On the 29th day of January 1970, Heather Graham
was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A few years later, her
parents would have another child, Aimee, who was to follow in her big
sister's footsteps. While her strict-Catholic
father was busy learning antiterrorist techniques for the FBI, Heather
would attend her very first elementary
school in Virginia, where she had very fond memories, particularly
of the landscape and people. Later, she would
attend Sumac Elementary School, followed by Lindero Canyon Middle School,
and finally, Agoura High School,
where she would spend some of her worst years. While studying there,
she always felt that she didn't really know
how to talk to people. Boys would have no time for her. People would
tease her for being "flat" (little did they
know). She was even considered a sort of "theater geek" by her classmates.
As is the case with many of
Hollywood's brightest, established stars like Harrison Ford for example,
Heather didn't consider herself as part of
the 'popular' crowd.
Her family life didn't seem very comfortable
either, as tension seemed to be growing between Heather and her
parents. Though her mother would drive her to Hollywood for auditions,
once Heather began to pick up work and
especially now that she is the hot ticket, a certain "weirdness" developed
(Heather is not the only actor in the
family), one that would eventually result in little or no contact among
the family members. Ultimately, Heather was
more than glad to escape Agoura, despite her being voted "most talented"
by her senior class.
However, as the story is told, talent alone
won't get you far in Hollywood. Heather went from job to job, working as
an usher at the Hollywood Bowl, landing various roles over the years
in movies such as License to Drive and the
critically acclaimed Drugstore Cowboy, and appearing on the popular
television series Twin Peaks. She eventually
decided to enroll at the University of California at Los Angeles. There,
she majored in English, but dropped out
after only two years. It was, however, at UCLA where she first read
one of her favorite books, The Brothers
Karamazov. Little did she know that Dostoevsky would indirectly play
a part in her love life. In 1992, Graham
landed a small role in Diggstown, starring James Woods. Apparently,
Woods spotted her with a copy of Karamazov
and was impressed. Though she thought the older man (45 at the time)
was interesting, Graham wasn't quite sure
about her feelings for him.
For the next few years, she would go on to
play various roles in films like Six Degrees of Separation, Don't Do It,
and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Throughout this time, she won the
admiration of several filmmakers, including
James Toback and Jon Favreau. One night, as legend has it, Favreau
took Graham to go swing dancing, and 18
months later, she played Lorraine in the highly-celebrated Favreau
vehicle, Swingers. Toback eventually got his
chance and cast her in the upcoming film, Two Girls and a Guy. 1997,
however, was to be the year of Heather's big
"breakout". Her mesmerizing performance as a blonde nymphet on roller-skates
in Boogie Nights launched her
into the stardom that was long overdue. She even made a cameo in Scream
2, spoofing Drew Barrymore's
"Jiffy-popping" first victim from the original and subsequently appearing
on the Scream 2 'babe' panorama cover
of Rolling Stone. Soon after and in the months to come, the actress
whom people hardly ever noticed would be
gracing the covers of various magazines with her offbeat grace.
Heather seems to have said her good-byes to
the low-budget indie world now that she has a CAA agent and a
modeling contract with Emanuel Ungaro. Her most recent films include
the huge-budgeted Lost in Space, (where
she met her now ex-boyfriend, director Stephen Hopkins) and the controversial
Two Girls and a Guy. Bowfinger
(Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy) as well as the much-anticipated Austin
Powers sequel are among Heather's
upcoming projects. With the release of these films, you can bet that
you won't be seeing her convulsing in a
convenience store or in the middle of a coke-addled stompfest any time
soon...then again, maybe you will. |
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