Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Selma Blair

Selma Blair 2012.jpg Photo by Joella Marano – Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Selma Blair

Selma Blair Beitner was born on June 23, 1972. She is an American actress who has played a number of roles in films and on television before obtaining her leading role in the film Brown’s Requiem in 1998. Her breakthrough came when she starred as Zoe Bean on the WB sitcom Duncan, Jack, and Jane from 1999-2000, and as Cecile Caldwell in the film Cruel Intentions in 1999.

Her success continued with the comedies Legally Blonde in 2001 and The Sweetest Thing in 2002, she also achieved international fame with her portrayal of Liz Sherman in the big-budget fantasy films Hellboy in 2004 and Hellboy II; The Golden Army in 2008.

In  2010, Selma narrated the audiobook The Diary of Anne Frank which earned her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.

1. Before Acting

Selma Blair (6541171199).jpg Photo by Gordon Correll – Wikimedia Commons

Blair had a Jewish upbringing and her Hebrew name is Bat-Sheva. She attended Hillel Day school, which is a Jewish day school in Farmington Hills. She spent her freshman year from 1990-1991 at Kalamazoo College where she studied photography and acted in the play The Little Theater of the Green Goose. At the time, she wanted to be a ballerina and a horse trainer.

At the age of 20, she moved to New York City where she lived at The Salvation Army. She attended New York University as well as acting classes at the Stella Screen Adler Conservatory, the Column Theatre, and the Stonestreet Screen Acting Workshop. 

She later returned to Michigan to finish her studies. After transferring from NYU, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Michigan in 1994 with a triple major in Photography, psychology, and English. She then returned to New York City to pursue a career in the arts.

2. Beginning of Her Career

Selma began auditioning in the mid-1990s. Her first audition was for a cereal commercial, she later won her first professional role in 1995 in an episode of the children’s television sitcom The Adventures of Pete & Pete, where she portrayed the love interest of the main character. In 1996, she landed her first feature film role in The Broccoli Theory which was set in 1997.

In 1998, Selma starred opposite Dominique Swain in the teen drama Girl and in the suspense thriller Brown’s Requiem which was based on a crime novel. In the same year, she also appeared in My Friend Steve’s music video for the song Charmed. She was also in the music video for the single Every You Every Me by the British alternative rock band Placebo. The song was featured on the Cruel Intentions soundtrack.

3. Career Breakthrough

Selma Blair 2011.jpg Photo by MingleMediaTVNetwork – Wikimedia Commons

After multiple auditions and appearances in tv shows and films, Selma achieved her breakthrough opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe in the 1999 coming-of-age drama Cruel Intentions. The film made $75.9 million internationally and brought Blair an MTV Movie Award nomination for ‘Best Breakthrough Performance’ and a win for ‘Best Kiss’

Selma went on to star as Zoe Bean on Zoe, Duncan, Jack, and Jane. Even though the show only went on for two seasons until it was canceled. However, the show helped get nominated for the Teen Choice Awards for “TV Breakout Performance”

In 2000, Selma won Movieline’s Young Hollywood Award in the “Exciting New Face-Female Category” Upon its release, there was a lukewarm critical and commercial response that greeted the film. After the film, she continued with the independent drama Kill Me Later opposite Max Beesley. The film received a limited release in September 2001, in New York and Los Angeles.

Selma’s biggest hit in the century of her career was when she co-starred opposite Resse Witherspoon in the comedy Legally Blonde. The film brought her a new set of fans, the iconic movie still brings her a different set of fans each year it’s streamed. The film was released on July 13, 2001, and it immediately topped the US box office. It made $96.5 million in North America and a worldwide total of $141.7 million.

In 2002, she starred side-by-side with Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate in the comedy The Sweetest Thing. The film received mixed reviews and earned a total of $68.6 million worldwide. Her role in the film earned her a nomination for the Teen Choice Awards in the category of Best Actress in a Comedy.

4. Fashion & Fame

In 1999, she appeared in Seventeen and other magazines including Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, Vogue, Glamour, Rolling Stones, and many more famous magazines.

During the early 2000s, Selma appeared twice on the cover of the Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue as one of Hollywood’s Next Wave of Stars. In 2002, she appeared in a Pirelli Calendar alongside Rachael Leigh Cook. Selma is known to follow the new style and fashion trends in addition to her radical hairstyle changes, leading her image to the Marc Jacobs-Brian Bowen Smith clothing line. 

