Selma Blair Bio

This Selma Blair biography contains information believed to be accurate as extracted from sources around the internet including Wikipedia. If you believe there are errors or omissions in this Selma Blair bio, please let us know so that we can correct any inaccuracies.

Selma Blair Pictures

Selma Blair (born Selma Blair Beitner; June 23, 1972) is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. Her career has included both commercial and critical successes; she has starred in feature films including Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde, The Sweetest Thing, Hellboy, The Fog, Purple Violets, and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. She also played the titular role of Kim in the US version of the TV series Kath & Kim.

In 2012, Blair is set as the female lead in the new FX comedy series Anger Management opposite Charlie Sheen, which is scheduled for worldwide release on June 28th, 2012.

She has recently released a new line of handbags & wallets called SB designed by herself.

Selma Blair: Early life

Blair was born Selma Blair Beitner in Southfield, Michigan, the daughter of Elliot and judge Molly Ann Beitner (née Cooke). Her Hebrew name is Batsheva. She has three older sisters, Katherine (a book publicist), Elizabeth, and Marie. Blair attended Hillel Day School, a Jewish day school in Farmington Hills, Cranbrook Kingswood in Bloomfield Hills and Kalamazoo College, where she spent her freshman year (1990-91), in which she did a play called "The Little Theater of the Green Goose" and studied photography.

Later, Blair moved to New York City to pursue her photography career, where she lived at The Salvation Army. Right there, is where she decided to enter NYU, she also attended acting classes at The Stella Adler Conservatory, The Column Theatre and The Stonestreet Screen Acting Workshop; later she returned to Michigan to finish her studies and then start an acting career.

After transferring from New York University, she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan in 1994 with a BFA degree in photography, a Double major in Fine Arts & English and a BA in Psychology.

Selma Blair: Career

Selma Blair - Early work

When Blair attended the Stella Adler Conservatory, she was discovered by an agent in acting class, one week later, she got her first advertising contract for a television spot ad for a theater in Virginia, then she received her Screen Actor's Guild membership card at the Actors' union.

After training at acting schools in NY, Blair began auditioning in the mid-90s, her first audition was for a cereal commercial, and won her first professional role in 1995 in an episode of the children's television sitcom The Adventures of Pete & Pete.

In 1996 she landed her first film role in The Broccoli Theory, an unromantic comedy; later she won her first lead role in the fantasy film Amazon High with Karl Urban, which was filmed in New Zealand, later parts of the film were transmitted in the episode "Lifeblood" of the series Xena: Warrior Princess. In 1997 Blair starred opposite Suzanne Somers in the family drama No Laughing Matter, as a pregnant teenager, later she auditioned for the title role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer , but Sarah Michelle Gellar was chosen instead, soon after Blair was originally cast as Joey Potter on Dawson's Creek, but later she was replaced by Katie Holmes; subsequently she appeared in several independent movies like Debutante with Josh Hartnett, Girl opposite Dominique Swain, the suspense thriller Brown's Requiem, based on the crime novel of the same name and Strong Island boys, based on true events about a Long Island street gang.

Blair also appeared in My Friend Steve's 1998 music video for the song "Charmed", and the Placebo music video for "Every You Every Me".

Selma Blair - Mainstream Success

After several auditions, independent film roles and guest roles in various television series, Blair starred in a mainstream movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe in the 1999 film Cruel Intentions, the movie is based on the novel "Les Liaisons dangereuses" and was a commercial success, debuting at numer two at the US box office; Blair took the role of an innocent girl whose classmates try to ruin her reputation, for her performance she was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for "Best Breakthrough Performance" and won for "Best Kiss" with Gellar.

From 1999-2000, Blair went on to star as Zoe Bean in the WB's Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane, alongside Azura Skye and Michael Rosenbaum, the first season follow the lives of four high school classmates and the second season was just called "Zoe" and follows Zoe a few years later as a college student studying psychology, for her role she was nominated for the Teen Choice Awards for TV - Breakout Performance category.

In 2000 Blair won a Movieline's Young Hollywood Award in the Exciting New Face - Female Category and portrays a predatory and sexy seductress college girl in the teen comedy Down to you alongside Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Julia Stiles, the film ranked two at the box office in North America.

Her film career continued in the 21st century with the independent drama Kill Me Later opposite Max Beesley, she starred as a depressed girl fed up with her life, who attempts suicide, the film had a limited release on September 14, 2001 in New York and Los Angeles. She later co-starred in the comedy Legally Blonde opposite Reese Witherspoon, the movie was a commercial success, topped the US box-office in its opening weekend; Blair played a snobby and preppy law student. It was followed by the controversial Storytelling, a drama set in 1985 alongside Leo Fitzpatrick, Blair portrayed a college student, unsure of herself, who is forced to have a relationship with her teacher; the film had a worlwide limited release, entered top 20 in Europe and top 40 in U.S.

In early 2002, Blair appeared in the Pirelli Calendar alongside Rachel Leigh Cook and co-starred the indie film Highway featuring Jared Leto and Jake Gyllenhaal, about a road trip to Seattle in 1994, for three friends wanting to leave their problems behind. The movie went straight to DVD.

