Anna Paquin

Born: 24th July 1982
Where: Manitoba, Canada

Paquin beat 5,000 girls for the part of Holly Hunter's daughter in The Piano to give an Oscar-winning performance.

At just 11 years old, she was the second youngest person to ever win an Academy Award.

Paquin proved that her outstanding debut was no fluke when she earned raves for her portrayal of the young Jane in Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of Jane Eyre.

She appeared with Jeff Daniels in Fly Away Home, then in Steven Spielberg's Amistad, before taking roles in Hurlyburly and A Walk on the Moon.

Not wanting to be typecast in typical teenage or period roles, Paquin followed with turns as the genetic mutant Rogue in the big-screen version of Marvel Comic's X-Men and as a soulful groupie in in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous.

She also held her own with acting heavyweights F. Murray Abraham and Sean Connery in the drama Finding Forrester.

In 2002, Paquin was cast in Spike Lee's crime drama 25th Hour opposite Edward Norton and Brian Cox and Spanish horror yarn Darkness.

She reprised her role as Rogue in X-Men 2 and was Joaquin Phoenix's love interest in the excellent, much delayed, black comedy Buffalo Soldiers.