Jennifer Lynn Connelly (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She began her career as a child model before making her acting debut in the 1984 crime filmOnce Upon a Time in America. After a few more years of modeling, she began to concentrate on acting, starring in a variety of films including the horror filmPhenomena (1985), the musical fantasy filmLabyrinth (1986), the romantic comedyCareer Opportunities (1991), and the period superhero filmThe Rocketeer (1991). She received praise for her performance in the science fiction filmDark City (1998) and playing a drug addict inDarren Aronofsky's drama filmRequiem for a Dream (2000).
Connelly was namedAmnesty International Ambassador for Human Rights Education in 2005. She has been the face ofBalenciaga andLouis Vuitton fashion advertisements, as well as forRevlon cosmetics. In 2012, she was named the first global face of theShiseido Company. Magazines, includingTime,Vanity Fair, andEsquire, as well as theLos Angeles Times newspaper, have included her on their lists of the world's most beautiful women.
Jennifer Lynn Connelly was born on December 12, 1970,[1][2] inRound Top, ahamlet in thetown ofCairo, New York, United States. She is the only child[3] of Ilene Carol[4] (née Schumann;[5] 1942[6]–2013), an antique dealer, and Gerard Connelly (died 2008),[7] a clothing manufacturer.[8] Ilene wasJewish and was educated at ayeshiva,[9] while Gerard was aCatholic of Irish[10][11] and Norwegian descent.[12][13] Ilene's ancestors were Jewish emigrants from Poland and Russia. The family moved to the neighborhood ofBrooklyn Heights, New York City, when Connelly was one year old, and she attendedSaint Ann's School.[14] Gerard suffered fromasthma, so the family moved to the town ofWoodstock in 1976 to escape the city smog.[15] Four years later, they returned to Brooklyn Heights, and Connelly returned to Saint Ann's School.[16]
After graduating from high school in 1988, Connelly went toYale University to study English literature. Connelly has described herself as a conscientious student who "wasn't really concerned with having a social life or sleeping or eating much. I was really nerdy and pretty much stayed in the law school library, which is open 24 hours, most of the time I wasn't in class."[17] After two years at Yale, she transferred toStanford University to study drama. There, she trained withRoy London,Howard Fine, andHarold Guskin.[18] Encouraged by Ilene and Gerard to continue with her film career,[8] Connelly left college and returned to the film industry the same year.[19] Ilene and Gerard divorced in 2000.[7][15]
When Connelly was ten years old, an advertising executive friend of her father suggested she audition as a model.[20] Her parents sent a picture of her to theFord Modeling Agency, which shortly after added her to its roster. Connelly began modeling for print advertisements before moving on to television commercials.[8][21] In an interview withThe Guardian from 2002, she revealed that, after having done some modeling, she had no aspirations to become an actress.[22] She appeared on the covers of several issues of the American teenage magazineSeventeen in 1986 and 1988.[23][24][25][26] In December 1986, she recorded two pop songs for the Japanese market: "Monologue of Love" and "Message of Love".[27] She sang inphonetic Japanese as she did not speak the language.[21]
When her mother began taking her to acting auditions, a then 11 year-old Connelly was quickly selected for a supporting role as the aspiring dancer and actress Deborah Gelly inSergio Leone's Jewish gangster epicOnce Upon a Time in America (filmed 1982–83, released 1984).[14][21] The role required her to perform a ballet routine. During the audition, Connelly, who had no ballet training, tried to imitate a ballerina. Her performance, and the similarity of her nose toElizabeth McGovern's, who played the character as an adult, convinced the director to cast her.[3][28] Connelly described the film as "an incredibly idyllic introduction to movie-making".[29]
Connelly's first leading role was in Italiangiallo-directorDario Argento's 1985 filmPhenomena. In the film, she plays a girl who psychically communicates with insects to pursue the killer of students of the Swiss school where she has enrolled.[30] During filming, she was attacked by a chimpanzee and was bitten on the finger.[31][32] Connelly next had the lead in the coming-of-age filmSeven Minutes in Heaven, released the same year.[33] In a retrospective interview, Connelly said, "Before I knew it, [acting] became what I did. It was a very peculiar way to grow up, combined with my personality."[22] She described feeling like "a kind of walking puppet" through her adolescence, without having time alone to deal with the attention her career was generating.[22]