Soon after, Blair co-starred in the comedy The Sweetest Thing alongside Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate, for which she was nominated again for the Teen Choice Awards, this time for "Best Actress in a Comedy"; the movie debuted in the top 3 in North America and Spain, but was number one in Brazil and Australia.

At the same time Blair appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone on April 25, 2002, and worked in a television commercial for The Sims Online video game.

Later she had a guest-starring role in the episode "The One with Christmas in Tulsa" on the hit TV series Friends.

In early 2003, Blair co-starred in the romantic comedy A Guy Thing with Jason Lee where she rejoined Stiles, the movie debuted in the top 10 at the U.S, Germany and U.K box office. Later she appeared in several supporting roles including the television movie Coast to Coast with Judy Davis, the action film Dallas 362 and the comedy-drama In Good Company.

Blair followed these with one of her most recognized roles, as depressed pyrotechnic superhero Liz Sherman, in the Guillermo Del Toro blockbuster Hellboy co-starring Ron Perlman. The fantasy film is based on the Mike Mignola's popular comic and was a commercial success, topping the box office in the U.S. and Canada. Later she took the titular role in the TV series pilot DeMarco Affairs in a story about three sisters who run a wedding planning business located in Long Island.

In the fall 2004, Blair played the role of an adolescent exhibitionist in John Waters' satirical sex comedy A Dirty Shame alongside Tracey Ullman; the prosthetic breasts that Blair used in the film required four hours of make-up. Later she took part on the social project The 1 Second Film as a producer.

Selma Blair was included on the FHM list of 'The 100 Sexiest Women of 2004'.

In 2005 she attended The 20th IFP Independent Spirit Awards as a presenter. Later she starred as a young Harvard-trained economist involved in an international oil scandal, in the political thriller The Deal alongside Christian Slater, the film had a limited release in the United States and the United Arab Emirates. Later she appeared in a supporting role in the black comedy Pretty Persuasion with Evan Rachel Wood. In November she starred opposite Tom Welling and Maggie Grace in John Carpenter's ghost movie The Fog, in which Blair did her own stunts, remaining twelve hours in a water tank for two days to shoot her underwater scenes. The movie debuted at number one in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada. She also stars in the short film Big Empty, TheThe Big Empty, produced by George Clooney about an unusual medical condition.

She was also featured in Chanel and Miu Miu 2005 adverstising campaigns.

Blair's next starring role was in the 2006 indie film The Night of the White Pants with Nick Stahl, later she appeared in a small role in the comedy-drama The Alibi.

In 2007 Blair took the lead role in Edward Burns' Purple Violets, a romantic comedy, alongside Burns, Patrick Wilson and Debra Messing, which was premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was the first feature film to debut exclusively on the iTunes Store; she played a lonely writer who falls in love with her childhood sweetheart. She then appeared in the horror thriller WΔZ opposite Stellan Skarsgard and Melissa George, Blair plays a medical student victim of sexual assault avenging her mother's murder. The film was well-received by critics. She also co-starred in Feast of Love featuring Greg Kinnear and Morgan Freeman, playing a woman tired of being ignored in her marriage.

Blair was included in the list of People magazine's "World's Most Beautiful People 2007".

In 2008 she again played Liz Sherman in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, in this sequel, her character was much more extensive and influential in the plot of the movie, for which she was nominated for the Scream Awards for Best Actress in a Fantasy Movie or TV Show; the film was a worldwide commercial success, ranking first at the Box-office in North America, United Kingdom, Germany and Italy among other countries.

Later she returned to indie film territory and portrayed a drugged-out abusive mother in Lori Petty's dysfunctional family drama The Poker House opposite Jennifer Lawrence and Chloí« Moretz, which is based on true events about three abused and battered children, the film is set in 1976; in July 2009, had a limited release in US theaters and received generally favorable reviews from critics. Blair also worked with Antonio Banderas and Meg Ryan in the adventure comedy My Mom's New Boyfriend where she played a young FBI detective. The movie was screened only in Iberoamerican cinemas, and went straight to DVD in USA.

Blair was included in Glamour's The 50 Most Glamorous Women of 2008.

From 2008-2009, Blair accepted the titular role in NBC's TV series Kath & Kim, opposite Molly Shannon and Mikey Day, the sitcom is based on the Australian television series of the same name about a mother and daughter who are obsessed with celebrity culture, Blair plays Kim, a self-absorbed suburban young princess, who is forced to reassess her relationship with her mother. Blair also appeared with Rainn Wilson singing a Christmas carol (Baby, It's Cold Outside) for an extensive Christmas commercial campaign.

In 2009, Blair appeared in a supporting role as a seductive teacher in the black comedy The Family Tree with Madeline Zima, which was officially released in U.S. theaters on August 26, 2011.

