Jennifer Connelly(I)
- Actress
- Producer
Jennifer Connelly was born in the Catskill Mountains, New York, to
Ilene (Schuman), a dealer of antiques, and Gerard Connelly, a clothing
manufacturer. Her father had Irish and Norwegian ancestry, and her
mother was from a Jewish immigrant family. Jennifer grew up in Brooklyn
Heights, just across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan, except for the
four years her parents spent in Woodstock, New York. Back in Brooklyn
Heights, she attended St. Ann's school. A close friend of the family
was an advertising executive. When Jennifer was ten, he suggested that
her parents take her to a modeling audition. She began appearing in
newspaper and magazine ads (among them "Seventeen" magazine), and soon
moved on to television commercials. A casting director saw her and
introduced her to Sergio Leone, who
was seeking a young girl to dance in his gangster epic
Once Upon a Time in America (1984).
Although having little screen time, the few minutes she was on-screen
were enough to reveal her talent. Her next role after that was an
episode of the British horror anthology TV series
Tales of the Unexpected (1979)
in 1984.
After Leone's movie, horror master
Dario Argento signed her to play her first
starring role in his thriller
Phenomena (1985). The film made a lot
of money in Europe but, unfortunately, was heavily cut for American
distribution. Around the same time, she appeared in the rock video "I
Drove All Night," a Roy Orbison song,
co-starring Jason Priestley. She
released a single called "Monologue of Love" in Japan in the mid-1980s,
in which she sings in Japanese a charming little song with
semi-classical instruments arrangement. On the B-side is "Message Of
Love," which is an interview with music in background. She also
appeared in television commercials in Japan.
She enrolled at Yale, and then transferred two years later to Stanford.
She trained in classical theater and improvisation, studying with the
late drama coach Roy London,
Howard Fine, and
Harold Guskin.
The late 1980s saw her starring in a hit and three lesser seen films.
Amongst the latter was her roles in
Ballet (1989), as a ballerina and in
Some Girls (1988), where she played a
self-absorbed college freshman. The hit was
Labyrinth (1986), released in 1986.
Jennifer got the job after a nationwide talent search for the lead in
this fantasy directed by Jim Henson
and produced by George Lucas. Her
career entered in a calm phase after those films, until
Dennis Hopper, who was impressed after
having seen her in "Some Girls", cast Jennifer as an ingénue small-town
girl in The Hot Spot (1990), based
upon the 1950s crime novel "Hell Hath No Fury". It received mixed
critical reviews, but it was not a box office success.
The Rocketeer (1991), an ambitious
Touchstone super-production, came to the rescue. The film was an
old-fashioned adventure flick about a man capable of flying with
rockets on his back. Critics saw in "Rocketeer" a top-quality movie, a
homage to those old films of the 1930s in which the likes of
Errol Flynn starred. After
"Rocketeer," Jennifer made
Career Opportunities (1991),
The Heart of Justice (1992),
Mulholland Falls (1996), her first collaboration with Nick Nolte and
Inventing the Abbotts (1997).
In 1998, she was invited by director
Alex Proyas to make
Dark City (1998), a strange, visually
stunning science-fiction extravaganza. In this movie, Jennifer played
the main character's wife, and she delivered an acclaimed performance.
The film itself didn't break any box-office record but received
positive reviews. This led Jennifer to a contract with Fox for the
television series
The $treet (2000), a main part in
the memorable and dramatic love-story
Waking the Dead (2000) and, more
important, a breakthrough part in the polemic and applauded independent
Requiem for a Dream (2000), a
tale about the haunting lives of drug addicts and the subsequent
process of decadence and destruction. In "Requiem for a Dream,"
Jennifer had her career's most courageous, difficult part, a
performance that earned her a Spirit Award Nomination. She followed
this role with Pollock (2000), in which
she played Pollock's mistress, Ruth Klingman. In 2001,
Ron Howard chose her to co-star with
Russell Crowe in
A Beautiful Mind (2001), the
film that tells the true story of
John Nash, a man who suffered from
mental illness but eventually beats this and wins the Nobel Prize in
1994. Jennifer played Nash's wife and won a Golden Globe, BAFTA, AFI
and Oscar as Best Supporting Actress.
Connelly continued her career with films including Hulk (2003), her second collaboration with Nick Nolte, Dark Water (2005), Blood Diamond (2006), The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), He's Just Not That Into You (2009) and Noah (2014), where she did her second collaboration with both Darren Aronofsky and Russell Crowe and made her third collaboration with Nick Nolte in that same film.
Jennifer lives in New York. She is 5'7", and speaks fluent Italian and
French. She enjoys physical activities such as swimming, gymnastics,
and bike riding. She is also an outdoors person -- camping, hiking and
walking, and is interested in quantum physics and philosophy. She likes
horses, Pearl Jam, SoundGarden,
Jesus Jones, and occasionally wears a small
picture of the The Dalai Lama on a
necklace. Her favorite colors are cobalt blue, forest green, and "very
pale green/gray -- sort of like the color of the sea". She likes to
draw.
