Jennifer Connelly is an award-winning American actress, who has starred in over 30 motion pictures. Connelly started acting during her childhood; she made her film debut in the 1984 Sergio Leone crime film Once Upon a Time in America, followed by the 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth, which gained her public recognition. After starring in movies that failed in the box office in the early 1990s, such as Dennis Hopper's The Hot Spot, Joe Johnston's The Rocketeer and John Hughes' Career Opportunities, Connelly started to take mature roles, such as John Singleton's Higher Learning, by the middle of the decade. Subsequently, she began to appear in small budget but well regarded films such as Inventing the Abbotts and Dark City.
Her breakthrough was her critically acclaimed performance as Marion Silver in Darren Aronofsky's 2000 drama Requiem for a Dream, based on Hubert Selby, Jr.'s novel of the same name. Her portrayal of Alicia Nash in Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind earned her an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA award for best supporting actress. Other films starred by Connelly in the 2000s include Hulk, House of Sand and Fog, Blood Diamond, The Day the Earth Stood Still and He's Just Not That Into You.