Jennifer Connelly (born on December 12, 1970, in New York, United States) is an American actress and model. She began her career as a child model by appearing in magazines, newspapers, and television advertising.
Later in 1984, Jennifer made her acting debut with the epic crime drama film Once Upon a Time in America. She is recognized for her performances in films such as Labyrinth (1986), Career Opportunities (1991), and The Rocketeer (1991).
Jennifer earned critical acclaim for her roles in films such as Dark City, Requiem for a Dream, and Pollock. Jennifer Connelly won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the role of Alicia Nash in Ron Howard’s biopic “A Beautiful Mind (2001).”
In addition to her cinema career, she is the face of advertising for the cosmetics companies Revlon and Shiseido as well as the Parisian fashion house Balenciaga. In 2012, many magazines, including Time, Vanity Fair, and Esquire as well as the Los Angeles Times newspaper, placed her on their “most beautiful women in the world” lists.
Facts About Jennifer Connelly
- Born: 12 December 1970, in Cairo, New York, United States
- Birth Name: Jennifer Lynn Connelly
- Age: 50 years old
- Height: 5 feet 5 inches (1.70 meters)
- Weight: 57 kg (125 lbs)
- Hair Color: Black
- Eyes Color: Green
- Zodiac sign: Sagittarius
- Education:-
Saint Ann’s School
Yale University
Stanford University - Nationality: American
- Religion: Roman Catholic and Jewish
- Parents: Gerard Connelly (Father), Eileen Connelly (Mother)
- Husband: Paul Bettany (m. 2003)
- Children: Kai Dugan, Agnes Lark Bettany, Stellan Bettany
- Net Worth: $55 Million (As of July 2021)
Jennifer Connelly Biography
Jennifer Connelly was born on 12 December 1970, in Cairo, New York, in the Catskill Mountains. She is the daughter of Gerard Connelly. he was a clothing manufacturer and an antique dealer.
Her dad Gerard Connelly was Roman Catholic, and of Irish-Norwegian descent. Jennifer’s mother Eileen Connelly was Jewish. Jennifer grew up in Brooklyn Heights, near the Brooklyn Bridge. She studied at Saint Ann’s private school specializing in the arts and sciences.
In 1976, her family moved to Woodstock, New York, because her dad suffered from asthma. Four years later, her family returned to Brooklyn Heights, and Connelly went back to her old school.
Later she did graduate from high school and went to studied English literature at Yale University in 1988. After two years, Connelly shifted to Stanford University to study acting. Later Connelly left her college to work in the movie industry.
Personal Life of Jennifer Connelly
In 1991, while filming “The Rocketeer”, Connelly come into a romantic relationship with co-star Billy Campbell. They stayed together for five years before separation in 1996. Connelly then had a relationship with photographer David Dugan, with whom she has a son, Kai, born in
In 2001, she met with actor Paul Bettany, while filming A Beautiful Mind. On January 1, 2003, in a private family ceremony in Scotland, Jennifer Connelly married British actor Paul Bettany.
The couple has two children: a son, Stellan Bettany was born in 2003, and a daughter, Agnes Lark Bettany was born in 2011. Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany live together with their kids in Brooklyn Heights.
Jennifer is actively involved in charity work. On November 14, 2005, she became Amnesty International’s Human Rights Ambassador. She starred in an advertisement on the importance of clean water to humans, after which many donations were made to build drilling rigs in Africa, Asia, and Central America.
Modeling and Acting Career
In 1980, Jennifer Connelly joined a modeling agency “Ford Models” where she began her career as an advertising model at the age of 10. She appears on magazine covers and later in television commercials, most of them in Japan.
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, she said that after being a child model for some time, she had no ambitions to become an actress. Her mother takes her to auditions and gets her first film role in Sergio Leone’s Jewish gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America.
She described the film as “an incredibly idyllic entry into acting”. Although Connelly did not appear more than a few minutes on screen, they were enough to show her talent as an actress.