In the early summer of that year, she returned to the stage, and take the lead role as Kayleen in Rajiv Joseph's Gruesome Playground Injuries opposite stage actor Brad Fleischer, the drama had its world premiere at Houston's Alley Theatre. The work talks about why people hurt themselves emotional and physically to win love and attention. The play was premiered with positive reviews in Texas.

Selma Blair - Recent and future roles (2010-present)

Selma Blair at the 2012 FX Ad Sales Upfront

In 2010, Blair had the lead in the indie psychological thriller Columbus Circle, featuring Amy Smart; she portrayed a reclusive agoraphobic heiress, who is brought face to face with her fears when the police began to investigate a homicide in her apartment building. Blair promoted the film in its market premiere on November 3rd, 2011 at the 32nd American Film Market, which took place in Santa Monica, California. The film is available on Blu-ray and DVD since March 6th, 2012.

Blair also appeared again in a music video, this time with Elijah Wood in Danko Jones´ spy story Full of Regret; she later had a guest-starring role, as a funny pregnant girl in three episodes of the on line television series Web Therapy starring Friends star Lisa Kudrow.

In the same year Blair appeared as a guest-judge in Heidi Klum's fashion reality show Project Runway. Blair later starred the trailer shot for Jamie Foxx's drama project "Tommy's Little Girl", where she plays a psychologically traumatized orphan girl who will grow up to become an attorney by day, and a deadly killer by night.

Blair is responsible for lending her voice to a document of The Holocaust, The Diary of Anne Frank in audiobook format, for which she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children category.

In 2011, Blair appeared as guest-star in the episode "Blunderbuss" of the TV series Portlandia. Blair has recently filmed the short film Animal Love which was premiered at the 2011 Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films; she also stars in the comedy-short subject The Break-In directed by Jaime King for Atom Films Entertainment and attended the 2011 Hollywood Style Awards on November 13, 2011 as a presenter.

Blair's upcoming projects include the World War I drama Four Saints based on the novel Angels in Flanders, where she play the lead role and portrays an heroic nurse, she also take the lead in the cross-cultural comedy-drama "Different Kind Of Love" with Richard Dreyfuss, recently the film won two awards for Best Comedy-Drama Screenplay and Best Special Mention Screenplay at the Angel Film Awards in Monaco.

Blair stars in the home invasion thriller Replicas alongside James D'Arcy, where she portrays a mother trying to enjoy some quality time with her family when things go horribly wrong, the film will have its world premiere in NYC at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2012 and at the Hong Kong IFF. She starred in the comedy-drama Dark Horse with Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow, where she plays an immature troubled woman in arrested development in search of success. Blair promoted the film in its world premiere at the 68th Venice Film Festival on September 5th, 2011, and at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film had its market premiere at the 32nd American Film Market.

Press reports revealed that Blair would have been Lois Lane in McG's project film called Superman: Flyby.

In 2012, Blair starred in the Short film 'Slideshow of Wieners: A Love Story', a satire comedy about mad people on the web and the story of a young woman and a young man find each other.

Blair has just begun shooting as the female lead opposite Charlie Sheen, in the new comedy series Anger Management, which has already been sold to many countries around the world; she has been cast as Sheen's therapist, Kate, a character described as beautiful and neurotic, envisioned as a love interest for him. Anger Management is set to premiere on June 28, 2012 on FX Network. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Tv channel has put in an unprecedented 100 episode order for the series, subject to the first 10 episodes hitting an agreed ratings benchmark.

Selma Blair: Personal life

Blair married Ahmet Zappa in January, 2004 at Carrie Fisher's mansion in Beverly Hills, California. She filed for divorce at the Los Angeles Superior Court on June, 2006, citing irreconcilable differences. In a statement to People, a spokesperson for the couple said, "Selma and Ahmet have decided to divorce but love each other very much and will continue to be close friends".

On January 14, 2011, Blair's representative announced that she was expecting her first child with her boyfriend, fashion designer Jason Bleick, according to People Magazine: "They couldn't be happier. Her life right now is a dream come true".

On July 25, 2011, Selma Blair gave birth to a baby boy named Arthur Saint. A representative for the actress tells People magazine that the little one weighed in at 7 lbs., 12 oz while delivered at a Los Angeles hospital. In 2012, Blair becomes the spokesperson and first actress to appear on Get Real For Kids campaign.

Blair is known to follow new style and fashion trends in addition to her radical hairstyle changes, and she is a frequent guest-star at New York Fashion Week and other fashion events.

Blair has appeared on the covers of many magazines. In 1999 she appeared in Seventeen, in subsequent years the list had grown to include Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, Vogue, Glamour, Rolling Stone, Interview, Elle and many others.

Blair enjoys child and animal care and has practiced horseback riding since age 17; Wink, her dog since her beginnings in the acting industry, died in February 2011. She also collects black and white photographs and practices ice skating.

Blair's charity work and causes include Marc Jacobs' Skin Cancer Awareness Campaign, H&M's Fashion Against AIDS 2011 Campaign, Children's Action Network, AmFAR AIDS Research 2011, Lange Foundation (dedicated to saving homeless and abandoned animals), Staying Alive Foundation and National Multiple Sclerosis Society.