Julia Stiles
Julia Stiles
Julia O'Hara Stilesis an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Stiles began acting at age 11 and made her screen debut as Erica Dansby in six episodes of the television series Ghostwriter. Her first film role was in I Love You, I Love You Not, followed by a leading role in the thriller Wicked, for which she was awarded the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award for Best Actress. She went on to gain prominence for her...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth28 March 1981
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I did a run of a play over the summer in a really tiny theater in New York and that was rejuvenating for me. I directed a short series for Hulu called Paloma and being in an editing room, I learned a lot about acting.
I remember seeing Janet McTeer in A Doll's House. My grandmother took me and we had seats in the very back row, but her performance was so powerful - it was very accessible. I felt like I was much closer than I was.
My grandmother took me to a lot of theater. I was exposed to performance quite a bit - everything from Broadway to off-Broadway and dance and music as well. I was very lucky that way. It was a very rich childhood.
With film, so much is in the director's hands. Once something is cut together - unless you're in the editing room - you don't really remember what the alternatives are.
Bill Pullman is older than Aaron Eckhart - although I was older too - and the age difference changes the play. My perspective on those issues had changed a lot. Without going into nerdy details about that play, there was something that still stuck with me. I still had the same joy in that dialogue and David Mamet's rhythm in terms of his writing. I felt like there was still something to explore.
I was happy when I read the script [The Bourne Ultimatum ] - the first version they sent me - to see that before, there's some humanity too.
The thing with the Bourne movies is that they're so big in scope and the production value is so high and it takes so much organization.
It was nice that there [ in the Bourne Ultimatum ] was a reference to the relationship . It's very subtle - it's actually without dialogue. I do think it's powerful even without words.
I did a different production with a different director and Bill Pullman. Oleanna - the one you saw - we were doing right after Bourne Identity or right after it came out.
Being an actor is looked at like a prolonged game of dress-up. America puts movie stars on pedestals. In college, it's the flip side. I sometimes have to justify my job to my professors because they're focused on intellect and ideas.
Sometimes I have these abstract ideas and then lose track of myself.
I tend to gravitate toward the more powerful roles. As opposed to the doe-eyed girl who bats her eyelashes and runs around in towels, you now what I mean? Because that kind of makes me want to vomit.
So I am happy to have fans, especially if it enables me to keep working. And I am really grateful when people respond to my work.
It's actually really great to be a student and an actor, because I get to do this job that I love, then just when I think my head might explode, I get to go to school where they don't really care about what magazine cover I'm on.