Mia Kirshner extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Mia Kirshner
Born	Mia Kirshner January 25, 1975 (1975-01-25) (age 33) Toronto, Ontario

Mia Kirshner (born January 25, 1975) is a Canadian actress who works in movies and television series. She is best known for her portrayal of Jenny Schecter on Showtime's hit television drama series, The L Word, a show about the lives of a group of lesbians living in WeHo.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Philanthropy 1.4 In popular culture 2 Credits 2.1 Films 2.2 Television 3 References 4 External links

Biography

Early life

Kirshner was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Etti, an English teacher, and Sheldon Kirshner, a journalist who wrote for The Canadian Jewish News.¹ Kirshner is a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors;² her father was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany in 1946 and met Kirshner's mother, a Bulgarian Jewish refugee, in Israel.² Kirshner had a middle class upbringing³ and studied Russian literature and 20th-century movie industry at McGill University in Montreal.

Career

In 1993, Kirshner played a dominatrix in Denys Arcand's movie Love and Human Remains and won a Genie nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. The year after she starred in Atom Egoyan's Exotica. In 1996, she appeared in The Crow: City of Angels.

Kirshner appeared in the first three episodes of 24 as bisexual terrorist Mandy in 2001. She would later reprise the role for the second season's finale and in the latter half of the show's fourth season. Also in 2001, Kirshner played Catherine Wyler, The Cruelest Girl in School, in Not Another Teen Movie. The character is primarily a spoof of Kathryn Merteuil (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) in Cruel Intentions, and partially based on Mackenzie Siler from She's All That. In Marilyn Manson's music video for Tainted Love, which was featured on the movie's soundtrack, she has a cameo appearance as her character Catherine Wyler.

In 2006, she starred in Brian De Palma's movie The Black Dahlia, alongside Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank. Kirshner plays a young actress, Elizabeth Short, who was horrifically murdered in 1947.

Philanthropy

In October 2008, Kirshner published the book I Live Here⁴ which she co-produced with ex-Adbusters staffers Paul Shoebridge and Michael Simons,⁵ as well as writer James MacKinnon. In the book, women and children refugees from places such as Chechnya, Juárez and Malawi tell their life stories. The book features original material from well-known comic and graphic artists including Joe Sacco and Phoebe Gloeckner. It was published in the U.S by Random House/Pantheon. It was supported logistically by Amnesty International, which will receive proceeds from the book.

In popular culture

Kirshner was ranked #43 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2002.⁶ She and Beverly Polcyn were nominated for Best Kiss at the 2002 MTV Movie Awards for Not Another Teen Movie.⁷

Credits

Films Love and Human Remains (1993) - Benita Cadillac Girls (1993) - Page Exotica (1994) - Christina Murder in the First (1995) - Adult Rosetta Young The Crow: City of Angels (1996) - Sarah Anna Karenina (1997) - as Kitty Mad City (1997) - Laurie Callahan Out of the Cold (1999) - Deborah Berkowitz Dark Summer (2000) - Dominique Denright Cowboys and Angels (2000) - Candice Not Another Teen Movie (2001) - Catherine Wyler According to Spencer (2001) - Melora Century Hotel (2001) - Dominique Now and Forever (2002) - Angela Wilson New Best Friend (2002) - Alicia Campbell Party Monster (2003) - Natasha Gatien The Iris Effect (2004) - Rebecca The Black Dahlia (2006) - Elizabeth Short Miss Conception (2008) - Clem

Television Dracula: The Series (1990) - Sophie Metternich Are You Afraid of the Dark: Tale of the Hungry Hounds (1992) - Pam Johnny's Girl (1995) - Amy Wolf Lake (2001) - Ruby Wilder/Ruby Cates 24 (2001, 2002 and 2005) - Mandy The L Word (2004-2009) - Jenny Schecter They Come Back (2007) - Faith Hardy

References

External links

• Mia Kirshner at the Internet Movie Database