Paz de la Huerta

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is de la Huerta and the second or maternal family name is Bruce.

Paz de la Huerta
Paz de la Huerta at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	María de la Paz Elizabeth Sofía Adriana de la Huerta y Bruce (1984-09-03) September 3, 1984 (age 40) New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, model
Years active	1998–present

María de la Paz Elizabeth Sofía Adriana de la Huerta y Bruce^[1] (pronounced [paθ de la ˈweɾ.ta]; born September 3, 1984), known professionally as Paz de la Huerta, is an American actress. She had roles in the films The Cider House Rules (1999) and A Walk to Remember (2002), and played Lucy Danziger in the HBO drama series Boardwalk Empire.

Early life

De la Huerta was raised by her mother, with her older sister, in the New York City neighborhood of SoHo, located in Lower Manhattan. Her parents are Spanish nobleman Íñigo de la Huerta y Ozores, 14th Duke of Mandas, Grandee of Spain and Judith Bruce.^[2] De la Huerta was born with recurrent cystic hygroma under her arm, which she has had treated with multiple surgeries. Her mother worked as an authority on birth control and women's issues in Third World countries.^[3]

She attended private Saint Ann's School in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, with fellow student and future fashion designer, Zac Posen, for whom she has since modeled.^[3] She also attended the performing arts camp Buck's Rock. De la Huerta spent summers with her father in Spain while attending high school.^[4]

Career

De la Huerta began modeling in her adolescence and became a runway model before turning to acting. She made her film debut with a small role in the 1998 romantic comedy The Object of My Affection, and the next year appeared opposite Michael Caine and Charlize Theron in The Cider House Rules. In 2002, she appeared opposite Shane West and Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember, an American coming-of-age romantic drama film based on the Nicholas Sparks novel.

In 2007, de la Huerta was cast in the role of Linda for the film Enter the Void, a psychedelic melodrama set in neon-lit nightclub environments of Tokyo. Director Gaspar Noé found her after holding auditions in New York City.^[5] "I met Paz and I really liked her. She had the profile for the character because she likes screaming, crying, showing herself naked—all the qualities for it."^[6]

In 2009, de la Huerta was cast in the HBO pilot Boardwalk Empire, set in Atlantic City during the Prohibition era, as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson's mistress, a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer.^[7] Boardwalk Empire was renewed for a second season, with de la Huerta returning as Lucy. Discussing the second season she said; "The first season was very different from the second season. With the first season, nobody really knew how the show was going to be received. With the second season, we had gotten lots of accolades and great reviews, so it was work, work, work, where we were shooting two episodes at a time."^[8] After the second season ended, de la Huerta and fellow co-stars Michael Pitt, Aleksa Palladino, and Dabney Coleman all departed the cast. In 2012, she commented on her departure from the series, stating she wanted to put her focus on other things.^[8] In 2013, she commented on how she would like to return to the hit series. "I’m still close with the producers. Terry (Terence Winter) always says it's possible for me to come back." Also adding; "I would love to come back with Lucy as a loving, doting mother."^[9]

In 2011, Lana Del Rey, an American singer, received widespread attention when the music video for her single "Video Games" became a viral internet sensation.^[10] The video—directed and edited by Del Rey—included paparazzi footage of de la Huerta falling down while intoxicated.^[11] When asked if she was upset about the video, de la Huerta stated, "No, no. I don't get hung up about anything really. That's insignificant. I didn't really care."^[8] In April 2011, she was sued by MTV reality show actress Samantha Swetra after an altercation at a bar.^[12] De la Huerta was arrested, issued a desk appearance ticket, and released.^[13] In July 2011, she pleaded guilty to harassment and, in exchange, misdemeanor charges against her were reduced to a non-criminal violation. A judge ordered her to complete 12 weeks of alcohol counseling, one day of community service, and to stay away from Swetra.^[14]

In July 2011, de la Huerta signed on to play Abby Russell, the protagonist in the horror film Nurse 3D.^[15] A sequel for Nurse had been rumored by de la Huerta on her Twitter page with her stating that Nurse 2 would start shooting soon.^[16] However, In 2015, it was reported that de la Huerta was suing the filmmakers, for ruining her career and injuring her when a speeding ambulance driven by a stunt driver struck her while shooting.^[17]

She was the cover model in Playboy in 2013.