Connelly gained public recognition withJim Henson's 1986 fantasyLabyrinth withDavid Bowie, in which she playedSarah Williams, a teenager on a quest to rescue her brother Toby from the world ofgoblins. Although a disappointment at the box office,[34] the film later became acult classic.[35]The New York Times, while noting the importance of her part, panned her portrayal: "Jennifer Connelly as Sarah is unfortunately disappointing. ... She looks right, but she lacks conviction and seems to be reading rehearsed lines that are recited without belief in her goal or real need to accomplish it."[36] In 1988, she began work as a ballet student in the Italian filmEtoile which was released in 1989,[37] and portrayed college student Gabby inMichael Hoffman'sSome Girls.[38]
In 1990,Dennis Hopper directedThe Hot Spot, in which Connelly played Gloria Harper, a woman being blackmailed.[39] The film was a box office failure but Connelly was praised.[20] Stephen Schaefer wrote forUSA Today, "Anyone looking for proof that little girls do grow up fast in the movies should take a gander at curvaceous Jennifer Connelly [...] inThe Hot Spot. Not yet 20, Connelly has neatly managed the transition from child actress to ingenue". During an interview with Shaeffer, Connelly commented on her first nude scene: "The nudity was hard for me and something I thought about...but it's not in a sleazy context".[20] In the same year, directorGarry Marshall considered her for the role of Vivian Ward inPretty Woman, but ultimately felt that she was too young for the part.[40]
Connelly's next film was the 1991 romantic comedyCareer Opportunities, starring alongsideFrank Whaley.[41]People criticized the film for exploiting Connelly's body; the marketing included a life-size cardboard cutout showing Whaley watching Connelly ride a mechanical horse, with the caption "He's about to have the ride of his life".[21] In an interview withRolling Stone, Connelly said that a Yale professor brought it to her attention and "... that wasn't something I felt all that comfortable about".[29] The big-budgetDisney filmThe Rocketeer (1991) followed later that year, but failed to ignite her career.[42] She played Jenny Blake, a Disney dilution of what was in the original work aBettie Page persona, here the aspiring actress girlfriend ofstunt pilot Cliff, "the Rocketeer".[43]New York characterized the film as "pallid" but said of her performance, "Connelly is properly cast; she has the moist, full-to-the-cheek-bones sensuality of the Hollywood starlets of that period, but she's a little straight".[44] She appeared alongsideJason Priestley in theRoy Orbison music video for "I Drove All Night" the following year, directed byPeter Care.[45][46]
Connelly next appeared inOf Love and Shadows, a 1994 Argentine-American drama film written and directed byBetty Kaplan starringAntonio Banderas. In 1995, directorJohn Singleton cast Connelly as a lesbian college student inHigher Learning.[47] She then appeared in the 1996 independent filmFar Harbor as Elie, a prominent person in a Hollywood studio who writes a screenplay based on her traumas.[48]
In 1996, Connelly followed up with the neo-noir crime thrillerMulholland Falls, which featured the murder of Allison Pond (Connelly), mistress of General Timms (John Malkovich), and the investigation by a group of detectives led by Maxwell Hoover (Nick Nolte).[49]New York wrote about a scene that reveals the link between Timms and Pond: "This footage is actually dirty. That is, it makes us feel like voyeurs when looking at it, but it's so juicily erotic that we can hardly look away".[50] Regarding the nude scenes in the film, Connelly said: "It kind of shocked everyone who knows me that I wound up doing this movie, because I had always been so careful about nudity, it was very much a part of this character and I couldn't be coy or guarded or self-conscious—otherwise it wouldn't work. It was sort of a challenge I wanted to take on, I guess".[20]Mulholland Falls was a box office failure.[51]
