Annabella Avery Thorne (born October 8, 1997) is an American actress, model, singer, and writer. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Imagen Award, a Shorty Award, a Teen Choice Award, three Young Artist Awards and twitter bella thorne.
Thorne first received recognition for her roles as Margaux in the film Whip It! (2009) and as Paige in the Nickelodeon series iCarly (2007).
1. Early life
Thorne was born in Pembroke Pines, Florida, to Tamara Thorne (née Cokley) and Delancey Reinaldo “Rey” Thorne. She has one younger brother, Remy, and three older sisters, Riley, Kaili, and Dani. Her mother is of Italian, English and Spanish ancestry, while Thorne’s father has Puerto Rican ancestry. She stated on Jimmy Kimmel Live! show that she does not speak Spanish but can understand it when spoken.
Her parents divorced in 2007 after sixteen years of marriage. She and her siblings were raised by their single mother, and reportedly had a troubled relationship with their father, who left the family when Thorne was seven years old. Prior to acting, Thorne had no aspirations to become an actress but instead aspired to be a professional singer.
2. Career
Thorne was signed with Red Modeling Agency in 2007 at age 11 after taking part in a global search for models to appear on the cover of Beach Bunny Swimwear’s catalog. She began her acting career in 2008 with bit roles on the television series My Own Worst Enemy and Cold Case and later starred as Mauri in the Like Water for Chocolate film soundtrack (2009). Thorne’s breakthrough role came in 2009 with the independent film Whip It! She was cast as Margaux, a rebellious teenager who battles her abusive mother and her stepfather, played by Elizabeth Banks, while auditioning for a roller derby team. Thorne stated: “I’m not happy all the time. I feel trapped by my family life and my childhood and how it shaped me. I relate to Margaux because she ran away from everything and doesn’t go home that often. When you’re an actress your dreams come true daily but that wasn’t what I was looking for. I just wanted an opportunity to speak about myself as a young person in America today. My character is more than just a heroine, she’s real. I think everyone can relate to a character having it easy but wanting to be free and having dreams for the future.”She had previously auditioned for the role of Dolly in Dolly (2010) at age 12 and spoke in depth about the similarity between her childhood self and her Margaux character. In an interview with NYMag.com Thorne stated: “My own mother is a single parent and I have an abusive stepfather. My brother got into drugs, got arrested at 19-years-old, went to jail for four years and still struggles with it to this day. So there is so much that I know about that world as a child actor.”
Thorne’s performance was recognized by critics and audiences alike. She earned an Imagen Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor, an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Breakthrough Performance and a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film. Thorne was praised for her courage in portraying the character. Rejecting her role as Kami, who is the daughter of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s characters in the film The Tourist (2010) due to her own troubled relationship with her mother, Thorne claimed that she had “no idea that I would feel this way about [director] Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck”.
3. Later career
In January 2011, Thorne announced that she would be starring in a film based on the novel Orange Is the New Black (2009) by Piper Kerman. The film is scheduled to be released in 2011 and will depict Thorne’s character as a young woman in her early twenties incarcerated for a year at a federal correctional facility. The film was filmed while Thorne was attending New York University as an art student and was previously referred to as “Orange Is the New Black” when it was announced in 2010. The title changed because the original title was similar to Orange Is the New Black (2010) by Paula Deen, which Throne did not want her name attached with. Thorne will also star in the film Somewhere Bidding, a romantic comedy focusing on a young single girl out for her first real romance.
4. Personal life
Thorne dated actor/writer Conor Leslie from 2010 to 2012. She began dating actor Nico Tortorella in 2012. The couple separated in February 2013. On September 12, 2014, Thorne announced that she and Tortorella were expecting their first child together; the couple welcomed their daughter, Vida Rayne Maxwell, on August 14, 2015. On October 2, 2015 it was announced Thorne had given birth to their second daughter named Edie Olivia Thorne-Tortorella. Thorne is a vegetarian.
Thorne has been open about her struggle with both anorexia and bulimia. She’s also been very vocal on Twitter about her serious troubles with self harm and other emotional issues, stating “I had no idea I was depressed, stressed, or how badly I needed help.” In 2014 she co-wrote a book called “The Life Plan Diet: The Delicious Way to Lose Weight Forever in 4 Easy Steps!” which details her healthy living plan. It was published by the Atria Publishing Group on July 14, 2014 and currently is available as an Ebook on Amazon.com.
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