Natalia Elaine Parrish was born the fifth and final child of Adam and Moira Parrish. The Parrish family was of modest means in the Chicago area, where Adam Parrish was (and still is) a minister. The Parrish family are a tightknit group, bound together by their father's devout faith. All the Parrish children share in this faith, to varying degrees, but they're all considered to be upstanding citizens of the Chicago area. The youngest of the brood, natalia was forced to find any number of ways to entertain herself. So she, along with the brother and sister closest to her in age, took to writing and performing their own skits. While her siblings eventually fell out of "love" with this childhood pastime, it would stick with natalia and become a lifelong passion. The parrish family was not lacking in support of what would become natalia's dream, but they were far from being able to understand the lengths their daughter would go to to ensure her dream became a reality. To make her parents lean more towards support, Natalia vowed to continue to pursue her education if she was allowed to go to auditions and take any jobs that came her way. Reluctantly, her parents agreed. Natalia would land her first role, if uncredited, at the age of 16. She would continue to book small parts in television but nothing of note until landing a role on the then-popular television show, 24, during its fifth season. While a small supporting role, it got her face out to the masses and she considers the role critical to her gaining traction in her career, and in her ability to gain more and more parts. Between high school and attending Northwestern Universtiy, Natalia booked print ads and small cameo roles, as well as taking drama classes and heavily participating in Chicago community theater. The promise to finish her education was one that she held very near and dear to her heart, and one she intended to keep. She made sure her theatrical pursuits fit into her education and not the other way around. Because of higher education, Natalia's first role in a feature film wouldn't come until 2010, when she would first be seen in 'Inception' as well as opposite Ines Anderesson in 'The Black Swan.' Both roles would catapult her onto the scene and would earn her critical acclaim like she never dreamed of. The role in Black Swan would also begin to shatter her world. The character of Lily was seen as promescuous, and a scene between the two leads put her at odds with her family, a relationship which has seemingly recovered, but continues to have its issues. Tired of being fed the same old scripts, Natalia impressed upon her team that she wanted to try something new and different. While obliging their client, Natalia's management would routinely turn over scripts that they simply didn't think the young actress could handle. Some even say that many of the roles she would go onto play, she shouldn't have even been considered for, but Natalia was persistant and had a belief in herself that her own team had yet to discover. The buzz that 'Black Swan' afforded her was enough of a boost to her public image to garner her newer, fresher, better scripts. For the first time, she felt like she had the ability to choose where her career was going, to choose what she could become ultimately passionate about. Though there were people in her circle, even those that held the reins of her career, who didn't believe that Natalia had what it took to become the kind of star that she obviously wanted to become, Natalia chose to ignore those naysayers. And she would do so in a big way. The first post-Black Swan script she said yes to was an American adaptation of the highly-acclaimed Swedish novel 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.' She almost never got a chance to read for the part, however, as her agent got the script before she did and said a quick no, not believing she could handle it. If anything, that made Natalia more interested in the role, which would be even more challenging than anything Black Swan had thrown at her. Black Swan had been more psychological, GWTDT was psychological, but it was incredbily physically demanding, forcing the actress to transform herself in ways she had never imagined. While she nailed the audition, the actual filming process would be something she often thought she really couldn't handle. Working on the film would change Natalia, in small, often overlooked ways. It put another rift between she and her family, as her parents, especially her father, couldn't understand why the daughter he had raised was putting herself out in the world in such a degrading manner. Natalia, however, simply knew it would make her stronger. At least that was what she hoped. Following GWTDT, Natalia knew she wanted meaty roles. She went on to work on two more independent films that weren't widely received or seen, but were hailed by critics for their heart and her performance. Natalia felt like she was beginning to get everything she could have wanted from what she now knew could be a career. People started to bypass her agent and send scripts directly to her, which was how the script for the second Hunger Games film landed on her desk. Natalia was already a fan of Suzanne Collins's trilogy and immediately jumped at the chance to play anyone in the cast, no matter how big or small. The fact that it turned out to be Johanna Mason was really just icing on the cake. Despite commercial success, Natalia would continue to favor scripts that leaned toward the indie side. She liked to dig into a script and didn't want to take work simply because she could earn a paycheck. She was still the girl who wanted to make art, and when an opportunity landed in her lap to make something she had a gut feeling would be incredible, she jumped at the chance, no matter how difficult it might turn out to be. After a vigorous audition process, Natalia found herself accepting the role of Mia in Damien Chazelle's reimagined movie musical. It had been many years since she had to draw on all three of her talents, knowing her dancing and singing skills were acceptable enough to earn the role, but wanting to put together a performance that was more than just acceptable. Natalia threw herself into the role, into rehearsing, into creating a world and it is to date the thing she is most proud of in her career. The critical acclaim it has been receiving is just icing on the cake. In the meantime, a powerhouse studio quietly approached her management team, which no longer included the agent who routinely said no to projects that they simply FELT Natalia wouldn't be right for, to see if they thought their client would want to audition for one of their projects. While Natalia was deep in rehearsals for La La Land, they kept it to themselves, not wanting to pull the actress's focus. But because that powerhouse studio was Marvel, they couldn't keep it quiet for long and when the time was right, they asked and Natalia emphatically said yes. She knew she would be stupid to turn down the chance to be seen by Marvel casting directors. She simply never imagined it would be to test for one of Marvel's treasured characters, Carol Danvers. She tested, and tested, and tested, assuming, once the testing was done, that she wouldn't hear back from them. But eventually the call did come. And low and behold, they wanted her. Natalia wasn't sure, at first, if she wanted to jump into another franchise, one that would be considerably more demanding than The Hunger Games, and could take away from time that she could be spending on meatier, more "artsy" roles, but after a long talk with managers, her family, and considerable prayer, Natalia accepted the role. She knew she'd have time constraints, but if she really wanted to, with the doors Marvel could possibly open for her, she'd still be able to push her career in the direction that she had always dreamed. |
MEDIA PERCEPTION....
Parrish is known for coming from a large family in Chicago and being the daughter of a minsiter. When Parrish burst onto the Hollywood scene, many started to count down the minutes until the start of what they termed an inevitable rebellion phase. With six plus years under her belt in the industry, people are still waiting. Parrish is now known for her hard work ethic, along with her genuniely positive personality. The media tend to lump Parrish in with old Hollywood legends like Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly; in more recent times, Parrish is often hailed as a throwback to Julia Roberts in her days as America's Sweetheart. Parrish is an advocate of charity work and volunteering her time, using her celebrity for the greater good. She's cultivated an "everyman," girl next door persona that people tend to gravitate to; her type of "everyman" lacks the feeling that its fake or cultivated. When she is caught in the gossip magazines, it tends to be on the heels of someone in her circle, and not necessarily because she finally snapped or is beginning her rebellious phase. When things do go sideways for Parrish, it can be shocking to the media. FILMOGRAPHY
2019 / captain marvel
... captain marvel
2018 / avengers: infinity war
... carol danvers/captain marvel
2018/ the death and life of john f. donovan
... natalie portman's role
2018 / annette
... rooney mara's role
2017 / wind river
... jane banner
2017 / battle of the sexes
... billie jean king
2017 / the greatest showman
... jenny lind
2016 / la la land
... mia
2016 / free fire
... justine
2016 / hail, caeser!
... deeanna moran
2015 / the hunger games: mockingjay part 2
... johanna mason
2015 / our brand is crisis
... leblanc
2014 / the hunger games: mockingjay part 1
... johanna mason
2014 / inherent vice
... hope harlingen
2013 / her
... catherine
2013 / what if
... chantry
2013 / the hunger games: catching fire
... johanna mason
2012 / ruby sparks
... ruby sparks
2012 / smashed
... kate hannah
2011 / the girl with the dragon tattoo
... lisbeth salander
2010 / black swan
... lily/the black swan
2010 / inception
... ariadne
2006 / '24'
... shari rothenberg (5 episodes)
2004 / 'Law & order: Special Victims Unit'
... tandi mccain (1 episode)
2001 / Someone Like You
... model (uncredited)
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pb: alicia vikander (previously kate mara for a hot second) / third, past, threads / adult or ftb / ooc chat & plotting are ok / est /