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Vinessa Shaw extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Vinessa Shaw
Born	Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw July 19, 1976 (1976-07-19) (age 33) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress/Model
Years active	1981; 1991—present

Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw (born July 19, 1976) is an American actress and model. Shaw has starred in numerous motion pictures since the early 1990s, and is probably most well-known for her performances in Disney's 1993 Halloween film Hocus Pocus, the 2006 remake of Wes Craven's horror picture The Hills Have Eyes, as well as the 2008 romance film Two Lovers, in which she starred alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Contents 1 Childhood and early career 2 Film career 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 5 Awards and nominations 6 References 7 External links

Childhood and early career

Shaw was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Larry Shaw and actress Susan Damante-Shaw (née Susan Jean Damante).¹² Her family's original surname was "Schwartz".³ Her name, Vinessa, spelled with an "i" rather than the common "a', was a variation of her grandfather's name, Vincent.⁴ Shaw made her first formal performance in a UCLA acting camp short at age 10, and subsequently toured with children's folk singer Peter Alsop at age 11. She also signed on with the Elite Models agency in 1989 at the age of 13 before beginning her acting career,⁵ and did a few modeling jobs and commercial work throughout her earlier career.

Film career

Shaw made her film debut in a little-known-of 1981 slasher film called Home Sweet Home, which dealt with a serial killer at Thanksgiving time. She then landed parts in a handful of television roles. She played a considerably large role in Walt Disney's 1993 Halloween family film Hocus Pocus alongside Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz, and a young Thora Birch. Shaw completed roles in various independent films for the remainder of the 1990s.

In 1999, she was cast in a small yet significant role by the legendary Stanley Kubrick in his final film Eyes Wide Shut, playing an HIV-positive prostitute who is encountered by Tom Cruise. In a 2008 interview, Shaw stated that director Kubrick was "very influential" to her and that he "was the first person who encouraged her to continue acting".⁶ Following her role in Eyes Wide Shut, Vinessa played parts in a handful of films including the independent 2000 mystery-drama The Weight of Water with Sarah Polley and Sean Penn; the slapstick comedy Corky Romano alongside Chris Kattan; the romantic comedy 40 Days and 40 Nights, playing the fiesty ex-girlfriend of Josh Hartnett; and a very small role in Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda.

More low budget and independent films consumed Shaw's time until 2006, where she returned to the big screen in Alexandre Aja's remake of Wes Craven's exploitation-horror film The Hills Have Eyes, playing a young mother on a camping trip with her family who is attacked by bloodthirsty mutants in the new mexico desert. Director Aja had wanted to cast her in the film after seeing her performance in Eyes Wide Shut. Asked why she wanted to act in a horror film, Shaw responded "Well, I guess I could be good in it since I'm so frightened of those kinds of concepts. But this one in particular really attracted me because of the filmmakers. I really thought that they had a great stance on it. Like it's very different, very heartfelt, and heartbreaking because of the characters involved. So that's kind of what made the difference. It was more of an actor's piece, if you can believe that, in a horror movie."⁷ Shaw was featured on the official one sheet promotion poster for the film,⁸ which was a box-office success.

Most recently, Vinessa has been seen in the 2007 remake of the classic Western film 3:10 to Yuma with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, the indie drama film Garden Party, as well as a leading role in Two Lovers alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008 and was released theatrically in February 2009.

Personal life

Shaw dated late actor Jonathan Brandis whom she met while filming Ladybugs in 1992, and later dated actor Oliver Hudson, brother of Kate Hudson and son of Goldie Hawn. She attended the famed Barnard College in New York, but dropped out to pursue acting. Shaw was attending the college when she was approached by Stanley Kubrick for her role in Eyes Wide Shut.

She is a practicing Nichiren Buddhist, she chants Nam Myoho Renge Kyo daily,⁹ and is a facilitator of the SGI-USA Buddhist Association for Peace, Culture, and Education.¹⁰ Shaw mentioned her practicing of the religion in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in February 2009. Shaw has been engaged to behind-the-scenes film artist Kristopher Gifford since 2008.⁴

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1981	Home Sweet Home	Angel	Alternative title: Slasher in the House
1992	Ladybugs	Kimberly Mullen
1993	Hocus Pocus	Allison
1996	Coyote Summer	Callie Carpenter
1998	L.A. Without a Map	Barbara
1999	Eyes Wide Shut	Domino
	Wayward Son	Cordelia
2000	The Weight of Water	Anethe Christenson
2001	Corky Romano	Agent Kate Russo
2002	40 Days and 40 Nights	Nicole
2004	Melinda and Melinda	Stacey
2004	Along came Polly
2006	The Hills Have Eyes	Lynn Carter
2007	3:10 to Yuma	Emmy
	Badland	Nora Rice
2008	Two Lovers	Sandra Cohen
	Garden Party	Sally St. Claire
2009	Stag Night	Brita
2010	Leave	Amy	post-production
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Long Road Home	Clara Tarpin	TV-Movie
1992	The Torkelsons	Meredith Reed	Episode: Sweat Not by the Moon
	Great Scott!	Carolyn Cole
1993	Fallen Angels	Jeannie Streeter	Episode: The Quiet Room
	Country Estates	Heather Calhoun	TV-Pilot
1994	McKenna	Cassidy McKenna	Episode: Pilot
	Murder, She Wrote	Gloria Bryce	Episode: Murder by Twos
1995	New York Undercover	Teen Covergirl	Episode: Young, Beautiful and Dead
2000	The '70s	Eileen Wells	Miniseries
2004	Bereft	Molly	TV-Movie
2005	Fathers and Sons	Nell	TV-Pilot
	World of Trouble		TV-Pilot

Awards and nominations

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• 2008: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture" - 3:10 to Yuma

Young Artist Award

• 1993: Nominated, "Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture" - Ladybugs
• 1993: Nominated, "Best Young Actress Recurring in a Television Series" - Great Scott!
• 1993: Nominated, "Best Young Actress Co-starring in a Motion Picture" - Ladybugs
• 1994: Nominated, "Best Youth Actress Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy" - Hocus Pocus
• 1995: Nominated, "Best Performance by a Youth Actress in a Drama Series" - McKenna
• 1995: Nominated, "Best Performance By a Youth Actress as a Guest Star" - Murder, She Wrote

References

External links

• Vinessa Shaw at the Internet Movie Database

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