May 2012 Cover Girl: Anna Paquin

An enigmatic actress? I didn’t know they still existed. We had Marlene Dietrich in the 1930’s, the ultra private Jodie Foster in the 80’s/ 90’s and all those other elusive starlets in between. But now? In an era where reality TV, Twitter, and TMZ have excessively fed our addiction for knowing all there is to know about stars? Any mystery has seemingly faded. At least I thought it had until I sat down for a sunny March afternoon lunch at Santa Monica’s M Kitchen with Anna Paquin and the orange peach smoothie she ordered. Successfully concealing a baby bump under layers of charcoal wool along with those Raisinette eyes hiding behind turquoise shades, I realized that she just might be our contemporary mysterious starlet.

From the start Paquin has been unconventional. We all remember her as the 11 year old girl who snatched an Oscar for that riveting performance of a deaf Scottish woman’s daughter in Jane Campion’s The Piano despite never having acted a day in her life. But did she seize the massive career awaiting her after this enormous accolade or did she slide down into an existence of addictions and arrests like so many other childhood actors? Neither. Instead she took a three year hiatus only to return to the screen in small unassuming supporting roles for such films as Almost Famous and Hurly Burly. Despite being part of the Xmen ensemble, Paquin didn’t actually step into a true starring role until she took on psychic waitress/ half-faerie/ “fang banger” Sookie Stackhouse in HBO’s triumphant True Blood. Leaving behind that little brunette girl from New Zealand who captured our hearts in the 90’s, she strutted onto our TVs as blonde, sassy, sexy and southern…and even more bewildering than before.

As an adolescent, I was obsessed with Nancy Drew mysteries. Intentional or not, Paquin has been just that. A mystery. One to keep her personal life fiercely private, she set off a whirl of media curiosity when she declared her bi-sexuality in a 2010 PSA for the Give a Damn campaign while engaged to husband and True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer. Her answer to the numerous inquiries of why she chose to come out now? “I'm not someone who endlessly talks about her personal life for no reason, but obviously, as someone who identifies as bisexual, those are issues I really care about.”

Sitting across from me stroking her unpolished, neatly cut nails and keeping a protective grasp on any and all words departing from her lips, I knew after getting “I don’t know” and “I can’t answer that” to several questions, I was going to have to convert into my beloved girl detective if I was going to get any insights into who she was. Luckily I was already wearing Miss Drew’s chic, 1960s attire. Unbeknownst to Paquin, I would attempt to solve “The Case of a Cautious Actress.”

For having been in the public eye for 20 years, we don’t really know a lot about you. I don’t know about that. There isn’t a lot of unchartered territory that hasn’t been covered or reported on or noted or observed.

Do you consider yourself mysterious? Mysterious?

Well, private. Sure. Not in some weird recluse way. I think it’s important to have things that are just for you and people that are closest to you. Some people share absolutely everything, but then what do you have left that’s yours? It diminishes what’s really special in your life.

Did you feel like you had to sacrifice some of the privacy you treasure in order to make a compelling statement for your Give a Damn PSA? Absolutely not. I think it’s a really minor biographical detail. If you’re going to talk about some cause in a way that’s meaningful, you should identify why it means something to you.

See more in the current issue of Zooey Magazine

Interviewed by Lecia Doss

Photographer: Derek Wood Stylist: Lyndzi Trang Production Assistants: Richard Luong, Porter Counts, Bret Lemke, and Alex Levine Stylist’s Assistants: Daria Kobayashi Ritch and Ashley Symone Lee Hair: Giannandrea (The Wall Group) Makeup: Fiona Stiles (The Wall Group) Nails: Jenna Hipp (Tracey Mattingly) Location: The Forge Studios in Los Angeles

Just Another Day with Dayo Okeniyi

You may have recognized Dayo Okeniyi from a certain movie entitled "The Hunger Games" where he can be seen beating other characters in a race for his life. The movie has made about $573 million dollars in over a month in the theatres. If you haven't seen this film, you are surely missing out on the opportunity to see incredible cinematography...that and of course, having your heart beat widely against your chest with every coming scene. We sat down with Dayo, who stars as "Thresh," to get to know a little more about him.