In 2014, she completed filming in Las Vegas for the movie Death in the Desert, cast as Margo and co-starring with Michael Madsen and Shayla Beesley.^[18] She also had a supporting role in the Canadian horror film The Editor.^[19] She later appeared in Louis Theroux's 2015 documentary My Scientology Movie when she "crashed" an interview.^[20]

The next year, de la Huerta played Pepper in the drama film Bare, opposite Dianna Agron. The film follows a young woman living in a small desert town in Nevada, who becomes romantically involved with a female drifter who leads her into a life of drugs, stripping, and psychedelic spiritual experiences. Director Natalia Leite wanted to cast two women who were willing to be totally raw and exposed on camera in the leading roles. She stated: "I wanted to find two women who were very different from each other to put those two contrasting energies together."^[21] The film had a world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 19, 2015.^[22] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that de la Huerta was perfectly cast for her role as Pepper, though the film has a "mundane storyline."^[23] John Stewart of The Slanted wrote, "The film is an wonderful departure for Glee’s Dianna Agron and her performance with Paz de la Huerta is sure to spark a lot more work in the future for both rising stars."^[24]

Personal life

De la Huerta lived in New York City in an apartment on Gay Street, and then moved into an apartment adjacent to her mother in the Tribeca neighborhood.^[25] She has a cobra tattooed on one leg and a crown on an arm, the latter as a tribute to her lineage.^[26]

Me Too movement

De la Huerta, at the height of the Me Too movement, said in an interview with Vanity Fair that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein raped her on two occasions in 2010, once after demanding to enter her apartment and have a drink, and once showing up after she had been subjected to repeated phone calls and had been drinking. De la Huerta came forward to police in 2017, within the New York state statute of limitations for rape in the first degree, and the New York District Attorney's Office was considering bringing charges against Weinstein.^[27] While charges have yet to be filed in de la Huerta's case, Weinstein has been charged in New York with the rape of another woman. More than 75 women have accused Weinstein of sexual abuse; he has denied all allegations.^[28]

In November 2018, de la Huerta filed a $60 million lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing Weinstein of raping her in 2010 and then embarking on a campaign of harassment that she contends damaged her career.^[28]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	The Object of My Affection	13-year-old Sally
1998	Luminous Motion	Beatrice
1999	The Cider House Rules	Mary Agnes
2000	Looking for an Echo	Nicole Delgado
2001	Bailey's Mistake	Becca Donovan	Television film
2001	Chelsea Walls	Girl
2001	Riding in Cars with Boys	Phone call flirt
2002	A Walk to Remember	Tracie
2002	A Girl's Guide to the Galaxy	Maxie	Short film
2003	Bringing Rain	Dakota Cunningham
2003	Rick	Vicki
2004	Homework	Sara
2005	Steal Me	Lily Rose
2005	Fierce People	Jilly
2006	Hollywood Dreams	Guest at wedding
2006	5up 2down	Allie
2006	Nail Polish	Becky Burns
2006	The Tripper	Jade
2007	Anamorph	Young woman
2007	Light and the Sufferer	Annette
2007	Neal Cassady	Tonya Novak
2008	The Guitar	Constance "Cookie" Clemente
2008	Choke	Nico
2008	Deception	List member #1
2009	The Limits of Control	Nude
2009	Enter the Void	Linda
2009	Nothing Personal	Tess
2009	42 One Dream Rush	—
2011	4:44 Last Day on Earth	Woman on street
2012	Getting high	Ally
2012	30 Beats	Laura
2013	Nurse 3D	Abby Russell
2013	In the Woods	—	Part of The Being Experience trilogy by Jennifer Elster
2014	The Editor	Josephine Jardin
2015	Bare	Pepper
2015	The Girl Is in Trouble	Maria
2015	Aimy in a Cage	Caroline
2015	Death in the Desert	Margo
2015	My Scientology Movie	Herself	Documentary film; cameo appearance
2016	Streets of East L.A.	The Nun
2017	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Hippolyta
2020	Puppy Love[29]	Carla

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Law & Order	Chloe	Episode: "Loco Parentis"
2000	The Practice	Jenny Holbrook	Episode: "Black Widows"
2000	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Karen Raye	Episode: "Chat Room"
2008	X Femmes	Miss Lingerie	Episode: "Le bijou indiscret"
2010–2011	Boardwalk Empire	Lucy Danziger	Main cast (seasons 1–2); 13 episodes
2013	Eagleheart	Tess	2 episodes

