THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609140036
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: 58 lines
OSCAR PREDICTORS were stymied two years ago when 12-year-old Anna Paquin was called to the podium as the ``best supporting actress'' for her shattering performance in ``The Piano.''
It wasn't the performance that was questioned. It was a stunning portrayal of a very adult child who had to be the voice of her mute mother, a role which also won an Oscar for Holly Hunter. It's just that the sooth sayers hadn't predicted the statuette would go to one so young.
Winona Ryder in ``The Age of Innocence'' was perhaps the favorite, but the most memorable moment of the evening was when little Anna stepped onstage, so stunned she couldn't speak.
On Oscar night, her father said that young Anna would return to school, and might never act again. For the past two years, with the exception of a brief appearance in Franco Zeffirelli's ``Jane Eyre,'' Anna has been back in school in New Zealand, where she says ``they can't quite believe that being in movies is not very exciting.''
As for her Oscar, she says, ``I keep it in a drawer. I don't want to show it off. I didn't really know what an Oscar was until I was nominated.''
She never planned to become an actress. Her Oscar-winning role was the first acting she had done.
``There was an ad in the paper and I knew a lot of people who were going for the auditions,'' she remembered. ``I wanted to go along, just for the fun.''
In her new film, ``Fly Away Home,'' she co-stars with a flock of geese. ``They nibble on your sleeve and they pull your hair a little, but they're quite nice, really.''
Carroll Ballard, who directed the movie, said, ``Anna is a natural. I'm trying to be the big-time director and I go over and talk to her about the scenes. She's playing video games and totally ignores me. But when the camera turns, she's totally in character..''
As for her future, Anna, now 14, isn't really concerned about acting. ``I choose what I want to do, when it comes to acting - and most of the scripts I've gotten were things I didn't want to do.''
Jeff Daniels, who plays her father, says he quickly learned to treat her like a professional. ``After all,'' he explained, ``the kid has won one more Oscar than I have.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
TAKASHI SEIDA
Anna Paquin, 14, won at ``best supporting actress'' Oscar two years
ago for ``The Piano.'' She says her school friends back in New
Zealand ``can't quite believe that being in movies is not very
exciting.''
Photo
COLUMBIA PICTURES
To help his daughter Amy (Anna Paquin) teach the orphaned geese to
fly, Thomas Alden (Jeff Daniels) builds a motorized glider.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE MOVIES by CNB