“Homework” Girl

Background:

Starting acting at age four, Paz De la Huerta made her silver screen debut at age thirteen in the film adaptation of Stephen McCauley's novel, The Object of My Affection (1998), starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd. Since then, she continues to add to her acting resume with such films as The Cider House Rules (1999), Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), A Walk to Remember (2002), Fierce People (2005) and The Tripper (2006). The actress who got her first lead role in Kevin Asher Green's drama film Homework (2004) has appeared on TV’s "Law & Order," "The Practice" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." She will be seen in the upcoming films Neal Cassady, Anamorph, and The Guitar.


Punk Rock Lover

Childhood and Family:

In New York, New York, Paz De la Huerta was born on September 4, 1984. Her father lives on a ranch in Spain and her mother works in America, helping with birth control in developing countries. She has a younger sister named Rafaela (Rafa), born in 1982.

Paz is a graduate of Saint Ann's School. She now lives in Tribeca, New York, with her mother and sister. During her free time, Paz, a skilled artist, designer, and writer, enjoys listening to punk rock music.


A Walk to Remember

Career:

At the tender age of four, New York native Paz De la Huerta has started acting and trained at the SoHo Children's Acting Studio. At age 13, she made her silver screen debut as the younger version of Lauren Pratt's character in director Nicholas Hytner's adaptation of Stephen McCauley's novel, The Object of My Affection (1998), starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd. She followed it up with roles in Bette Gordon's film version of Scott Bradfield's novel, Luminous Motion (1998; starring Deborah Kara Unger and Eric Lloyd) and in Lasse Hallström's take on John Irving's 1985 novel, The Cider House Rules (1999; with Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron and Michael Caine).

The new millennium saw Paz appearing as a guest on such hit shows NBC’s "Law & Order," ABC’s "The Practice" and NBC’s "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." She was also cast in Martin Davidson's independent drama Looking for an Echo, starring Armand Assante and Diane Venora.

After co-starring with Linda Hamilton and Jesse James in “The Wonderful World of Disney” presentation of Bailey's Mistake (2001), Paz appeared in Ethan Hawke's film adaptation of Nicole Burdette's play, Chelsea Walls, alongside Kevin Corrigan, Rosario Dawson, and Penny Marshall's film based on the autobiography by Beverly D'Onofrio, Riding in Cars with Boys, starring Drew Barrymore. She also starred in Catherine Tingey's short film A Girl's Guide to the Galaxy (2002).

“I really liked ‘The Wedding Planner’ which our director, Adam Shankman, did, and I loved this script. I thought it was really touching and hit a spot. My part, I make fun of Mandy's character so I'm kind of insensitive in the film.” Paz De la Huerta (on what attracted her to play the role in A Walk to Remember (2002)).

Director Adam Shankman handed Paz the role of Tracie in his teen romantic drama film A Walk to Remember (2002). The film, set in mid-1990s Beaufort, North Carolina, was based on the 1998 novel by Nicholas Sparks and stars pop singer Mandy Moore and ER actor Shane West. On working with them, Paz said: “It was great. Everybody was really cool. We filmed in North Carolina, right by the beach. I would go swimming every other day.”

Next, Paz co-starred with Adrian Grenier in writer-director Noah Buschel's high school movie Bringing Rain (2003) and supported Bill Pullman in Curtiss Clayton's drama movie based on Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Rigoletto," Rick (2003). She also scored her first lead role, as Sara, a 16-year-old ballet dancer in writer-director Kevin Asher Green's drama film Homework (2004).

Following her supporting turn opposite Paul Dano in the 2004 sci-fi drama film Light and the Sufferer, Paz went on to co-star as Hunter Parrish's sexually wise longtime crush in writer-director Melissa Painter's Steal Me (2005) and support Diane Lane in Griffin Dunne's film adaptation of Dirk Wittenborn's book, Fierce People (2005). The subsequent year, she was seen in writer-director Henry Jaglom's romantic drama comedy Hollywood Dreams, Steven Kessler's drama 5up 2down, and Jane Ainbinder's 1980's coming-of-age comic drama Nail Polish.

Recently, on April 20, 2007, her latest film, The Tripper, was released. The horror film, about a Ronald Reagan-obsessed serial killer, was produced by, directed by, written by and stars David Arquette. She just completed writer-director Noah Buschel's biopic about the icon of the Beat Generation of the 1950s who played Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's classic On the Road, Neal Cassady (with Tate Donovan in the title role).

Paz is currently on set filming Henry Miller's psychological thriller, Anamorph, alongside Willem Dafoe, Scott Speedman, Peter Stormare and Clea DuVall. She is also set to co-star in Amy Redford's upcoming drama film, The Guitar, playing a pizza delivery girl who engages a sensual relationship with Saffron Burrows’ character.

Awards:
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