First acting experience as a skunk in a school ballet

Beat out 5,000 girls for the part of Holly Hunter's daughter in Jane Campion's period love story "The Piano"

Became the second youngest Oscar winner of all time (to date) when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her big-screen debut in "The Piano"

Starred in a series of commercials for MCI

Played foster mother to a flock of geese in the family film "Fly Away Home"

US TV acting debut, played Frankie in the USA Network remake of "The Member of the Wedding"

Made cameo appearance as the Queen of Spain in the Steven Spielberg directed "Amistad"

Co-starred with Kevin Spacey and Sean Penn as a teen vamp in "Hurlyburly"

Appeared as a rebellious hippie chick in the 1960s drama "A Walk on the Moon"

Played Freddie Prinze Jr's younger sister in the frothy teen comedy "She's All That"

Portrayed Rogue, a genetic mutant who can suck the life from any being, in the big screen version of the Marvel Comic adventure "X-Men"

Played Polexia Aphrodesia, a soulful groupie in Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous"

Appeared in "Finding Forrester" opposite F Murray Abraham and Sean Connery

Made NYC stage debut in "The Glory of Living," directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman

London stage debut in "This Is Our Youth"

Cast in Spike Lee's drama feature "The 25th Hour"

Reprised role of Rogue in "X-Men 2"

Cast as the sergeant's daughter in "Buffalo Soldiers"

Cast as a flirtatious female student in Noah Baumbach's "The Squid and the Whale" opposite Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney

Reprised the role of Rogue in the third installment of the "X-Men" series, "X-Men: The Last Stand"

Played an Army deserter in "Blue State," a romantic comedy, she co-produced with her brother, Andrew Paquin

Portrayed schoolteacher Elaine Goodale in the HBO Films original movie, "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee"; earned Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie