Born in Canada but moved to her mother's native New Zealand when she was 4; has dual citizenship
Has no formal training in acting
Won an Oscar for her work in The Piano when she was 11, the second youngest person to have done so (Tatum O'Neal was the youngest, at 10, for Paper Moon)
Keeps her Oscar statuette in the closet so visitors don't feel that they have to make conversation about it
Made her professional stage debut in 2001 in Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living (directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman), which earned her a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Play
Other stage work includes Neil LaBute's The Distance From Here (2004) and Gina Gionfriddo's After Ashley (2005) in New York, and Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth (2002)
Formed production company with her filmmaker brother, Andrew, called Paquin Films; their first film was Blue State (2007)
Appeared on the silver screen with husband and True Blood costar Stephen Moyer in Open House (2010), a thriller her brother Andrew wrote and directed
Awards
2019Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:nominated
2010Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama:nominated
2010Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television:nominated
2009Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series:nominated
2009Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama:winner
2008Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television:nominated
2007Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries:nominated
2007Emmy-Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie:nominated
2000Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:nominated
1994Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:nominated
1993Oscar-Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:winner
1992Los Angeles Film Critics Association-Best Supporting Actress:winner