Anna Paquin made her debut in the 1993 period drama film ‘The Piano’ where she played the role of ‘Flora McGrath.’ The film opened to wide universal acclaim and became a massive commercial success, grossing over US$140 million on a budget of US$7 million. Paquin also received the ‘Academy Award’ for ‘Best Supporting Actress,’ making her the second-youngest actor to receive the award in that category. Following her debut, she went on to star in films like ‘Jane Eyre’ (1996), ‘Fly Away Home’ (1996), ‘Amistad’ (1997), ‘Hurlyburly’ (1998), ‘Laputa: Castle in the Sky’ (1998), ‘A Walk on the Moon’ (1999), ‘She's All That’ (1999), and ‘It's the Rage’ (1999). In 2000, she portrayed ‘Marie / Rogue’ in the American superhero film ‘X-Men’ directed by Bryan Singer. The film opened to positive reviews and was a commercial success, grossing over $296.3 million on a budget of $75 million. That same year, she also appeared in the American comedy-drama film ‘Almost Famous’ directed by Cameron Crowe. The film saw widespread acclaim upon release and received 4 ‘Academy Award’ nominations. She was next seen in films like ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ (2001), ‘Darkness’ (2002), ‘25th Hour’ (2002), ‘X2’ (2003), ‘Steamboy’ (2005), ‘The Squid and the Whale’ (2005), ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ (2006), ‘Blue State’ (2007), ‘Mosaic’ (2007), and ‘Trick 'r Treat’ (2007).
In 2008, she joined the lead cast of the American fantasy horror drama television series ‘True Blood’ created by Alan Ball. She played the role of ‘Sookie Stackhouse’ which earned her the ‘Golden Globe Award.’ The series ran for 7 seasons and aired its final episode in 2014. She starred as ‘Lila Hayes’ in the 2010 romantic comedy film ‘The Romantics’ directed by Galt Niederhoffer. The film was panned by critics and was given a 14% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Paquin continued to star in films like ‘Scream 4’ (2011), ‘Margaret’ (2011), ‘Straight A's’ (2013), ‘Free Ride’ (2013), ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ (2014), ‘The Good Dinosaur’ (2015), ‘Furlough’ (2018), ‘The Parting Glass’ (2018), ‘Tell It to the Bees’ (2018), and ‘The Irishman’ (2019). She was last seen in the 2021 American biographical sports film ‘American Underdog’ directed by Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics.