Holly Hunter's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Saving Grace Grace Hanad…

Main Movie Roles 2005 - Nine Lives 2005 - The Big White 2004 - The Incredibles 2004 - Little Black Book 2003 - Thirteen 2003 - Levity 2002 - Moonlight Mile 2000 - O Brother, Where Art Thou? 2000 - Timecode 1998 - Living Out Loud 1997 - A Life Less Ordinary 1996 - Crash 1995 - Copycat 1995 - Home for the Holidays 1993 - The Piano 1993 - The Firm 1989 - Always 1987 - Broadcast News 1987 - Raising Arizona 1984 - Blood Simple 1984 - Swing Shift 1981 - The Burning

BIOGRAPHY:

Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia, the youngest of seven children whose father was a part-time sporting goods company representative and part-time farmer with a 250 acre farm. Her parents encouraged in her talent at an early age, and her first acting part was as Helen Keller in a fifth-grade play. In 1976 she went to Pittsburgh to pursue a degree in drama from Carnegie Mellon University. After graduating in 1980, she went to New York City, where she met playwright Beth Henley in a stalled elevator. Hunter went on to get roles in a number of Henley's southern gothic plays, including Crimes of the Heart and The Miss Firecracker Contest. In 1982 the actress went to Los Angeles. She landed her first starring role in the movies in the Coen brothers' Raising Arizona (1987), a part that is said to have been written with her in mind. She gained stardom in 1987 when she played the driven TV news producer Jane Craig in James L. Brooks' Broadcast News (1987). In 1993 she earned an Academy Award and worldwide acclaim with her performance as a mute bride to a New Zealand planter in The Piano (1993).


TRIVIA:

• An accomplished pianist, she actually performed all of the piano music for her Oscar performance in _The Piano (1993)_ (qv). Film makers selected pieces for her that matched her talent.
• Was director 'James L. Brooks' (qv)' first choice to play the female lead in _As Good as It Gets (1997)_ (qv), but reportedly demanded too much money upfront and was passed over in favour of 'Helen Hunt (I)' (qv). Hunter had previously collaborated with 'James L. Brooks' (qv) on the 1987 film, _Broadcast News (1987)_ (qv).
• She is one of the elite eleven actors to have been nominated for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the same year. The other nine are: 'Fay Bainter' (qv); 'Barry Fitzgerald (I)' (qv); 'Teresa Wright (I)' (qv); 'Jessica Lange' (qv); 'Sigourney Weaver' (qv); 'Al Pacino' (qv); 'Emma Thompson (I)' (qv); 'Julianne Moore (I)' (qv); 'Cate Blanchett' (qv) and 'Jamie Foxx' (qv). 'Emma Thompson (I)' (qv) received her double-nomination in the same year that Hunter did.
• She had one line in her film debut, _The Burning (1981)_ (qv), among a few ad libs. Regarding missing canoes she says to Todd -- "What happens if we don't find them?"
• Lived in the same house as 'Joel Coen' (qv) and 'Ethan Coen' (qv), 'Frances McDormand' (qv) and 'Sam Raimi' (qv) in 1985 in Silver Lake, just outside of Los Angeles.
• She won her Oscar-winning role in _The Piano (1993)_ (qv) over 'Anjelica Huston' (qv), 'Jennifer Jason Leigh' (qv), 'Juliette Binoche' (qv) and 'Isabelle Huppert' (qv). 'Sigourney Weaver' (qv)'s agent had turned it down without sending her the script.
• Replaced 'Debra Winger' (qv) for the role of Jane Craig in _Broadcast News (1987)_ .
• In 1993, she won the Oscar for Best Actress for _The Piano (1993)_ (qv), in which she utilised her real-life piano skills. Eleven years later, 'Jamie Foxx' (qv) won Best Actor for _Ray (2004/I)_ (qv), in which he also played the piano. Both of them had been nominated for a supporting performance in those respective years, and both were nominated for a role they played opposite 'Tom Cruise' (qv). Hunter appeared in _The Firm (1993)_ (qv) and 'Jamie Foxx' (qv) appeared in _Collateral (2004)_ (qv).