Ilene (Schuman), a dealer of antiques, and Gerard Connelly, a clothing
manufacturer. Her father had Irish and Norwegian ancestry, and her
mother was from a Jewish immigrant family. Jennifer grew up in Brooklyn
Heights, just across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan, except for the
four years her parents spent in Woodstock, New York. Back in Brooklyn
Heights, she attended St. Ann's school. A close friend of the family
was an advertising executive. When Jennifer was ten, he suggested that
her parents take her to a modeling audition. She began appearing in
newspaper and magazine ads (among them "Seventeen" magazine), and soon
moved on to television commercials. A casting director saw her and
introduced her to Sergio Leone, who
was seeking a young girl to dance in his gangster epic
Once Upon a Time in America (1984).
Although having little screen time, the few minutes she was on-screen
were enough to reveal her talent. Her next role after that was an
episode of the British horror anthology TV series
Tales of the Unexpected (1979)
in 1984.
After Leone's movie, horror master
Dario Argento signed her to play her first
starring role in his thriller
Phenomena (1985). The film made a lot
of money in Europe but, unfortunately, was heavily cut for American
distribution. Around the same time, she appeared in the rock video "I
Drove All Night," a Roy Orbison song,
co-starring Jason Priestley. She
released a single called "Monologue of Love" in Japan in the mid-1980s,
in which she sings in Japanese a charming little song with
semi-classical instruments arrangement. On the B-side is "Message Of
Love," which is an interview with music in background. She also
appeared in television commercials in Japan.
She enrolled at Yale, and then transferred two years later to Stanford.
She trained in classical theater and improvisation, studying with the
late drama coach Roy London,
Howard Fine, and
Harold Guskin.
The late 1980s saw her starring in a hit and three lesser seen films.
Amongst the latter was her roles in
Ballet (1989), as a ballerina and in
Some Girls (1988), where she played a
self-absorbed college freshman. The hit was
Labyrinth (1986), released in 1986.
Jennifer got the job after a nationwide talent search for the lead in
this fantasy directed by Jim Henson
and produced by George Lucas. Her
career entered in a calm phase after those films, until
Dennis Hopper, who was impressed after
having seen her in "Some Girls", cast Jennifer as an ingénue small-town
girl in The Hot Spot (1990), based
upon the 1950s crime novel "Hell Hath No Fury". It received mixed
critical reviews, but it was not a box office success.
The Rocketeer (1991), an ambitious
Touchstone super-production, came to the rescue. The film was an
old-fashioned adventure flick about a man capable of flying with
rockets on his back. Critics saw in "Rocketeer" a top-quality movie, a
homage to those old films of the 1930s in which the likes of
Errol Flynn starred. After
"Rocketeer," Jennifer made
Career Opportunities (1991),
The Heart of Justice (1992),
Mulholland Falls (1996), her first collaboration with Nick Nolte and
Inventing the Abbotts (1997).
In 1998, she was invited by director
Alex Proyas to make
Dark City (1998), a strange, visually
stunning science-fiction extravaganza. In this movie, Jennifer played
the main character's wife, and she delivered an acclaimed performance.
The film itself didn't break any box-office record but received
positive reviews. This led Jennifer to a contract with Fox for the
television series
The $treet (2000), a main part in
the memorable and dramatic love-story
Waking the Dead (2000) and, more
important, a breakthrough part in the polemic and applauded independent
Requiem for a Dream (2000), a
tale about the haunting lives of drug addicts and the subsequent
process of decadence and destruction. In "Requiem for a Dream,"
Jennifer had her career's most courageous, difficult part, a
performance that earned her a Spirit Award Nomination. She followed
this role with Pollock (2000), in which
she played Pollock's mistress, Ruth Klingman. In 2001,
Ron Howard chose her to co-star with
Russell Crowe in
A Beautiful Mind (2001), the
film that tells the true story of
John Nash, a man who suffered from
mental illness but eventually beats this and wins the Nobel Prize in
1994. Jennifer played Nash's wife and won a Golden Globe, BAFTA, AFI
and Oscar as Best Supporting Actress.
Connelly continued her career with films including Hulk (2003), her second collaboration with Nick Nolte, Dark Water (2005), Blood Diamond (2006), The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), He's Just Not That Into You (2009) and Noah (2014), where she did her second collaboration with both Darren Aronofsky and Russell Crowe and made her third collaboration with Nick Nolte in that same film.
Jennifer lives in New York. She is 5'7", and speaks fluent Italian and
French. She enjoys physical activities such as swimming, gymnastics,
and bike riding. She is also an outdoors person -- camping, hiking and
walking, and is interested in quantum physics and philosophy. She likes
horses, Pearl Jam, SoundGarden,
Jesus Jones, and occasionally wears a small
picture of the The Dalai Lama on a
necklace. Her favorite colors are cobalt blue, forest green, and "very
pale green/gray -- sort of like the color of the sea". She likes to
draw.