Julia O'Hara Stiles (born March 28, 1981) is an American stage and film actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet. Her film career has included both commercial and critical successes, ranging from teen romantic comedies such as 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) to dark art house pictures such as The Business of Strangers (2001). She is also known for playing the supporting character Nicky Parsons in the Bourne film series and the leading role in Save the Last Dance, and for her role in Mona Lisa Smile.
Early life:
Stiles was born in 1981 New York City, the daughter of Judith Stiles, a potter, and John O'Hara, a businessman. Her father is of Irish descent and her mother is of half Italian and half English ancestry. She started acting at age eleven, performing with New York's La MaMa Theatre Company.
Stage career:Stiles's first theatrical roles were in works by author/composer John Moran with the group Ridge Theater, in Manhattan's Lower East Side from 1993-1998. She later performed on stage in Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues, in the summer of 2002 and appeared as Viola, the lead role in Shakespeare in the Park's production of Twelfth Night with Jimmy Smits. Reviewing the production, Ben Brantley of The New York Times saluted Stiles as "the thinking teenager's movie goddess" who put him in mind of a "young Jane Fonda."
In the spring of 2004, she made her London stage debut opposite Aaron Eckhart in a revival of David Mamet's play Oleanna at the Garrick Theatre.
She reprised the role of Carol in a 2009 production, directed by Doug Hughes and co-starring Bill Pullman at the Mark Taper Forum. On June 30, 2009, it was announced that this production would be transferring to Broadway's John Golden Theatre, with previews beginning Sept. 29 before an Oct. 11 opening night.
Other work:On March 17, 2001, Stiles hosted Saturday Night Live and, eight days later, she was a presenter at the 73rd Academy Awards. She returned to Saturday Night Live on May 5 appearing as then President George W. Bush's daughter Jenna Bush in a skit that poked fun at the two first daughters being arrested for underage drinking. MTV profiled her in its Diary series in 2003, and she was Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher at a Washington DC museum in the spring of 2004.
Stiles made her writing and directorial debut with Elle magazine's short Raving starring Zooey Deschanel. It premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
She has also starred in three modern adaptations of Shakespeare's plays: 10 Things I Hate About You (based on The Taming of the Shrew), Hamlet (based on Hamlet), and O (based on Othello).
Personal life:Stiles graduated from Columbia University in 2005, with a degree in English literature.
Stiles has also worked for Habitat for Humanity, building housing in Costa Rica, and has worked with Amnesty International to raise awareness of the harsh conditions of immigration detention of unaccompanied juveniles; Marie Claire magazine, in January 2004, featured Stiles's trip to see conditions at the Berks County Youth Center in Leesport, Pennsylvania. Stiles also serves on the Board of Directors of Amend.org, a New York-based nonprofit that implements childhood injury prevention programs in Africa. She attended parties to promote buildings by Manhattan real estate developer Louis Dubin.
An ex-vegan, now occasionally eating red meat, Stiles says she gave up veganism after she developed anemia and found it difficult to get proper nutrition while traveling. Stiles has described herself as a feminist and wrote on the subject in The Guardian.
An avid baseball fan, she roots for the New York Mets. She threw the ceremonial first pitch before their May 29, 2006 game.
