she appeared in Dario Argento’s Phenomena, as well as Seven Minutes in Heaven, later in 1985 - on this occasion as the lead actress.
Despite seemingly just beginning to make an impact on Hollywood, Connelly didn’t initially attempt to solely pursue a career in acting.

Starring in Labyrinth

Having graduated from secondary school, she decided to study English and Drama at Yale University. After two years, she moved to Stanford, but ultimately decided to leave, failing to graduate. In 1986 she landed her first major mainstream role, earning the role of Sarah, the female lead in Jim Henson’s fantasy film, Labyrinth. Upon its original release, the film performed poorly, taking back only half of its estimated budget. However, although the movie didn’t do well, critics responded well to Jennifer - Empire’s Ian Nathan pointed out that she ‘makes for an appealingly together kind of heroine’. Since its release, the film has become a cult classic.

Stalled Career

Jennifer in Career Opportunities

Although Labyrinth was a financial failure, it did open the door for further career opportunities - although her next few films were to experience a similarly difficult time commercially. Etoile never made it to American shores, while Some Girls did nothing to improve her reputation. Her poor streak continued when she appeared in Dennis Hopper’s The Hot Spot, which only managed to gross just over $1 million. Although her subsequent films such as Career Opportunities and The Rocketeer, managed to turn a profit, they were ultimately only modest successes. These failures caused Jennifer to reconsider her future career as an actress, causing her to take a break from work. In a period of three years, she only appeared in a music video for Roy Orbison. She has since spoken of having some regrets about her early film choices:

‘I began working when I hadn't yet come into my own, when I was a walking puppet. Some of the movies I did…I look back and cringe’.

Return to Acting

She returned to films in the mid 90s, taking on considerably more mature roles - even if not all were entirely successful. In 1996, she acted alongside Nick Nolte and John Malkovich in Mulholland Falls. Although many critics disliked the film as a whole, Jennifer received praise for individual role - Roger Ebert remarked: ‘

Connelly is sexy in the way Marilyn Monroe was sexy--as if she doesn't quite believe it, and can't quite help it--and she finds the right note, halfway between innocence and heedless abandon’

Other notable films in which she featured during this period included the sci-fi thriller, Dark City. The movie was a marked improvement from Jennifer’s previous efforts, this time receiving largely positive reviews. In addition, the film performed reasonably well at the box office, managing to take in over $27 million despite Titanic dominating the box office at the time. Other less successful films she participated in around this time also include Higher Learning, Far Harbor and Inventing the Abbotts.

Breakthrough

Rorie Approved: Waking the Dead

The turn of the millennium proved to be the turning point in Jennifer’s career. After being absent from cinema screens for 2 years, she returned in 2000 with Waking the Dead, once more starring alongside Billy Crudup, whom she had appeared opposite in Inventing the Abbotts. Landing the role was to be a victory in its own right. As Brooke Shields had dropped out of the project, Keith Gordon was on the lookout for a new female lead. Numerous actresses such as Jessica Alba, Neve Campbell and Cameron Diaz all auditioned for the part, but eventually lost out to Jennifer, who won the role of Sarah Williams. Despite mixed reviews and an even worse financial performance, critics were quick to praise her role in the film. Chicago Reader’s film reviewer, Jonathan Rosembaum, said:

‘I can cite only one unequivocal reason for seeing Waking the Dead, and that's Jennifer Connelly ... What makes Connelly so remarkable isn't her character's radicalism but her capacity to keep the character fresh every time she appears and to leave a lingering impression that makes the hero's (and the movie's) sense of loss acute’

Now on a roll, her next film was to be her darkest yet. Darren Aronofsky cast her in his drama film, Requiem for a Dream. Although it didn’t make much of an impact at the box office, critics were once more impressed by her performance, praising the lengths she took in order to ensure an authentic portrayal. After a brief stint on television, appearing on FOX’s short lived show, The $treet, Jennifer returned to film, making quite an impression.

Oscar winner for A Beautiful Mind

Ron Howard chose her to play Alicia Nash, the wife of a schizophrenic mathematician in the film adaptation of A Beautiful Mind. She almost didn’t receive the part, having not formally auditioned for the role. Instead, she merely attended the casting sessions in order to run lines with her Requiem for a Dream co-star, Jared Leto, who was vying for the lead role of John Nash. Although Leto ultimately lost the role to Russell Crowe, the producers were sufficiently impressed with Jennifer that they decided to cast her as Alicia. This piece of good fortune proved to have a huge impact on her career. Not only was the film a smash hit, grossing over $300 million worldwide, it once more saw earn garner significant critical praise. This culminated in her winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, as well as Best Actress at the Golden Globe Awards.

Post Oscar

In 2003, 2 years after winning her first major award, Jennifer made next film appearance in Ang Lee’s Hulk. The movie received moderately positive reviews from critics, who recognised the attempted innovation in the comic book genre, but were disappointed with the execution. The film still managed to double its budget, but wasn’t enough for Universal Pictures to fund a sequel. When they did decide to re-launch the franchise as The Incredible Hulk, they chose not to hire Jennifer as Betty Ross, instead opting for Liv Tyler.

As Maddy Bowen in Blood Diamond

From the rest of 2003 until 2005, she only appeared in two relatively unpopular movies - House of Sand and Fog, followed by Dark Water. In 2006, she starred alongside Kate Winslet in the adaptation, Little Children. It went on to be popular with critics and saw several Oscar nominations, though none for Jennifer herself. Like Little Children, Blood Diamond played well with critics, though was significantly more popular with the cinema-going public. Once more, her co-stars (in this case Leonardo Di Caprio and Djimon Hounsou), were both nominated for Academy Awards. She finished 2007 with only one movie appearance, in the less-well received Reservation Road.

In The Day the Earth Stood Still

In 2008, she returned to more mainstream pictures. Having fallen in love with original, she signed on to appear in the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. It proved to be a financial success, drawing a gross revenue of $230 million, despite poor reviews. A similar situation occurred with her next major movie, romantic comedy, He’s Just Not That Into You, appearing as part of an ensemble cast including Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson and Ben Affleck. It managed to remain popular with fans, earning an nomination for Choice Movie - Romance at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards. Despite mostly negative responses from critics, Jennifer’s part was once more praised, with LA Times reviewer Betsy Sharkey highlighting the ‘intensity’ she brought to the role, which gave the comedic moments an ‘unexpected edge’. Also in 2009, she lent her voice to the offbeat children’s animation, 9. Later on that year, she appeared as Emma Darwin alongside now real life husband, Paul Bettany, in the biopic, Creation.

Credited Name	Jennifer Connelly
Gender	Female
Birthday	Dec. 12, 1970
Death
Primary Role	Actor
Hometown	Catskill Mountains, New York
Country	USA
Website
Email Address
Alias(es)

Career	$1.6B
Average	$44.9MM

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