Paula Patton

Paula Patton is the daughter of Joyce (Vanraden), Patton, and Charles Patton. Her father is African American and her mother is caucasian. She has German, English, Dutch and English roots. Her family lived directly across the street from the 20th Century Fox lot as she grew up, and she was a big movie buff from her early days. Her mother was a teacher and her father was an attorney. Paula admitted that she tried to escape when she was an infant by "pretending" to appear to be someone different from herself. So it's not a surprise that she participated in Hamilton Magnet Arts High School productions. Her favorite role was that of "Abigail" in "The Crucible". She went on to learn film at the University of Southern California in an internship program for summer, and was awarded a three-month project to make documentaries for PBS. In the end, she was hired as a production associate in television documentaries as well as on Howie Mandel's talk show. Later, she made documentaries for Medical Diaries (2000 on Discovery Health Channel). Paula says she loves doing what she loves, but she is still aspiring to be a performer. Her career was nearly instant success with her roles, including major ones in Hitch (2005), Idlewild (2006), as well as the leading female character in Deja Vu (2006) opposite Denzel.