In 1985, she got her first leading role in the Italian horror film “Phenomena” directed by Dario Argento, where she played an American teenager who can communicate with insects, engaged in facing a ferocious killer in a muffled Swiss boarding school.
The movie was very successful at the box office in Europe but was released in the United States with a censored version. Jennifer gained recognition with the fantasy film Labyrinth, which is directed by Jim Henson. In the movie, she played the role of Sarah Williams, alongside David Bowie.
Although the film was unsuccessful at the box office, it got a huge following. In 1998, she appeared in the science fiction film Dark City, where she played alongside Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, and Kiefer Sutherland.
Worldwide Recognition
In 2000, Ed Harris directed Connelly in the biopic Pollock in which she appeared as Ruth Kligman, a young lover of the painter Jackson Pollock. According to the movie review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes, Pollock received mostly positive comments.
The same year Connelly appeared in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama film Requiem for a Dream. She became interested in the script because of its portrayal of drug addiction and its impact on the lives of the main characters. In this film, she plays the young woman Marion Silver, the girlfriend of Harry (Jared Leto).
She wants to open a clothing store, but ultimately prostitute to fund her drug addiction. Connelly prepared for her role by renting and living in an apartment in her house. During this time she isolated herself socially.
She painted, listened to music, designed clothes, and wondered about her addictions and their causes – as she believed the protagonist would do. She also spoke to addicts and attended a meeting of the Narcotics Anonymous support group with one of her friends who was part of the group.
The success of “A Beautiful Mind”
Connelly was invited to audition for the role of Alicia Nash in Ron Howard’s 2001 American biographical drama film “A Beautiful Mind” after her manager sent the film producer a clip of the then-unreleased Requiem for a Dream.
The director and producers were impressed by her good relationship with leading actor Russell Crowe. In this film, Connelly played the role of Alicia Nash, the caring and enduring wife of Schizophrenia math genius man John Nash, which is played by Russell Crowe.
At her personal request, she met with the real-life Alicia Nash to learn more about her life before filming began. After release, A Beautiful Mind becomes a commercial success, grossing more than $313 million worldwide.
Jennifer Connelly Oscar
For her performance, in 2002 Connelly earned a Golden Globe, an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She said of the film ” A Beautiful Mind is a film that I’m proud of and that I love very much”.
2003-2008
In 2003, Connelly starred in Ang Lee’s American superhero film “Hulk” based on Marvel Comics. She played the role of scientist Betty Ross, who is the ex-girlfriend of nuclear physicist Bruce Banner. The film was a moderate success, grossed just under $245 million worldwide.
The same year she appeared in the psychological drama film “House of Sand and Fog”, based on the novel by Andre Dubus III. Connelly played Kathy Nicolo, an abandoned wife whose inherited house is sold at auction to the Iranian emigre and former colonel Massoud Amir Behrani (Played by Ben Kingsley).
After reading the film script, Connelly said: “I liked the fact that there is no such thing as a ‘good guy’ or a ‘bad guy’. I found it really imperative that both sides do things that are morally questionable because life is often like that.”
“House of sand and fog” (2003) was one of the most acclaimed of her career and the one that ended up contrasting it, despite not obtaining the Oscar nomination as expected. In 2005, Connelly starred in the supernatural horror film Dark Water, which was a remake of the 2002 Japanese film of the same name.
In 2007, she appeared, alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo, in the drama “A Single Moment.” The film is about a family who loses their ten-year-old son in a traffic accident when he carelessly enters a street. At the time, she described the role of Grace as tougher than her previous roles.
In 2008, she played the role of scientist Helen Benson, in the film “The Day The Earth Stood Still”, together with Keanu Reeves, which was a remake of sci-fi remake Ultimatum to Earth.
Jennifer Connelly Net Worth
Jennifer Connelly’s net worth is estimated at $55 million as of July 2021. That is a combined net worth with her husband, Paul Bettany. The couple has a $16 million worth townhouse in Brooklyn Heights.
The townhouse features more than 8,000 square feet of living area and offers beautiful views of the city skyscraper, which including the most iconic Statue of Liberty.