She began to appear in small-budget films which garnered praise from critics, such as 1997's dramaInventing the Abbotts, set in the late 1950s, in which she played the part of Eleanor, one of three daughters of the town millionaire, Lloyd Abbott.[52] The critic fromEntertainment Weekly thought Connelly gave a strong performance; writing she "raises the stakes any time she's on screen".[53] Co-producerRon Howard, who would later direct Connelly inA Beautiful Mind, said, "She not only was beautiful and seductive but gave some difficult psychological moments in the film a lot of depth and complexity. She had an extraordinary combination of talent and beauty, and I guess I stored that information in the back of my brain".[20]
Her next appearance was in the critically acclaimed 1998 science fiction filmDark City, in which she played alongsideRufus Sewell,William Hurt,Ian Richardson andKiefer Sutherland.[54] Connelly portrayedfemme fatale Emma, atorch singer whose husband, John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell), suffers fromamnesia. As Murdoch is regaining his memories, Emma is kidnapped by Mr. Hand (Richard O'Brien) and The Strangers, who alter her memories and assign her a new identity.[55][56] AuthorSean McMullen wrote, "Jennifer Connelly is visually splendid as the 1940s femme fatale (Emma)."[57]
She appeared inDarren Aronofsky'sRequiem for a Dream, based on thenovel of the same name byHubert Selby Jr.[61] Connelly was drawn to the script for its depiction of addiction and its effects on relatives;[62] she played Marion Silver, the girlfriend of Harry (Jared Leto). The film also starredMarlon Wayans andEllen Burstyn.[63][64] Marion is a middle-class girl fromManhattan Beach who pursues the dream of establishing a dress shop, but becomes addicted to heroin and descends into a life of prostitution.[65] Connelly prepared for the role by renting an apartment in the building where the character lived; Connelly isolated herself, painted, listened to music that she considered that her character would, designed clothes, and used the time to reflect about addictions and their origin. Connelly also talked to addicts and attendedNarcotics Anonymous meetings with a friend who was in recovery.[20] The cast garnered critical acclaim for their portrayal of physical and mental degradation.[66]
Ms. Connelly, too, whittled herself down to a new weight class, and it's her performance that gives the movie weight, since her fall is the most precipitous. By the end, when she curls into a happy fetal ball with a furtive smile on her face, she has come to love her debasement.... Her dank realization is more disturbing than anything in the novel, and Ms. Connelly has never before done anything to prepare us for how good she is here.[66]
Also in 2000, Connelly appeared inWaking the Dead, based on the 1986novel of the same name, playing Sarah Williams, an activist killed by a car bomb in Minneapolis while she was driving Chilean refugees.[67] Initially, director Keith Gordon was reluctant to cast Connelly in this role as he did not consider her a serious actress. Her agent Risa Shapiro persuaded him to watch Connelly's performance inFar Harbor. Gordon later said: "There was a subtlety and depth even to her gaze that captured more of the relationship than I ever could have hoped for."[28] About her role, Connelly said, "Waking the Dead was the first film I worked on where whatever I did felt like my own thing. I was really trying to make something of the part and threw myself into it, so that meant a lot to me".[68]The New York Times described her performance, "As Sarah, Ms. Connelly captures a burning ethereality and willfulness that are very much of the period. And she and Mr. Crudup connect powerfully in love scenes that convey the fierce tenderness of a relationship whose passion carries a tinge of religious fervor."[69]
The script of Ron Howard's 2001 biopicA Beautiful Mind, loosely based onSylvia Nasar's 1998 biography of the mathematicianJohn Nash, sparked her interest in the project.[70] Connelly was invited to an audition after Shapiro sent the producers a tape with a clip of the then-unreleasedRequiem for a Dream. She was cast by producerBrian Grazer, as Alicia Nash, the caring and enduring wife ofschizophrenic man John Nash, played byRussell Crowe.[71] Howard and the producers eventually chose Connelly and Crowe due to their onscreen chemistry.[72] Connelly met the real Alicia Nash before filming commenced to learn about her life.[22] Upon release,A Beautiful Mind was a critical and commercial success, grossing more than US$313 million worldwide.