Zoë Kravitz | |
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Kravitz attending the premiere of The Union at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival |
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Born | Zoë Isabella Kravitz December 1, 1988 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupation | Actress, singer, model |
Years active | 2007–present |
Parents | Lenny Kravitz (father) Lisa Bonet (mother) |
Zoë Isabella Kravitz (born December 1, 1988)[1] is an American actress, singer and model. She is the daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet. She has appeared in the films The Brave One (2007) with Jodie Foster, and No Reservations (2007) with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Kravitz played Pearl on the fourth season of the Showtime television series Californication, and appeared as Angel Salvadore in the 2011 film X-Men: First Class.
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Kravitz was born in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, California, at the canal-front home of her parents, actress Lisa Bonet and musician Lenny Kravitz.[2] Her paternal grandmother, actress Roxie Roker, was of African American and Bahamian descent (and a second cousin of meteorologist Al Roker), and her maternal grandfather, Allen Boney, is African American. Her paternal grandfather, Sy Kravitz, and maternal grandmother, Arlene Litman, were both Jewish.[3] Zoë Kravitz identifies as a secular Jew.[4]
Kravitz's parents married in 1987 and divorced six years later, in 1993, when she was five.[5] She lived with her mother until age eleven, and then lived with her father, while spending summers with her mother.[6] Kravitz attended Miami Country Day School in Miami, Florida, and then Rudolf Steiner School in Manhattan, New York, where she graduated in 2007.[7] Kravitz began studying that year at the acting conservatory at the State University of New York at Purchase.[8] She left college after a year and moved to Brooklyn to work in films.[9]
Kravitz made her feature film debut in 2007's No Reservations, which starred Catherine Zeta Jones and Aaron Eckhart. That same year she played a teenage prostitute in the action thriller The Brave One, starring Jodie Foster and Terrance Howard. Kravitz completed work on both films during her final year at high school.
She starred in Jay-Z's music video for the single "I Know" in 2008,[10] and was featured singing in will.i.am's music video, "We Are The Ones", in support of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama. That year Kravitz appeared in the film Birds of America, a dramedy about a dysfunctional family starring Matthew Perry.[11] She co-starred in the independent ensemble drama The Greatest,[12] which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Kravitz played a character addicted to grief counseling groups.[13]
She completed work on the coming-of-age film, Yelling to the Sky in 2009, starring with Gabourey Sidibe and Tim Blake Nelson.[14] The directorial debut of Victoria Mahoney, it premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2011. Kravitz played Sweetness O'Hara, a troubled 17-year-old from Queens, New York.[15]
In 2010, she appeared in It's Kind of a Funny Story, a coming-of-age film adapted from the 2006 novel by Ned Vizzini.[16] Also that year, Kravitz appeared in Twelve, adapted from the cult novel of the same name by Nick McDonell, about a group of wealthy and reckless teens from the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.[17] Kravitz starred as Evie Wallace, a high school sex columnist, in the teen comedy Beware the Gonzo.[18][19] The film premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.[20]
In 2011, she appeared in a six-episode arc of the Showtime television series Californication, playing Pearl, an uninhibited musician who recruits Becca (cast-member Madeleine Martin) into her all-girl band, Queens of Dogtown.[21] Kravitz next was cast to star in Fury Road, by Australian filmmaker George Miller, set shortly after the 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.[22] Originally scheduled to begin shooting in Australia in early 2011, production was postponed to 2012.[23]
She co-starred as Angel Salvadore, one of the superhuman teen mutants, in X-Men: First Class, based on the Marvel Comics characters the X-Men.[24] The film is a prequel to the X-Men film series, and is set in the 1960s during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kravitz filmed in London and performed wire work for her role, to simulate her character's ability to fly.[6] In late 2011, she also completed work on the film The Boy Who Smells Like Fish, starring opposite Douglas Smith.[25]
Kravitz has modeled in fashion magazines such as French Jalouse, Venus Zine and Elle. She was named the face of Vera Wang's Princess fragrance in 2009, appearing on the website and in advertisements for the brand.[26] Kravitz starred in a campaign for fashion designer Alexander Wang in 2010,[27] and represented Vera Wang's new Preppy Princess fragrance in 2011.[28]
Kravitz has a maternal younger half-sister, Lola Iolani Momoa (born July 2007), and younger half-brother, Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa (born December 2008), from her mother's relationship with actor Jason Momoa.[29] As of October 2011, Kravitz was dating Gossip Girl actor Penn Badgley .[30]
As of 2009, she lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City.[31] The song "Flowers for Zoë", included on her father's second album Mama Said, was written as a tribute to a then three-year old Kravitz.[32]
Kravitz fronts the New York/Philadelphia-based band, Elevator Fight, which she formed in 2009.[7] The band has performed at the South by Southwest music festival, and on the main stage of the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia in June 2009, along with The Roots, TV On The Radio, and The Black Keys.[33] Kravitz has stated that her music is a hobby.[6]
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
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2007 | No Reservations | Charlotte | Feature film debut |
The Brave One | Chloe | ||
2008 | Assassination of a High School President | Valerie | |
Birds of America | Gillian | ||
2009 | The Greatest | Ashley | |
2010 | Twelve | Gabby | |
Beware the Gonzo | Evie Wallace | ||
It's Kind of a Funny Story | Nia | ||
2011 | Californication | Pearl | TV series |
Yelling to the Sky | Sweetness O'Hara | Premiered at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival | |
X-Men: First Class | Angel Salvadore | Nominated - Scream Award for Breakout Performance-Female Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Breakout: Female |