Holly Hunter

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Birthday:

20 March 1958, Conyers, Georgia, USA

Birth Name:

Holly P. Hunter

Height:

157 cm

Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia, to Opal Marguerite (Catledge), a homemaker, and Charles Edwin Hunter, a part-time sporting goods company representative and farmer with a 250 acre farm. She is the youngest of seven children. Her parents encouraged 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). Show less «

Acting, for me, is the last vestige of doing something that I would like to feel really naive about. - Interview, November 1995.

[on the importance of rehearsal for Thirteen (2003)] : I mean, some movies I walk in, "Hi, nice to meet you", we get in bed and we do a love...Show more »

[on the importance of rehearsal for Thirteen (2003)] : I mean, some movies I walk in, "Hi, nice to meet you", we get in bed and we do a love scene. And that does happen. That happened with me with Billy Crudup on Jesus' Son (1999). Actors talk about that a lot, but it's not uncommon. And we could not have done Thirteen (2003) that way. It would not have worked. Show less «

I always feel that I am the advocate for my character. More than anyone else on the set, including the director. I'm there to protect my cha...Show more »

I always feel that I am the advocate for my character. More than anyone else on the set, including the director. I'm there to protect my character, in a way. Show less «

I often get asked to direct and I've never taken anyone up on it. It would be very interesting and I would learn so much. But it's a very co...Show more »

I often get asked to direct and I've never taken anyone up on it. It would be very interesting and I would learn so much. But it's a very confrontational job - I mean, directors are forced to confront themselves, and I don't think there's really a way to prepare for the pressure of directing. And I have seen quite a few good people crash and burn at the job. Nervous breakdowns, crying, screaming fits - people buckle, so it's always scared me. But it's intriguing. Show less «

It just seems that abortion rights never ceases to be a hot topic. It's a shame. It feels to me an anachronism. I mean, why are we still tal...Show more »

It just seems that abortion rights never ceases to be a hot topic. It's a shame. It feels to me an anachronism. I mean, why are we still talking about this? Why is this not just a woman's right, period? I find it boring and very frustrating that it remains such a high profile subject. Show less «

Actors do movies because you want to make a connection, you want an audience to recognise themselves in what it is that you're depicting. Th...Show more »

Actors do movies because you want to make a connection, you want an audience to recognise themselves in what it is that you're depicting. The portrait, you want it to be a reflection of some aspect of humanity that people understand, that they see in their own lives. And so, when a movie makes a connection like that, there's simply nothing better. And in some ways, an Academy Award does validate that actual hook-up. Show less «

I was trying to get as much experience as I could. But very early on, I was always extremely particular. From the beginning, I was never des...Show more »

I was trying to get as much experience as I could. But very early on, I was always extremely particular. From the beginning, I was never desperate. I did other things for money; you know, the normal, boring stuff - I temped, I did waitressing. But I actually quit a play early on in my career - it was one of the first things that I ever got cast in, but I quit because there was something about it that I didn't like. I didn't think the director was the right guy to be directing it. So I've never felt that every situation was great for me and therefore I would have to stay. To me, being creative is a very fragile thing, the environment in which one can create is a very particular one, and somehow I've always felt the need to be very protective of that. Show less «

[on how her career as an actress began] : ....Joel and Ethan (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen) had just finished the script of Raising Arizona (1987)...Show more »

[on how her career as an actress began] : ....Joel and Ethan (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen) had just finished the script of Raising Arizona (1987), and they asked me to read it and said that they'd written this part for me and would I be interested in doing it? So that was the beginning of my feature film career. Show less «

I'm just always looking for the best stuff. And also, there are things I want to do that I can't get - they want someone else. Often, in the...Show more »

I'm just always looking for the best stuff. And also, there are things I want to do that I can't get - they want someone else. Often, in the movie business, they need somebody who will garner box office because they need to pay for the movie. So the people who are in movies that make a lot of money are the people who most often get cast in studio pictures. In my career, I've never been a box office name. Granted, a couple of my movies have made a lot of money but I'd do other movies which make very little money or they're not seen that much. Show less «

Actors are beggars and gypsies, that's just the way it is. And in many ways, I take what I can get. But I do search high and low for stuff t...Show more »

Actors are beggars and gypsies, that's just the way it is. And in many ways, I take what I can get. But I do search high and low for stuff that interests me. Show less «

Well, I think that an Academy Award has a certain kind of business shelf life. People have different speculations but definitely for a coupl...Show more »

Well, I think that an Academy Award has a certain kind of business shelf life. People have different speculations but definitely for a couple of years, your price is raised and there are more plentiful offers. Which only makes sense - it is a business. And the Academy Awards is a business, it enhances everything when you win one. But I think the most significant thing for me was, one, it was presented to me by Al Pacino, which I just loved. And two, that it was given to me for a role and an experience that I felt was a profound influence in my life. I know this because I was nominated for The Firm (1993) that same year and I don't feel the same way about The Firm (1993) that I do about The Piano (1993). So if I'd won for The Firm (1993) it would have been a whole different deal for me. I never actually saw The Firm (1993), so for me it would have been like... maces] Show less «

I get cold really quickly, but I don't care. I like weather. I never understand why people move someplace so that they can avoid weather.

I've never directed, but it must be humbling.

I really admire people who are extraordinarily tolerant and patient.

Mothers and daughters can stay very connected during teenage years. In the middle of your life, you can become very alone. Even though you'r...Show more »

Mothers and daughters can stay very connected during teenage years. In the middle of your life, you can become very alone. Even though you're connected deeply to other family members, lovers, husbands, friends. Show less «

I think it's really odd, too, that the public is so privy to how much money the actors make and what movies cost. It seems to me to be besid...Show more »

I think it's really odd, too, that the public is so privy to how much money the actors make and what movies cost. It seems to me to be beside the point. When I go to a movie I really don't want to think about the money. I want to see the story. Show less «