Anna Paquin's life in pictures

By Bryanne Salazar 9:34am PDT, Oct 30, 2017

In November, Anna Paquin returns to the small screen in the Netflix miniseries "Alias Grace." The six-hour project is an adaptation of Margaret Atwood's historical novel of the same name (the author also wrote "The Handmaid's Tale") and is loosely based on two real-life murders. In celebration of Anna's role in the drama, Wonderwall.com is taking a look back at her life in pictures. Keep reading to see all the amazing moments that led Anna to her latest project…

Anna Paquin's first on-screen role was in the 1993 New Zealand drama "The Piano," which co-starred Holly Hunter as a mute woman named Ada. Anna, who was just 10 when the movie premiered in theaters, played Flora, Ada's daughter and interpreter.

In March 1994, 11-year-old Anna Paquin won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her performance as Flora in "The Piano." Anna's win made her the second-youngest person ever to take home an Academy Award (the youngest was Tatum O'Neal at age 10) and the first millennial to win the coveted statue.

After taking two years off, Anna Paquin returned to the big screen in 1996's "Fly Away Home" as Amy Alden, a young girl who's forced to relocate to Canada to live with her estranged father (played by Jeff Daniels) after her mother dies in a car crash. That same year, Anna also had a part in the Charlotte Brontë adaptation of "Jane Eyre" as the child version of the title character.

Anna Paquin breezed through her awkward adolescent years without a hitch while appearing in small roles in numerous films like the 1997 historical drama "Amistad" (she played Queen Isabella) and the 1998 indie film "Hurleyburley." By the time Anna was 16, she'd landed a supporting role in the romantic teen comedy "She's All That" (seen here), in which she played Mackenzie Siler, the helpful little sister of Zack Siler (played by Freddie Prinze Jr.).

In 2000 when Anna Paquin was 18 years old, she starred in the hit sci-fi adventure "X-Men" as Rogue, the mutant who can steal a person's life force with just one touch. The movie, co-starring Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, was a box office success, pulling in $54 million on its opening weekend and becoming the No. 1 movie of the summer.

Also in 2000, Anna Paquin had a small supporting role in the dramedy "Almost Famous." She played Polexia Aphrodisia, the pseudo-girlfriend of traveling band member Jeff Bebe (played by Jason Lee). The movie also starred Kate Hudson and Billy Crudup and went on to win an Academy Award for best original screenplay in 2001.

In March 2001, Anna Paquin attended the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles as a nominee. It was her first SAG Award nod: She and her "Almost Famous" co-stars were up for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture. Unfortunately, they didn't win — the stars of "Traffic" took home the prize that night.

In 2001, it was rumored that Anna Paquin and Joaquin Phoenix were dating. The two met while filming "Buffalo Soldiers" and were spotted together (like here at their film premiere in New York that same year) looking cozy and connected. While neither confirmed the relationship, it does seem like they only had eyes for each other, at least for a short while.

Anna Paquin put her mind back into superhero mode when she reprised her role as Rogue in the 2003 sequel "X-Men 2." Rogue and Iceman (played by Shawn Ashmore) developed an unlikely (but totally swoon-worthy) romance in the film, which was an instant hit with fans and enjoyed the fourth-biggest movie opening ever after pulling in $86 million its first weekend.

From 2004 to 2005, Anna Paquin was romantically linked to "The O.C." star Logan Marshall-Green. The couple, seen here looking extra-amorous at an awards show in New York in '05, were extremely low-key but would pop up at various locations together while Anna was filming her next movie on the East Coast.

Movies are not real life and that's why it totally wasn't weird at all that Anna Paquin played Jeff Daniels' love interest in the coming-of-age dramedy "The Squid and the Whale" in 2005. For those of you who remember, Jeff played Anna's dad in her third-ever film, "Fly Away Home," back in 1996. The movie had a disturbing oral copulation scene in the end that made everyone realize 23-year-old Anna definitely was not a child actor anymore.

Shortly after ending things with Logan Marshall-Green in 2005, Anna Paquin was rumored to be dating her former "She's All That" co-star Kieran Culkin for two years. In typical fashion, she kept mum on her love life, leaving fans to speculate were they or weren't they an official item? Something about the way they look in this pic (taken in 2007 at a Broadway show) makes us think they definitely had the feels for each other.

In 2006, Anna Paquin once again played Rogue, this time in "X-Men: The Last Stand" — the final film in the "X-Men" trilogy.

In January 2008, Anna Paquin arrived at the DGA Awards with actor Stephen Moyer on her arm, creating buzz that he was a possible new love interest. As it turns out, Anna met Stephen while filming a pilot and they quickly developed a romantic connection. Stephen told Andy Cohen in 2015 that he knew he wanted to spend his life with Anna after three days of filming…

In September 2008, Anna Paquin transformed into half-human, half-fairy Sookie Stackhouse on the HBO supernatural drama "True Blood." The series didn't just give Anna an incredible leading role — it also introduced her to the real-life love of her life, Stephen Moyer, who played her on-screen soulmate, vampire Bill Compton.

Anna Paquin, seen here in 2009 at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards, posed proudly with the statue she won for best actress in a TV drama for her work as Sookie Stackhouse on "True Blood." It marked her first Golden Globe win.

