Paula Patton

Paula Patton was born in Los Angeles, California, to Joyce (Vanraden) and Charles Patton. Her father is African American and her mother is caucasian. She is of German, English, Dutch and English roots. As a child her family was located right across from the 20th Century Fox lot. She was a fervent movie buff from the time she was a child. Her mother, who was a teacher, and her dad, a lawyer, were both avid movie buffs. Paula says that she used to escape from her mother by pretending to be someone else while when she was a kid. It's not too surprising that she was involved in Hamilton Magnet Arts High School's high school plays. Her favorite character was one of Abigail in "The Crucible". After finishing the University of Southern California's summer program she took film classes and was assigned a three-month assignment to create documentaries for PBS. Then, she was hired as a production assistant on documentaries for television and Howie Mandel's talk-show. After a few months she was able create documentary segments for Medical Diaries 2000 on Discovery Health Channel. Paula admits she is happy with doing what she loves, but she still dreams of being an actor. Her career was nearly instant success, playing major roles in Hitch (2005), Idlewild (2006), and also the lead female role in Deja Vu (2006) opposite Denzel.