Heather Graham

HEATHER GRAHAM
Film & TV Actress

I was shy as a child, but my mother always pushed me to do something creative.
I took guitar and piano lessons, but I was no good. Then, I went to see Peter Pan starring Sandy Duncan. I was obsessed with Peter Pan. Sandy flew through the sky and out into the audience on wires and I was just thrilled. I really wanted to do what she was doing, and the theater became a great way to make friends. My first play was The Wizard of Oz. I loved it! I was cast as Dorothy, and the only downside was that my stuffed puppy dog did not get cast as Toto – something I was very upset about at the time.


In middle school, I played Lola in the musical Damn Yankees. At that time, I was in the choir too, but I sucked. Sometimes I couldn’t even hear the pitch of my own voice and the people standing around me in choir would make little uncomfortable expressions. The theater, though, gave me a way to express myself. While I was still shy, I was very hammy and really performed during those songs anyway. The theater gave me that confidence and gave me a way to express myself.

Heather Graham was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and grew up outside of Los Angeles, California. She attended acting classes at UCLA and her first major role came in 1989’s Drugstore Cowboy. She has since been nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards for her work in Boogie Nights (1997) and Bobby (2006)

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