Background
Encouraged to take modern dance lessons at an early age, she was introduced to Shakespeare and theater as well.
Encouraged to take modern dance lessons at an early age, she was introduced to Shakespeare and theater as well.
At age 11, she made her debut as a child actress with the experimental off-Broadway La MaMa Theatre. . At 15, Julia Stiles made her cinematic bow with I Love You, I Love You Not (1996) with Claire Danes. Next featured as the daughter of Harrison Ford in The Devil's Own (1997), her breakout role came on TV with the hard-hitting mini-movie Before Women Had Wings (1997) (TV).After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet. Her film career has included both commercial and critical successes, ranging from teen romantic comedies such as 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) to dark art house pictures such as The Business of Strangers (2001). She is also known for playing the supporting character Nicky Parsons in the Bourne film series and the leading role in Save the Last Dance, and for her role in Mona Lisa Smile. She guest starred as Lumen Pierce in the fifth season of the Showtime series Dexter, a role that earned her Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations.
She received a John Jay Award in 2010, the annual honorary award given to five alumni by the Columbia College Alumni Association for professional achievements.
She is an ex-vegan, occasionally eating red meat.[36] She says she gave up veganism after she developed anemia and found it difficult to get proper nutrition while traveling. Stiles has described herself as a feminist and wrote on the subject in The Guardian.
An avid baseball fan, she supports the New York Mets.
She is also an avid soccer fan and supports the New York Red Bulls.