Jena Malone

Jena Malone (/ˈdʒiːnə məˈloʊn/; born November 21, 1984) is an American actress and musician. She made her movie debut with the film Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) and has appeared in films including Ellen Foster (1997), Contact (1997), Stepmom (1998), Donnie Darko (2001), Saved! (2004), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Into the Wild (2007), The Ruins (2008), Sucker Punch (2011) and The Hunger Games film series (2013–15). Malone is also an experimental musician who has released music both under her own name and as The Shoe. Her next film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, is scheduled to be released on March 25, 2016.

Early life and education

Malone was born in Sparks, Nevada, to Deborah "Debbie" Malone and Edward Berge. She was raised by her mother and her mother's girlfriend at the time, whom she has called "Godmom." Her paternal grandfather was Karl Berge, of the Karl's Silver Club casino. Her father is of part Norwegian descent; she also has Irish ancestry. By the time she was 9 years old, she had already lived in 27 different locations. Malone began taking an interest in acting after watching her mother, who was involved in community theatre. In 1995, she moved to Las Vegas, and later persuaded her mother to move to Los Angeles, California in order to pursue a career in acting. In Los Angeles, California, Malone has stated that she and her mother struggled with money. Malone was home-schooled from sixth to eighth grade. She attended the Professional Children's School, for the ninth grade in New York, and quit it after a year, when she became legally emancipated, in January 2000. At some point she later obtained her General Educational Development (GED). She has one younger sister, Madison Mae Malone (born 1997).