[73] For her performance, Connelly earned aGolden Globe,[74] anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress,[75] and aBAFTA for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.[76]Time magazine criticRichard Schickel called her performance "luminous" and the actress intelligent and passionate.[77]Roger Ebert wrote, "Jennifer Connelly is luminous as Alicia. Although the showier performance belongs to Crowe, it is Connelly's complex work, depicting a woman torn by love for and fear of the same man, that elevates the film to a higher level".[78]A.O. Scott ofThe New York Times said, "There is, for one thing, Ms. Connelly, keen and spirited in the underwritten role of a woman who starts out as a math groupie and soon finds herself the helpmeet of a disturbed, difficult man."[79]
Connelly said afterwards, "[A Beautiful Mind] is the film I'm really proud of and really love."[47] In relation to previous roles, Connelly said:
There was a period where I felt like I wasn't quite being considered for the projects that I wanted to work on because maybe people were thinking. 'I'm not going to cast the girl who was in that movie for this adult project.' I've felt for a long time that this is what I want to do so I'm happy at this point to just take my time and work on projects that I feel really strongly about and the rest of the time just live my life.[20]
Connelly starred inAng Lee'sHulk (2003), because she was interested in his philosophical perspective on theMarvel Comics superhero.[80] She playedBetty Ross, a scientist and the former girlfriend of the main character,Bruce Banner. The film received mixed reviews and was a moderate success.[81]
Next in 2003, she appeared inHouse of Sand and Fog, a drama based on the novel byAndre Dubus III. She portrayed Kathy Nicolo, an abandoned wife whose inherited house is sold at auction to the Iranian emigre and former colonel Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley).[82] After reading the script, Connelly said: "(the story is) moving and beautifully written. I liked the fact that there is no good guy and bad guy. I found it really compelling that both sides do things that are morally questionable, because life is often like that." ProducerMichael London said about Connelly's portrayal: "I think she understood Kathy and knew in her bones that she could take this character and give her the kind of dimension that she had. I don't think there is another actress who could have played Kathy with such power and grace."[83] The film was critically acclaimed, with aBBC critic commenting, "[Connelly] convinces totally as a selfish, desperate and lonely woman who confesses to her brother, 'I just feel lost'".[84]
After a two-year absence from the film scene, Connelly returned in the 2005 horror-psychological thrillerDark Water, which was based on a 2002 Japanese filmof the same name.[21] She played Dahlia, a frightened young woman traumatized by her past, who moves with her daughter to an apartment in New York City where paranormal happenings take place.[85] In his review, critic Roger Ebert wrote, "I cared about the Jennifer Connelly character; she is not a horror heroine but an actress playing a mother faced with horror. There is a difference, and because of that difference,Dark Water works".[86]
She played Kathy Adamson inan adaptation of the novelLittle Children alongsideKate Winslet, a film which focuses on the relationship between Sarah Pierce (played by Winslet) and Brad Adamson (Patrick Wilson).[87] Connelly co-starred inBlood Diamond oppositeLeonardo DiCaprio where she portrayed journalist Maddy Bowen, who is working on exposing the real story behindblood diamonds.[88]New York magazine praised her performance: "Connelly is such a smart, sane, unhistrionic actress that she almost disguises the fact that her character is a wheeze."[89] BothLittle Children andBlood Diamond were nominated for multiple Academy Awards.[90]
Her next appearance was as Grace in the dramaReservation Road withJoaquin Phoenix andMark Ruffalo, released in 2007.[91] After her son dies in a hit-and-run, Grace gradually tries to overcome her grief, while her husband Ethan (Phoenix) becomes obsessed with discovering who killed him.[92] By her own account, the character she played in the film proved tougher than any of her previous roles.[93]USA Today's Susan Wloszczyna commented, "The strong performances of Jennifer Connelly and Mark Ruffalo ... raise the film above overheated melodrama".[94]