The best part of my job, is just getting a chance to work with people that you admire so much. It’s a really fortunate job. I love my job. Film is such an old media, that there are people who have been doing this for such a long time and are still doing it. And people that grew up admiring the characters that were played on screen and to actually get a chance to meet them and work with them. Working with people like Woody Harrelson and Donald Sutherland, people who are so awesome at what they do, it’s incredible.

Getting a chance to do something that really touches people. Sometimes you think of film as such a trivial thing. But there are movies that change people’s lives. People leave movie theaters and have completely changed the way they live. If somebody comes to me and says, ‘your movie made me think of something differently’ or ‘I watch your movie whenever I have a bad day,’ I would love that.

One thing on my bucket list is to win an Academy Award. It’s always work related, because I love acting so much. Work with Will Smith. Work with J.J. Abrams. Work with Steven Spielberg. I could go on and on.

My biggest guilty pleasure is Food Network. I watch everything on Food Network. It’s pretty embarrassing, but I love it (and my roommates hate it)! I watch Chopped. I watch Iron Chef and Man vs. Food. I watch everything. It’s kind of bad, but I am proud of it.

The most played song (at the moment) on my iPhone is probably Drake’s “We’ll Be Fine.” I cannot live without my Iphone.

When I have free time, I just like hanging out with friends. I’m old school. I just hang with the boys. We are either playing videogames or hanging out at the bar. Or, we just watch sports all day. Lately, though, I don’t have a lot of free time, not much time to just chill, but when I do, I just like hanging out with friends.

I love rollercoasters. So, if I could plan the perfect day, I would just wake up really early, drive somewhere where they have a ton of roller coasters, and ride roller coasters until I throw up. There’s this place in Indiana called Cedar Point, they have the best rides in the world! I just like doing group events. Like, I would go put-put golfing, hitting balls at the golf range, shooting… I just like fun-filled events.

One thing people don’t know about me is that sleeping is my favorite pastime. I love to sleep. I’m also half Kenyan, and half Nigerian.

The most fun memory I have is traveling with my family. My parents were so adamant that my siblings and I got the chance to travel a lot. When we were young, even though we never had a lot of money, we would go to Europe all the time, or to Central America. Because I grew up in Nigeria, we’d go to Kenya. We’d travel a lot. We didn’t really have money, but we just got the chance to go to places and see stuff that you learn about in school. Those are the best times of my life. I love my family, so those are memories that we look back on years later

My father is my biggest inspiration. His story is amazing. He didn’t own a pair of shoes until he was sixteen years old, that’s just to let you know. And to be where I am today, it’s everything to him. He completely changed his life. He is the complete definition of the “self-made” individual. All he wanted in life was for his family to live a better life than he did.

My obsession right now is Jeremy Lin. I am obsessed with that guy right now. The Lin-sanity situation. And he’s such a humble guy. It’s a classic story, the guy they just called off the bench and he comes in and completely dominates the game. He is my current obsession. I want to be Jeremy Lin. I wasn’t even a Knicks fan, but now I find myself rooting for the Knicks. It’s kind of crazy.

I love...women. Women are the best thing on the planet. I also love shoes.

My pet peeves... I hate hair in the sink. I can’t handle that. Like, if there is hair… eww. I just hate a clogged sick, it’s so gross.

The words that I live by are “your dreams are a preview of life’s coming attractions.” Albert Einstein said that. I live my life by that. I’m a huge believer in that you really can create what you want to create in your life. You are the architect of your life. You shouldn’t live your life like you are an effect of what is happening to you. Rather, you should be affecting what is happening in your life. And that phrase to me really defines that. If you can think it, and wrap your mind around it, you can achieve it. As soon as I started thinking that way, I feel like my life has extremely different. And I live my life by that every day. Like if you want something, just go get it. Period.

Interviewed by Kayla Aldecoa

Photographed by Vince Trupsin Styled by Kyle Kagamida Groomed by Marissa Machado

“Just Another Day” is presented as a feature of a day in the life of people who we all adore, and is exclusive to Zooey Magazine. These editorials are often shot in the home of the subject (but can be shot at subject's favorite spot), and the subject is pictured wearing his/her own clothing.