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Chloë Stevens Sevigny (born November 18, 1974) is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated American actress and former model.¹ Sevigny became known for her fashion career and starred in a string of critically acclaimed independent films in the 1990s before her first mainstream role as Brandon Teena's girlfriend, Lana Tisdale, in Boys Don't Cry. For her role, Sevigny received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

Sevigny has continued acting in mostly independent, but critically acclaimed roles in art house films and has recently enjoyed success playing Nicki Grant, on the American television series Big Love, playing a woman married to a polygamist.

Early life

Sevigny was born Chloë Stevens Sevigny in Darien, Connecticut to H. David Sevigny, an accountant turned interior painter, and Janine Malinowski.² Sevigny's mother is a Polish American³ who grew up in Roxborough⁴ and her father is of French Canadian heritage; he died from cancer in 1996.² She has an older sibling, Paul, who is now a New York DJ. Sevigny was raised in a strict Catholic household,⁵⁶ and attended Darien High School. While in high school, she babysat Topher Grace on several occasions.

Sevigny moved into her own apartment at age 18 in Brooklyn. Here, in 1993, after hanging out with Manhattan skateboarders, she was spotted on an East Village street by a fashion editor of Sassy Magazine, who was so impressed by Sevigny's style that she asked her to intern at the magazine.² She later modeled in the magazine as well as for x-girl, the fashion label of Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. During that time, author Jay McInerney saw her around New York City and wrote a seven-page article about her for The New Yorker, in which he dubbed her the new "it-girl".² She appeared on the album cover of The Gigolo Aunts' 1994 recording Flippin' Out.⁷

Career

Early roles: 1995–1999

Sevigny made her film debut in the controversial low-budget independent film Kids (1995), directed by Larry Clark and written by independent filmmaker Harmony Korine. The film was given an NC-17 rating by the MPAA for its graphic depiction of sexuality and drug use involving teenagers. Sevigny followed Kids with the independent film Trees Lounge (1996), starring as the object of Steve Buscemi's affection. Sevigny then starred in and worked as a fashion designer on Gummo (1997), directed and written by Harmony Korine. The film details the dysfunctional lives of residents of Xenia, Ohio. She then starred in the 1998 neo-noir thriller Palmetto, directed by Volker Schlöndorff. She then had a leading role in The Last Days of Disco (1998), alongside Kate Beckinsale.

Sevigny rose to prominence after playing Lana Tisdel in Boys Don't Cry (1999), a biopic of transman Brandon Teena, who was raped and murdered in 1993. The role won Sevigny Best Supporting Actress nominations for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.⁸ Sevigny also won an Independent Spirit Award for her role. The real Tisdel has claimed that the film depicted her as "lazy, white trash and a skanky snake".⁹¹⁰

Later roles and success: 2000–2006

Sevigny then had a supporting role in American Psycho (1999), as well as teaming up with Kids writer and Gummo director Harmony Korine once again for the experimental piece Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) and A Map of the World (1999). Afterward she co-starred in one of the three stories in the Emmy Award-winning television movie If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000), pairing up with Michelle Williams as unlikely young lovers. Sevigny here plays a butch lesbian who struggles to fit in the feminist scene in the 1970s. Following this appearance, she had small roles in Demonlover (2002), Party Monster (2003), Death of a Dynasty (2003), and Dogville (2003).

After Winona Ryder¹¹ and Kirsten Dunst¹² both turned down roles in The Brown Bunny (2003), Sevigny took on the lead female role. The film is controversial for its final scene, which involves an act of unsimulated fellatio performed to a climax by Sevigny on co-star and director Vincent Gallo, who was rumored to be her boyfriend at the time, though Gallo states they were "less than friends". She said about the role: "I knew people would not understand it. It's a shame people write so many things when they haven't seen it. When you see the film, it makes more sense. It's an art film. It should be playing in museums. It's like an Andy Warhol movie." After the film's release, the William Morris Agency dropped Sevigny as a client.¹³

2006 to the present

In 2006, Sevigny co-starred in the HBO television series Big Love, about a family of polygamists. She plays the conniving, shopaholic daughter of a cult leader and second wife to a polygamist husband. She also had roles in Catherine and Peter, scheduled for 2008, and Zodiac, which was released in early 2007.

Sevigny has modeled for a number of designers and brands, including Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, H&M, and MAC Cosmetics.^{citation needed} In October 2007 the French fashion house Chloé announced that she would be one of the spokesmodels for their new fragrance. In addition, she has been in a number of cover photo shoots and interviews, such as in the January 2007 issue of House and Garden entitled "Subversive Spirit". Sevigny is currently releasing a clothing line in conjunction with downtown New York City boutique Opening Ceremony, which is expected to open in mid 2008.¹⁴ She also starred in Smog's 2006 film clip for "Mother of the World".

More recently Sevigny starred in the video to Beck's 'Gamma Ray'.

Personal life

Sevigny currently owns an apartment in East Village, Manhattan, which she bought for $1.2 million in 2006.¹⁵¹⁶

Sevigny became romantically involved in her teenage years with filmmaker/director Harmony Korine, who cast her in his directorial debut Gummo. Sevigny has been romantically linked to the actor Vincent Gallo and musician Matt McAuley of the group A.R.E. Weapons. Sevigny has also hinted at being bisexual: "I've questioned issues of gender and sexuality since I was a teenager, and I did some experimenting."¹⁷ She continued "I always ended up getting involved with my close girlfriends, and that was really bad ... I love women -- they're beautiful. What more can I say?".¹⁸

Notable films not cast in

• Buffalo '66 (1998) (Layla) - Chloë Sevigny was offered the female lead opposite Vincent Gallo in this drama after her success with Kids and Gummo. She turned down the part.
• Catch Me If You Can (2002) - Sevigny was considered for a role in Catch Me If You Can.
• Terminator Salvation (2009) (Blair Williams) - Chloe auditioned for role as Blair.
• Lolita (1997) (Lolita) - Auditioned for role as Lolita.

Filmography

Films

Footnotes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Chloë Sevigny

External links

• Chloë Sevigny at the Internet Movie Database