Mia Kirshner | Information

Name Mia Kirshner
Birthdate January 25, 1975/1976 (year unconfirmed)
Birthplace Toronto, Canada
Family Etti (mother) and Sheldon (father)
Hair Dark Brown
Eyes Blue/Grey
Height 5′4″ (1.63 cm) tall

Mia Kirshner was born January 25, 1975/1976 (year unconfirmed) to parents Sheldon, a journalist and Ettie, a teacher. She was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and grew up as a self-described tom-boy and goofball. She attended McGill University in Montreal, Canada during 1996-1997 with a major in Russian Literature and a minor in the 20th century movie industry.

Mia started acting in her early teens. Her first gigs in the film industry were smaller parts in television shows such as War of the Worlds, My Secret Identity and Road to Avonlea. In 1990 she got the role of Sophie Metternich in the short-lived television show Dracula: The Series, which told the story of two children and their vampire-hunting uncle who go against Dracula, reborn as a modern-day businessman. She landed her first movie role at the age of 17 in the film Love & Human Remains. Mia was wonderful in the role of Benita, a young clairvoyant dominatrix, but also shocked the press for taking on such a risky role at such young age. The role garnered Mia positive attention as well and she was nominated for a Genie Award for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” in 1994.

Mia’s next big breakthrough in independent cinema came in 1994 with the critically acclaimed Exotica, in which she portrayed Christina, an exotic dancer stalked by her ex-boyfriend. Roger Ebert named the movie one of the top 10 films of 1994 and spoke of Mia: “Mia Kirshner, an actress new to me, combines sexual allure with a kindness that makes her all the more appealing.” After that, Mia took on a few larger roles starring alongside Vincent Perez in the 1996 film The Crow: City of Angels, alongside Sophie Marceau and Sean Bean in the 1997 film Anna Karenina and alongside John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman in the 1997 film Mad City. After that, she took a little break from work for a couple of years and returned in 1999 with roles in Saturn and Out of the Cold.

In 2001, Mia had a big break in mainstream movies and once again shocked movie-goers in her role as Catherine Wyler in the hit teen parody Not Another Teen Movie when she shared an intimate kiss with the much older Beverly Polcyn. The kiss landed them a nomination in the “Best Kiss” category at the 2002 MTV Movie Awards. She then played one of the lead roles in the 2002 independent film New Best Friend, a lead role in the short-lived television show Wolf Lake and also had a guest spot that would turn into a recurring guest role on the television show 24 as the tough female assassin Mandy. In 2004 she landed the role of Jenny Schecter on the lesbian drama, The L Word, which is now in its fifth season.

2006 was a big year for Mia’s career as well. She starred as the doomed young actress, Elizabeth “Betty” Short in Brian DePalma’s depiction of The Black Dahlia alongside Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank. The film itself did not receive great reviews, but the kind words it did receive all pertained to Mia and her performance of the late Miss Short. Here’s what a few critics had to say:

“The standout is Mia Kirshner, a favorite of mine for over a decade now.  She is perfectly cast as the desperately lonely actress looking for her big break.  All of her flashback scenes are shot in a luxurious black and white that only adds to the emotional turmoil and poignancy she portrays.  This is Oscar material and she should be on pins and needles next February when the Best Supporting Actress nominations are announced.” - IndependentCritics.com

“The real standout in the cast, however, is Mia Kirshner, who turns in a haunting, blisteringly effective performance as Short. Even though she is seen only in four key scenes, Kirshner’s performance is so evocative and searing that she should earn an Academy Award nomination…” – The Badger Herald

Mia’s most important body of work to date is the book I Live Here, which she’s spent the past 7 years working on with such writers and artists as Joe Sacco, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Phoebe Gloeckner, Chris Abani, J.B. MacKinnon, and designers Paul Shoebridge and Michael Simons. The book is schedule to be released in October 2008 by Pantheon. This project is very dear to Mia and contains stories about the women and children refugees from such places as Chechnya, Cuidad Juárez, Mexico, Malawi, Africa and the Thailand-Burma border. In addition to photos taken by Mia and her co-creators, the book will include writing, sketches, and self-portraits from some of the women and children they spent time with and original artwork by the comic/graphic novel artists Joe Sacco and Phoebe Gloeckner. All proceeds from the book will go to Amnesty International. Please visit i-live-here.com, Pantheon or Amnesty International to learn more and pre-order a copy of the book.