Connelly portrayed astrobiologist Helen Benson alongsideKeanu Reeves in the2008 remake of the 1951 science fiction filmThe Day The Earth Stood Still. Unlike the original, in which Benson was a secretary and her relationship with Klaatu was the focus, the remake featured Benson in a troubled relationship with her stepson, portrayed byJaden Smith.[95] This was followed by a role in the 2009 romantic comedy-dramaHe's Just Not That Into You, which also featuredJennifer Aniston andGinnifer Goodwin.[96] The film was based on the self-help book of the same name.[97]Variety magazine praised her portrayal: "Connelly gives a really rich performance as a woman whose principles back her into a corner."[98]
In 2009, she appeared in the costume drama biopicCreation, in which she playedEmma Darwin, wife ofCharles Darwin, opposite her real-life husbandPaul Bettany.[99] Set during the writing ofOn the Origin of Species, the film depicts Darwin's struggle with the subject of the book as well as with his wife, who opposed his theories, and their mourning for their daughterAnne.[100] TheSan Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Darwin's wife, a religious woman who disapproved of her husband's theories, is played by Jennifer Connelly, Bettany's real-life wife, in the kind of casting that doesn't always work, but it does here. We believe in the Darwins' history together, their familiarity and affection. Connelly's English accent is also as good asRenée Zellweger's andGwyneth Paltrow's. She doesn't get just the sounds right, but also the music and the attitude".[101] Connelly then voiced the character named "7", an adventurous warrior in the animated film9.[102]
Dustin Lance Black'sVirginia premiered on September 15, 2010, at theToronto International Film Festival. Two years later, it received alimited release in May 2012.[103][104] Connelly portrayed the title role of Virginia, a mentally unstable woman who has a 20-year affair with the local sheriff, whose daughter then starts a relationship with Virginia's son.[105] Connelly prepared for the role by watching documentaries on schizophrenia; she also spent time at theNew York State Psychiatric Institute and theNew York University Cancer Center to understand the affections and obstacles of her character. During preparation, Black requested Connelly's advice to design the set of Virginia's house, as well as the selection of the apparel to create the character's style.[106] Connelly said of the film, "It's very original, I think, and a very different independent film – it's very personal."[107] According to the critic fromCinema Blend, "Virginia is propped up by a strong central performance, with Connelly doing some of her best work in years".[108]
Connelly in 2019
In 2011, Connelly starred in Ron Howard's comedyThe Dilemma withVince Vaughn. Although theAustin Chronicle's review wrote "Vaughn nails it, and his nicely nuanced everyguy performance is aided by the always-excellent Connelly",[109] the film opened to generally negative reviews.[110]Variety magazine remarked, "Connelly, though a shade looser and more spontaneous than usual, seems stuck at an emotional remove from the action".[111] Her next project, George Ratliff'sSalvation Boulevard, premiered during the 2011Sundance Film Festival.[112] In the film, Connelly played Gwen, the wife of Carl Vanderveer (Greg Kinnear); the couple are members of the Church of the Third Millennium, led by pastor Dan (Pierce Brosnan).[113] During the same year, Connelly recorded an audiobook version ofPaul Bowles'The Sheltering Sky that was released in March 2012 as part ofAudible.com's TheA-List Collection.[114][115]
Working again in collaboration withA Beautiful Mind co-star Russell Crowe, she portrayed Naameh in Darren Aronofsky's 2014 biblical epicNoah.[121] The film opened to favorable reviews.[122]The Washington Post declared Connelly and Crowe's performances "impressively grounded, powerful";[123]The Denver Post felt that Connelly portrayed the role with "fine intelligence".[124]Variety deemed her appearance "solid but underused",[125] whileDetroit News stated "Connelly has too little to do, but when she lets go, she hits hard."[126]Indiewire wrote that Connelly conveyed the role with a "steady hand",[127] whileSt. Paul Pioneer Press defined her interpretation as "compelling".[128]
Connelly starred in the television seriesSnowpiercer (2020–2024),[129] her first role in television since the cancellation ofThe Street in 2000.