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist	Notes
2007	"By the Time I Get Home There Won't Be Much of a Place for Me"	Grand National
2011	"Video Games"	Lana Del Rey	paparazzi footage

References

1. Boardwalk Empire A-Z: the totally unofficial guide to accompany the hit HBO series, John Wallace, John Blake Publishing, 2012
2. Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía (1992). Anales de la Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía: Tomo I, año 1991. Ediciones Hidalguia. pp. 126–. ISBN 978-84-600-8178-4. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
3. Jay Bulger (May 30, 2010). "Are You Ready for Paz?". New York Magazine. New York Media LLC. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
4. "Paz de la Huerta". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
5. Schmerkin, Nicolas. "Interview Gaspar Noe" (PDF). Enter the Void press kit. Wild Bunch. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 20, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
6. Harris, Brandon (2010). "The Trip". Filmmaker. 19 (Summer). Los Angeles, CA: Independent Feature Project. ISSN 1063-8954. Archived from the original on December 26, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
7. "Interview: 'Boardwalk Empire' creator Terence Winter". September 9, 2010.
8. Catarinella, Alex (August 10, 2012). "Exclusive Interview: Paz De La Huerta on Beauty, Acting, and Her Infamous Cameos". Elle Magazine. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
9. "Paz de la Huerta: I want to return to 'Boardwalk Empire'". Fox News. August 28, 2013. Archived from the original on November 24, 2016.
10. Paul Harris (January 21, 2012). "Lana Del Rey: The strange story of the star who rewrote her past". The Guardian. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
11. Dobbins, Amanda (September 21, 2011). "Meet Lana Del Rey, the New Singer Music Bloggers Love to Hate". New York. New York Media, LLC. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
12. Martinez, Jose (April 11, 2011). "Paz de la Huerta sued over alleged assault on former 'The City' star Samantha Swetra". New York Daily News. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
13. "Boardwalk Empire Star Paz de la Huerta Accused of Assault". DNAinfo. March 24, 2011. Archived from the original on November 6, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
14. GRACE, MELISSA. "Paz de la Huerta pleads guilty to harassment charge for bar brawl with reality star Samantha Swetra - NY Daily News". New York Daily News.
15. "NSFW: Paz De La Huerta to Seduce You as 'The Nurse'!". Bloody Disgusting. July 14, 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
16. "Is there a sequel to the controversial horror 'Nurse 3D' already in the works?". April 21, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
17. "Nurse 3D Actress Sues Filmmakers For Ruining Her... - Yahoo Movies UK". uk.movies.yahoo.com. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
18. "The Hollywood Ballad of Lonnie 'Ted' Binion - Vegas Seven". Vegas Seven. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
19. "Astron-6 team tap Kier, Risk for "THE EDITOR"". Fangoria. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
20. Guerrasio, Jason (May 9, 2017). "A documentary filmmaker explains how infamous actress Paz de la Huerta hijacked his Scientology movie". Business Insider.
21. Rickinson, Steve (April 20, 2015). "2015 Tribeca Film Festival Profile: Natalia Leite (Writer/Director – 'BARE')". Indie NYC. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
22. "Bare | Tribeca Film Festival". Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
23. Scheck, Frank (April 20, 2015). "'Bare': Tribeca Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
24. "Bare trailer, Glee's Dianna Agron breaks new ground in dark, passionate drama". September 25, 2015. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
25. Bulger, Jay (May 30, 2010 ). "Are You Ready for Paz? ShareThis". New York. p. 6.
26. Custodio Pastor, "Paz de la Huerta, madrileña inesperada" in El País, December 5, 2020
27. Keegan, Rebecca (November 2, 2017). "Paz de la Huerta Says Harvey Weinstein Raped Her Twice. Will That Bring Him to Justice?". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
28. Dalton, Andrew (November 13, 2018). "Actress Paz de la Huerta sues Harvey Weinstein, alleges rape". The Associated Press.
29. McNary, Dave (March 15, 2017). "Hopper Penn, Paz de la Huerta to Star in Dramatic Comedy Puppy Love". Variety. Retrieved November 3, 2017.

External links

• Paz de la Huerta at IMDb
• Paz de la Huerta: Behind the Nude, article at Focus Features' website
• Are You Ready for Paz?, article at New York magazine's website
• Interview with Paz de la Huerta by Imagine Fashion