Neve Campbell Neve Adrianne Campbell was born October 3, 1973 in Guelph, Ontario. She was born and raised in Canada by a Scottish father and a Dutch mother. Her father is currently a high school drama teacher, and her mother is a psychiatrist. Originally aspiring to be a ballerina, Campbell had to give up the sport she loved so dearly due to accumulating injuries. Obviously, she decided to pursue her second love, acting. Campbell made her first credited screen appearance on the Canadian sketch comedy show Kids in the Hall. She appeared in one episode in 1992 alongside fellow Canadians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald and Mark McKinney. Also in 1992, Campbell appeared in the Canadian-aired television series Catwalk. She appeared in the first season, but didn’t return for the second. According to fans, the show suffered badly for the loss. In 1994, Campbell made her American screen debut in the television series Party of Five. Playing opposite Scott Wolf, Lacey Chabert, and Jennifer Love Hewitt, Campbell appeared on the show from 1994 to 2001, when she left to pursue her film career. Campbell worked around the demanding filming schedule of her hit show to make her first film The Craft (1996). This dark teenage witch drama also starred Robin Tunney and Skeet Ulrich.
Later that year, Campbell made the film that jettisoned her into stardom. She won the role of Sidney Prescott in Wes Craven’s new horror-thriller Scream. After some initial deliberation, Campbell signed on to do the sequel Scream 2 (1997). While not as widely praised as the first, it was still considered a solid and respectable sequel. Campbell won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress in a Horror, and this time around won the MTV Award for Best Female Performance. In 1998, Campbell took a role in the crime-thriller Wild Things alongside Denise Richards, Kevin Bacon, and Matt Dillon. Filled with its share of violence and more than its share of sex, Campbell still upheld the “no nudity” clause in her contract. But don’t be fooled into thinking anybody in this sex-capade was innocent. Centered around two high school girls who claim their guidance counselor raped them, the film was filled with plot twists and turns. Always popular with the MTV crowd, Campbell, Dillon and Richards took home the MTV Award for Best Kiss.
In 1998, Campbell took a role in the widely panned film 54 with Ryan Phillippe, Selma Hayek, and Mike Meyers. The following year, she starred in the romantic comedy Three to Tango with Matthew Perry and Dylan McDermott. Its feel-good humor, coupled with a great supporting role by Oliver Platt, made this an enjoyable film and a success for Campbell. Campbell slowed down slightly in the early millennium but returned in 2003 with The Company, which she wrote and starred in. The film was directed by the legendary Robert Altman. Starring Campbell, Malcolm McDowell, and James Franco, the film’s real main character was ballet itself. The film is filled with mesmerizing performances by the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. Campbell continued in the independent vein to film When Will I Be Loved (2004). Despite a lot of good press, the film fell flat and remains noteworthy to many moviegoers only because Campbell finally lifted her long-enacted “no nudity” clause. Campbell continues to thrive in the world of film. She is currently filming Agent Crush, is in post-production for Closing the Ring, and has announced her appearance in six other films. Campbell was married to actor Jeff Colt from 1995 to 1998 when the two divorced. She dated John Cusack for a time in 1999 and again in 2001, but she is now currently engaged to actor John Light. |