Working again with Director Joseph Kosinski, Connelly portrayed Penelope "Penny" Benjamin in the action blockbuster filmTop Gun: Maverick, which released in 2022 after a series of delays due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[130][131]
While filmingThe Rocketeer, Connelly began a romance with her co-starBilly Campbell. They became engaged[29] but broke up in 1996 after five years together.[132] Connelly then had a relationship with photographer David Dugan, with whom she has a son, born in 1997.[133][134]
On January 1, 2003, in a private family ceremony in Scotland, she married actorPaul Bettany, whom she had met while working onA Beautiful Mind.[135] They have two children, a son, born in 2003, and a daughter, born in 2011.[136][137] After living together inTribeca, she and Bettany moved toBrooklyn Heights.[138]
On November 14, 2005, Connelly was namedAmnesty International Ambassador for Human Rights Education.[139] She appeared in an advertisement highlighting the global need for clean water, and sought donations for African, Indian, and Central American drilling projects for the non-profit organizationCharity: Water.[140] On May 2, 2009, she participated in Revlon's annual 5k Run/Walk for Women.[141] In May 2012, Connelly was named ambassador forSave the Children fund, to advocate forchildren's rights in the United States and worldwide.[142]
In February 2012, Connelly was announced as the first global brand ambassador forShiseido, having previously worked with the company in the 1980s in a series of advertisements for the Japanese market.[148] Since 2015, Connelly is the House Ambassador for French luxury fashion houseLouis Vuitton.[149]
^"Wedding of Irwin Leib and Ilene Schumann".The Standard-Star. July 10, 1962. p. 14. RetrievedJanuary 11, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com.Miss Ilene Carol Schumann, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Schumann of 46 Park Place, became the bride July 3 of Irwin Alan Leib, son of Mr. and Mrs. Meyer Leibowitz of Newark, N.J.
^"Birth announcement of Eilen Schumann".The Standard-Star. July 7, 1942. p. 6. RetrievedJanuary 11, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com.Mr. and Mrs. Jack Schumann of 46 Park Place have announced the birth of a daughter, Eilen, at New Rochelle Hospital Thursday. Mrs. Schumann is the former Leona Bernzweig, a cousin of Acting City Judge Sol Rubin. The Schumanns have another child, Stanley, 5.
^Dicker, Ron (July 3, 2005)."Jennifer Connelly feeling more at home in her career".Hartford Courant. RetrievedDecember 16, 2022.She jokes that she was raised with a double dose of guilt, having an Irish Catholic father and a Jewish mother who was schooled at a yeshiva in New Rochelle.
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^"Cover".Seventeen Magazine. August 1986. 714356-08.
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^"Cover".Seventeen Magazine. December 1988. 714357-12.
^Monologue of Love (7-inch disk). Jennifer Connelly. Toshiba East World Records. 1986. WTP-17908.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^abTestino, Mario (September 2002). "The Intriguing Miss Connelly".Vanity Fair. No. 505. pp. 318–325,374–376.ISSN0733-8899.
^Cozzi, Luigi; Patrizi, Federico; Tentori, Antonio (2003).Profondo rosso. Tutto sul film capolavoro di Dario Argento. Mondo Ignoto s.r.l., p. 165, ISBN 88-89084138
^Sischy, Ingrid (December 2006) [January 2007]. "They may have put her in a cage, but here's an actress who won't be tamed".Interview Magazine. Brant Publications. p. 111.UPC07148601517801.
^Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ron Howard (2002).A Beautiful Mind DVD featurette:Casting Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly (Motion picture). Universal studios/DreamWorks.
^"Film nominations 2001".British Academy of Film and Television Arts Official Site. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 2001. RetrievedAugust 18, 2010.
^Connelly, Jennifer (October 4, 2010). "DP/30 – What's Wrong With Virginia, actress Jennifer Connelly" (Interview). Interviewed by Poland, David. Toronto: Movie City News.
^Schneider, Karen S. (February 4, 2002)."Beautiful Minder".People. New York City. Archived fromthe original on December 14, 2015. RetrievedFebruary 27, 2014.
^David, Amrk."Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly On the Move Again",Variety (magazine), January 14, 2012. Accessed February 25, 2019. "It was only about 3.5 years ago that English-born movie actor Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind,The Da Vinci Code,A Knight's Tale) and Brooklyn-bred Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Requiem For A Dream, Blood Diamond) paid $6,920,000 for a full floor loft-type penthouse apartment on the edge of New York City's star-stocked TriBeCa neighborhood."
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