Jennifer Connelly
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"I like doing things that intimidate me."---Jennifer Connelly in Vanity Fair, February 1996.
"I wasn't a kid who wanted to be an actress. I suddenly found myself making movies, and eventually I had to stop, take acting apart, and then choose it again on my own terms."---Connelly quoted in Movieline, October 2000.
Biography
Jennifer Connelly was an American actress born in Cairo, New York on December 12, 1970. The daughter of an antiques dealer and a clothing manufacturer, Connelly primarily grew up in Brooklyn Heights and attended private school for the arts St. Ann's. She began modeling for Ford Modeling Agency when she was about 10 years old, appearing on covers of magazines and even recording two pop songs for Japan in 1986. She had to sing the Japanese lyrics phonetically since she couldn't speak the language. Before that, however, she made her acting and television debut in an episode of the British anthology series "Tales of the Unexpected" (ITV, 1979-1988) in 1982. Connelly's breakout role was also her film debut and only her second acting gig. Director Sergio Leone decided to cast her in his epic film "Once Upon a Time in America" (1984) because of her resemblance to the adult version of her character, Deborah Gelly, played by Elizabeth McGovern. The next year, she led a film for the first time, in another Italian auteur's movie: "Phenomena" (1985), directed by Dario Argento. But among her most iconic roles was opposite David Bowie as Sarah Williams in "Labyrinth" (1986), a contemporary flop but modern cult classic. In 1988 and '89, Connelly attended Yale University, studying English. But she transferred to Stanford University to study acting in 1990; she ended up leaving at the end of the year to focus on her acting career. Her first major role after this period was as Jenny Blake in "The Rocketeer" (1991), another costly failure for a studio but, ultimately, a favorite among devoted fans. Connelly dated her co-star Billy Campbell after working on the film until 1996. She then had a relationship with photographer David Dugan, and gave birth to their son Kai in 1997. Connelly starred in Darren Aranofsky's "Requiem for a Dream" (2000), but it was her role in Ron Howard's "A Beautiful Mind" (2001) that possibly gave Connelly her greatest mainstream success. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 2002 Oscars, and her role as Alicia Nash is still among her most recognizable. Connelly next played Betty Ross, the love interest of hero Bruce Banner, in Ang Lee's commercially successful yet criticized Marvel Comics adaptation "Hulk" (2003). The same year, she married actor Paul Bettany and gave birth to their first child, a son named Stellan. Through the 2000s, some of Connelly's more notable roles were in "Blood Diamond" (2006) and as part of the ensemble cast of "He's Just Not That Into You" (2009). She gave birth to a daughter, Agnes in 2011. She reteamed with Aranofsky and Russell Crowe (her "Beautiful Mind" costar) in "Noah" (2014), and starred in her husband's directorial debut "Shelter" opposite Anthony Mackie. Connelly also acted with Ewan McGregor in his directorial debut "American Pastoral" (2016) before providing her voice as Karen in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017). The latter character is essentially a new version of Bettany's previous AI assistant Jarvis (he now plays Vision), making both husband and wife part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From 2018 through 2020, Connelly landed roles in high-profile sci-fi/franchise/sequel films such as the "Snowpiercer" series (TNT, 2019), "Alita: Battle Angel" (2019), and "Top Gun: Maverick" (2020).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Special Thanks (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1984
Made feature acting debut in "Once Upon a Time in America"; played Elizabeth McGovern's character as a child
1986
Starred in the coming-of-age movie "Seven Minutes in Heaven"
1986
Played a teenager who wishes her baby brother into the world of goblins ruled by king Jareth (David Bowie) in "Labyrinth"
1991
Cast as the female lead opposite Bill Campbell in "The Rocketeer"
1993
Played a spoiled rich girl, opposite Frank Whaley in John Hughes' "Career Opportunities"
1995
Portrayed a collegiate lesbian in John Singleton's "Higher Learning"
1996
Played Nick Nolte's mistress whose death is at the center of a mystery in "Mulholland Falls"
1997
Portrayed one of three alluring sisters in "Inventing the Abbotts"; first collaboration with Billy Crudup
1998
Co-starred as Rufus Sewell's estranged spouse in "Dark City"
2000
Breakthrough role was as a drug addicted fashion designer in Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream"
2000
Played Jackson Pollock's mistress in the biopic "Pollock" starring and directed by Ed Harris
2000
Re-teamed with Crudup for the romantic drama "Waking the Dead"
2001
Played Alicia Nash, the long-suffering wife of schizophrenic mathematician, John Forbes Nash, Jr. (played by Russell Crowe) in Ron Howard's film "A Beautiful Mind"
2003
Cast opposite Eric Bana in Ang Lee's "The Hulk"
2003
Played a recovering addict trying to save her home in Vadim Perelman's "House of Sand and Fog"
2005
Starred in the thriller "Dark Water," which was based on a Japanese film
2006
Played Patrick Wilson's wife in Todd Field's "Little Children"
2006
Played a journalist in Edward Zwick's "Blood Diamond" opposite Leonardo DiCaprio
2007
Acted in the Terry George directed "Reservation Road" with Joaquin Phoenix
2008
Co-starred in the remake of the 1951 science fiction movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still"
2009
Lent her voice to the feature-length adaptation of Shane Acker's short film, "9"
2009
Joined an ensemble cast for the feature adaptation of the bestselling book, "He's Just Not That Into You"
2014
Played Naameh in Aranofsky's "Noah"
2014
Starred in husband Paul Bettany's directorial debut, "Shelter," opposite Anthony Mackie
2016
Starred in Ewan McGregor's directorial debut, "American Pastoral"
2017
Provided voice of Karen in "Spider-Man: Homecoming," the equivalent to husband Bettany's previous character Jarvis
2018
Landed roles in "Snowpiercer" TV series, "Alita: Battle Angel," and "Top Gun: Maverick"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"I like doing things that intimidate me."---Jennifer Connelly in Vanity Fair, February 1996.
"I wasn't a kid who wanted to be an actress. I suddenly found myself making movies, and eventually I had to stop, take acting apart, and then choose it again on my own terms."---Connelly quoted in Movieline, October 2000.
On her childhood interest... "I had no aspirations, I had no movie posters in my room, I wasn't a movie buff. I liked Evel Knievel and animals and I kind of liked science."---Connelly US Weekly Sepetmber 2, 2002.
"I don't want that leap (into comedy) with the wrong film and have people say, 'See? We told you. She's only good at playing neuroic, suicidal people. Put her back into drama, quick!'"---Connelly on wanting to pursue other types of roles, to VLife, June/July 2005.
