I always wanted to act, she says. It was only a question of when and how.
Carrie-Anne Moss was born August 21, 1967 in Vancouver, British Columbia
and claims to be the only one member of her family to live out Canada. She
lived with her mother Barbara and her brother Brook and raised a non-action
hero.
I was a total girlie girl. My bedroom was packed full of dolls, she
says, in her quiet voice.
At the age of 11, Carrie-Anne got her first taste of adoring fans when she
joined the Vancouver children's musical theater and later went on to tour
Europe with the Magee Secondary School choir.
In 1985 she left Vancouver for Toronto and became a lucrative modeling career.
Posing for cameras as a model took her from Europe to Japan and back, and
eventually led to her first break in acting; a role in the CBS television
series Dark Justice in 1991, filmed in Barcelona.
Spain was amazing, she says. I was living in a hostel in this incredible
city with lots of other models doing TV commercials and print stuff. It was
like my college days. But I wanted to travel and I knew I would eventually
head to Los Angeles to act.
She returned to the US when the show relocated to LA, which in turn opened
more doors for the porcelain-skin actress, one of which was a role in Outward
Bound, at the Hudson Theater. After her stint on Dark Justice, Carrie-Anne
studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
I went to LA just after my 24th birthday and it was tragic at first. I
just didn't know anybody, not a soul. It was a very, very lonely time. I mean,
moving to LA at just 24 and not knowing anyone, how insane is that? But I
wanted to act and I just hung on in there and kept hoping.
In 1992, Carrie-Anne appeared in TV's Nightmare Cafe, Forever Knight, and
Street Justice, Silk Stalkings, L.A. Law, The Matrix (which had no relation to
the hit movie), and Baywatch in the next couple of years.
The small appearances on TV shows finally led to a role on a Spelling
television production, the drama Models Inc. in 1994, also starring Garcelle
Beauvais. Following the short-lived series, Carrie-Anne was still waiting for
her big break, especially after small roles in films like The Soft Kill,
Terrified, co-starring Heather Graham, Sabotage, Lethal Tender, and The Secret
Life of Algernon.
She was also nominated for a Gemini Television Award, the Canadian equivalent
of the Emmys.
In 1996, she gave television another try when she was cast in F/X: The Series
for a season.
Finally, after six auditions for a little sci-fi film called The Matrix,
Carrie-Anne proved to the film's directors that she could undergo the grueling
physical work for the film, and was the perfect face and talent for the role.
Once audiences laid eyes on Carrie-Anne as Trinity -- latex catsuit and all --
in 1999's The Matrix, it was clear the world had a new sci-fi cyber woman to
fulfill every moviegoer's fantasy.
Named Best Actress in a Leading Role with a Golden State Award for The Matrix,
Carrie-Anne expanded her film roles in projects like The Crew, Memento, Red
Planet, and the critically-acclaimed Chocolat, in which she portrayed a frigid
woman living in a French provincial town. And all these roles were in the year
2000.
The success of The Matrix put Carrie-Anne on every producer's most wanted
list, and led to buzz-worthy flicks like Chocolat with Johnny Depp, Memento,
and Red Planet with Val Kilmer and Benjamin Bratt. It also landed her a very
lucrative deal to star in two sequels to The Matrix, that aren't likely to
dampen her soaring career.
Carrie-Anne Moss is an intelligent person and a late arrival to Hollywood,
which helps explain why she doesn't have the persona typically associated with
Hollywood's elite clique. The biggest advantage Carrie-Anne has over other
actresses is her natural self-assurance and confidence, qualities that are
apparent in her acting. Her acting skills are on par with what is expected of
a good actress, though her range hasn't been tested yet.
The graceful actress is now married to actor Steven Roy and the couple has
a beautiful baby, born september, 2003.
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