When Anna Paquin arrived at the June 2010 Season 3 premiere of "True Blood" in Los Angeles, she was fresh off the heels of a major revelation about her sexuality. Just two months prior. Anna participated in a public service announcement for the "Give a Damn" campaign with stars like Cyndi Lauper, Clay Aiken and Elton John to raise awareness for LGBTQ equality. In a short video, Anna unflinchingly shared that she was bisexual, which sparked headlines. Stephen Moyer, Anna's "True Blood" co-star and fiance, told Playboy that June that Anna had told him about her sexuality at the very beginning of their relationship. He later added, "I condone what she has done 100 percent. It's her business to talk about it, not mine. It doesn't change anything. I'm proud of who she is."

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer arrived at the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards sporting a newlywed glow. The couple had married just eight days prior on Aug. 21, 2010, in a private ceremony in Malibu. While neither was nominated for an Emmy, their show, HBO's "True Blood," had five nominations that night including best casting and best prosthetic makeup.

In 2011, Anna Paquin starred alongside Matt Damon and Mark Ruffalo in the long-awaited drama "Margaret," a film about a woman who witnesses a fatal bus accident. Filming had been completed way back in 2006 and the project was originally slated to be released in 2007, but a legal battle between director Kenneth Lonergan and financier Gary Gilbert over the movie's length and editorial cuts held up the release date. After the initial screening in '11, critics hailed the movie as "a masterpiece" but sadly, due to all the litigation, it ran in limited release and was only seen by a small audience, making it arguably one of Anna's best movies that (almost) no one actually saw.

In September 2012, Anna Paquin gave birth to fraternal twins Charlie and Poppy Moyer. The twins (seen here taking a stroll with their mom in December 2013) were premature and faced significant health struggles early on. Anna and husband Stephen Moyer kept the twins away the spotlight for nearly a year after their birth as they grew and recovered. "It's just all so amazing — they had a tough start," Stephen told People a month after the twins turned 1. "They were early and it was touch and go there for a while and so anything is amazing. Spitting up the first solid food is just fantastic!" Anna had a sense of humor about motherhood and the toll it takes. She told late night host Seth Meyers that her post-baby breasts were much smaller, resulting in her "True Blood" costumes having to be adjusted. "So I guess technically you should never really be sad if you have to have your clothes taken in," she joked.

In 2014, Anna Paquin starred in the seventh and final season of HBO's supernatural series "True Blood." Anna, who worked alongside her husband, Stephen Moyer (not pictured) as well as actors (left to right) Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Joe Manganiello and Chris Bauer, shared that although she loved her role on the show, she was excited to take a hiatus from acting. She cited "mommy guilt" and the pressure of being a mother of toddlers as her motive for stepping back from the spotlight for a while.

Anna Paquin arrived at the premiere of the Disney-Pixar animated adventure "The Good Dinosaur" on Nov. 17, 2015, looking sexy and sophisticated with a darker new hairdo. She voiced the dino-character Ramsey in the movie and was looking forward to sharing her newest role with the world. However, shortly after this picture was taken, internet trolls body-shamed the beautiful star claiming she looked "pregnant" and "fat." That Nov. 18, Anna tweeted, "Fun fact: Wearing a dress that is not skintight=Pregnant/invites people 2 call u fat. I'm neither so thanks 4 that." An hour later she tweeted, "Dear mother nature, people who bravely hide behind computers and pass judgement have informed me my pale skin and dark hair=old/ugle/harsh [sic]." Thankfully, fans were quick to retaliate against the bullying and reminded Anna of how lovely she truly is. She replied to their kindness by saying, "Sorry if this feels like blatant compliment fishing, really not my intention but do appreciate the love xo."

Anna Paquin's post-baby acting hiatus finally came to an end when she appeared in part four of the History Channel biographical miniseries "Roots." Anna played Nancy Holt, the wife of a Confederate soldier who tells him as he heads off to war, "There's no South without slavery." Anna talked about her role in later interviews, sharing how important she believes the retelling of this dark period of history was for modern audiences.

Anna Paquin and husband Stephen Moyer (seen here in March 2017) are officially the chillest, funniest celebrities alive. In August 2017, Anna's bare breasts were inadvertently broadcast during the BBC's "News at 10" — fans noticed a screen in the newsroom in the background was playing a particularly sexy episode of "True Blood." While some people might be livid over the gaff, the couple laughed it off with Anna calling it "funny on so many levels" and Stephen saying, "This is amazing and making me very happy." Stephen later asked his wife via Twitter, "Which scene is it? They have annoyingly blurred it out." Anna replied, "More fairy land graveyard sex with Warlow… duh!"

On Nov. 3, 2017, Anna Paquin makes her streaming TV debut on the Netflix original miniseries "Alias Grace." The drama, which is based on Margaret Atwood's book of the same name, tells a fictionalized version of a real-life crime involving a maid named Grace who's accused of participating in a horrific double murder. Anna plays the role of Nancy Montgomery, a housekeeper who has a romantic relationship with her employer and winds up dead. Up next for Anna is the 2017 drama "The Parting Glass," which her husband, Stephen Moyer, directed. She will also star on the Canadian crime series "Bellevue," which she executive produced. The series already premiered in Canada and was picked up by WGN for U.S. release in 2018.