Lorraine Broussard Nicholson (born April 16, 1990) is an American actress and director. She is known for playing Alana Blanchard in the biographical film ''

Soul Surfer A soul surfer (term invented during the 1960s) is a surfer who surfs for the sheer pleasure of surfing. Although they may still enter competitions, winning is not the soul surfer's main motive, since they scorn the commercialization of surfing. T ...

'' (2011).

Early life

Nicholson was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

to actors

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

and

Rebecca Broussard Rebecca Broussard (born January 3, 1963) is an American actress and model. She was born in Louisville, Kentucky. From 1987 to 1988, Broussard was married to Richard Perry, a noted record executive who produced albums for Harry Nilsson, Julio Ig ...

. She was named after her father's aunt. She has a younger brother, Raymond, as well as two older half-siblings; a half-sister, Jennifer Nicholson and a half-brother, Caleb Goddard. She was four years old when her parents separated. In 2008, she graduated from Brentwood School in

Brentwood, California Brentwood is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population is 66,854 as of 2022, an increase of 287% from 23,302 at the 2000 census. Brentwood began ...

Career

Nicholson's first on-screen appearance was as an extra, at the age of 13, in her father's movie '' Something's Gotta Give''. In 2008, she provided the voice of Katie in the animated film '' Fly Me to the Moon''. After mostly minor roles as a child actor, Nicholson landed her first major role in ''Soul Surfer'', playing

Bethany Hamilton Bethany Meilani Hamilton (born February 8, 1990) is an American professional surfer and writer who survived a 2003 shark attack in which her left arm was bitten off and who ultimately returned to professional surfing. She wrote about her exper ...

's best friend Alana Blanchard, who was there to help her after a shark attack took her left arm. As Blanchard was a competitive surfer, Nicholson had to take a crash course in wave riding. Nicholson starred in ''Anonymous'' (2016), playing an expert hacker. Nicholson wrote, produced and directed a 15-minute coming-of-age drama titled ''The Instant Message''. She later directed and wrote a short film titled ''This Magic Moment.'' In 2017, Nicholson released her third short film, ''Life Boat'', which premiered at the 2017

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

Personal life

Nicholson served as Miss Golden Globe at the 2007

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

ceremony. In May 2012, she graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

with a degree in Literary Arts, intending on being a screenwriter. In a 2011 interview, Nicholson stated, "I love to act and I also hope to one day write and direct and create my own projects. I feel that in the film industry, especially as a woman, it's really important to make your own luck – and create projects to give other people really strong opportunities as well as yourself." In 2017, Nicholson was accepted into the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, a mentorship and education program geared towards female filmmaking.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Lorraine 1990 births 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles American child actresses American film actresses Brown University alumni Living people