Throughout the course of her career, she has worked with other fashion designers including Karen Zambos, Martin Margiela, Issac Mizrahi, Reinaldo Herrera, and Stella McCartney. She has also been a frequent guest at New York Fashion Week, and other fashion events.

She appeared in The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning photography gallery on October 30, 2005. The gallery was by an art photographer named Roger Ballen and was located at the Palau Robert in Barcelona in 2012.

In 2012, she was the spokesman for the Get Real For Kids campaign and in the same year, she released SB, which was a line of handbags and wallets which she designed. She even appeared on the covers and photo sessions of other magazines.

Selma has been the face of fashion houses Chanel, Miu Miu, and GAP. In 2018, she presented parts of the collection of Christian Siriano celebrating his 10th stage anniversary in Masonic Hall during New York Fashion Week.

5. Relationships and Family

Selma Blair (6143154024).jpg Photo by Tabercil from Canadian – Wikimedia Commons

In 2004, Selma married writer and producer Ahmet Zappa at Carrie Fisher’s mansion in Beverly Hills, California. They lived in Los Angeles in a 1920s-era home they bought for $1.35 million. She filed for divorce from Zappa on June 21, 2006.  The divorce became final in December 2006.

In 2010, Selma began dating fashion designer Jason Bleick and in January 2011 she announced that she was pregnant with her first child. Their son was born that July. On September 2012, the couple announced that they were no longer together after two years of dating.

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6. Advocacy

On May 27, 2012, she was a special guest at the National Memorial Day Concert at the U.S Capitol in Washington, DC. In October of the same year, Selma starred in the political satire sketch  The Woman for Romney which was about the campaign proposals of Mitt Romney, former Republican Party nominee for the 2012 United States presidential election. 

Selma’s charity work and philanthropic causes include Marc Jacobs’ Skin Cancer Awareness Campaign, H&M’s Fashion Against AIDS 2011 Campaign, Children’s Action Network, AmFAR AIDS Research 2011, and Bulgari-Save the Children 2012 Ad Campaign.

She was also included as one of the Silence Breakers selected as the 2017 Time Person of the Year. In December 2021, Michelle Pfeiffer was presented with the Equity in Entertainment Award at the Power 100 Women ceremony.

7. Selma’s Awards and Nominations

Selma Blair, May 2010 cropped.jpg Photo by LGEPR – Wikimedia Commons

In 1999, she was nominated for the Teen Choice Awards under the category Choice TV: Breakout Star, and the Breakthrough Female Performance. In 2000, she won the MTV Movie Awards and the Young Hollywood Awards. In 2002, she was nominated for the Teen Choice Awards and won the Young Hollywood Awards.

In 2011, she was nominated for a Grammy Award under the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children. In 2015, she won Operation Smile, and in 2021, she won the Media Access Awards.

8. Failing Health

In October 2018, Selma revealed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in August of that year. She revealed that for years she thought she was suffering from minor illnesses or even a pinched nerve. However, the diagnosis finally explained her disabilities which included her occasional falling, dropping things, and foggy memory.

She also revealed that she was inspired to reveal the news as a way to thank Allisa Swanson, her costume designer, who had to help get into her costume arm by arm and leg by leg. Selma has written about her experiences with multiple sclerosis in her memoir Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up which was published in May 2022.

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9. Dancing In The Stars

Selma Blair (6142572567).jpg Photo by Tabercil from Canadian – Wikimedia Commons

Selma joined the show to compete in the 31st season. Her team and family were a bit hesitant about her being cast on the show. She has commented on multiple interviews that it’s a new learning curve. She has noted that the most challenging part about the show will be keeping her balance.

Even though she has announced that she has no dance experience whatsoever, she seems to be ready to take on the new challenge and be able to show the world a new side of herself.

However, she left dancing with the stars after an MRI showed that she can’t go on with the competition. She left the show four weeks after she joined the competition. 

10. Breakdown

Selma has been in multiple shows and films since she began acting. She was even featured in the video game Hellboy: The Science of Evil in 2008, in the same year, she played Kim in Kath and Kim.

Her most recent works include Heathers in 2018, Lost In Space 2018-2019, Another Life 2019-2021, DuckTales in 2020, Good Morning America in 2022, and Dancing With the Stars in 2022.

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