By the age of 5, Jena Malone knew she wanted to become an actor. Her first appearance in front of the camera was for Michael Jackson's 1995 "Childhood" music video, followed by a one-off role on "Chicago Hope." But everything changed when Malone landed "Bastard Out of Carolina," a harrowing and controversial film in which she played a young girl who deals with physical and sexual abuse. She later told ContactMusic.com, "One of the first scripts I ever read was 'Bastard Out of Carolina,' and it made such an impact on me as a 10-year-old young girl. I'm still processing how it impacted me. It was such a beautiful story, it was such a powerful story, and it was such an important story."
Her first role was incredibly mature, but it suited her. Even from a young age, Malone preferred storytelling and art over basic moneymaking gigs, finding commercial auditions to be "dehumanizing," as she told Looper in 2020. "I didn't want to sit in a space and pretend to like cereal. I was like, 'I want to [embody] and tell a story where it's going to make you feel something.'" Following her breakout role, for which she received her first award nomination, Malone continued build up her filmography (and with very little interruption) for the next 28 years and counting.
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