Julia Stiles is the eldest of three girls born to former hippie and radical parents who supported their girls by making and selling ceramic pottery. Growing up in SoHo, New York, Julia was inspired to get into acting by watching Audrey Meadows of The Honeymooners television show. Eager to follow the path of a thespian, Julia often played "dress-up" for her family. At ten years of age, and with no real training [classes at the YMCA] or contacts in the business, Julia sent a letter and photos of herself to the founder of the avant-garde La Mama theater in New York, asking for a chance to audition. The letter paid off and she was soon onstage doing small parts for La Mama as well as other off-Broadway productions. The letter idea worked once so Julia, now sixteen, tried it again, this time writing to Michael Steinberg who was casting his film Wicked. Julia got the part of a teen vixen out to seduce her recently widowed father. Wicked was a smash hit at the Sundance Film Festival and Julia earned rave reviews not to mention an instant fanbase. That same year, her screenplay, The Anarchist's Daughter, was chosen to be workshopped at the coveted Screenwriter's Lab sponsored by The Sundance Institute. The story is a tale of a young woman who experiments with LSD and sex while caring for her ailing grandfather. Julia plans to play the title role if it's ever produced.
      Chosen as one of Teen People Magazine's "21 Hottest Stars Under 21" in 1999, Julia proved she is more than just a pretty face as she managed to maintain a straight "A" average at Manhattan's arts-oriented Professional Children's School, while working in telefilms such as Before Women Had Wings in 1997, and in the miniseries The 60's, as a pregnant flower child who runs away to Haight Ashbury. Columbia University followed in August 2000, during a time where she found herself interested in Greek literature and sociology.
      Aside from acting, Julia at one time wrote stories for ZuZu, a non-profit magazine for young authors and artists, carrying this craft over to the above mentioned screenplay.
      On her off time, Julia likes to read, dance and work in black-and-white photography. Her favorite writers are Toni Morrison and John Kennedy Toole. She is also a firm supporter of such causes as Women's Rights [fiercely pro-choice] and Planned Parenthood, and in 2000 joined up with a "Habitat for Humanity" mission to build housing in Costa Rica.
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Written by K. Kamarauskas © 2001 - [Please let us know of any errors]