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Malina Weissman is an actress who portrays Violet Baudelaire in the Netflix adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events.


Biography[]

Weissman is a New York City-based model and actress. She started her career as a model at the age of eight, following in the footsteps of her mother whose agency discovered her. She has appeared in major designers and brands like Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Levi's, Benetton, DKNY, H&M, among many others. As an actress, she has appeared in commercials for ACT mouthwash, Maybelline, Purell, and My Little Pony.

She made her film debut playing the role of a young April O'Neil in the science fiction action comedy film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the role played as an adult by Megan Fox, in 2014.

In 2015, Weissman appeared in the CBS and Warner Bros. Television's superhero series Supergirl as a young Kara Zor-El, played as an adult by Melissa Benoist.

In 2016, Weissman appeared in the film Thirsty Girl, and had the significant role of Rebecca Brand in the comedy film Nine Lives, also starring Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Garner, which was released in end of July, 2016.

A Series of Unfortunate Events[]

That's the big message of the show, that kids need to speak up and make sure our voices are heard.
 
— Malina Weissman[1]

Weissman auditioned for Violet Baudelaire several times, having previously worked with Barry Sonnenfeld on Nine Lives. Her last audition was a chemistry read with Louis Hynes in LA, and as he had a British accent, she was concerned that she wasn't going to get the part or be made to don a British accent. That same day, she found out she got the part.

She considers it an honor to play Violet because she's someone "everybody can look up to", as a smart and empowering girl. She also found Violet's inventions and her art projects to be similar traits. Weissman said she hopes "that she can be like her. I want to be like her."

She practiced tying back her hair a lot so as to do it fast, and eventually picked up the habit herself.

The main lesson she learned from Neil Patrick Harris, on set, was to not be afraid, and to speak up if they felt something wasn't right. While filming Season 1, Weissman was helpfully able to soothe Presley Smith while preparing for a scene.

She states that an unforgettable scene for her was during "The Wide Window: Part Two," where her, Hynes and Alfre Woodard were on a sailboat on a blue screen, none of them knew their lines, and they had to run back and forth and up the mast while people threw water at them. She stated it was a crazy scene, and very fun to film. She said that one of her favorite scenes was in "The Vile Village: Part Two, where the Baudelaires let the Quagmires go, as they decided to let their friends go to a safe life while they stayed behind to deal with Count Olaf, showing the characters finally taking a stand.[1]

Prior to shooting the climbing scene in "The Slippery Slope: Part Two", the director had told her and Dylan Kingwell (who plays Duncan and Quigley Quagmire), that the two would have to kiss. Being actors, the two were used to requests such as this, and didn't think much of it. However, right before they were about to shoot the scene, the director told them he was "just kidding", and so the kiss was never shot.[2]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Young April O'Neil
2016 Thirsty Girl in Pink
2016 Nine Lives

Rebecca Brand

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
2015-2016 Difficult People Renee Epstein 2 episodes
2015–2017 Supergirl Young Kara Zor-El
2017–2019 A Series of Unfortunate Events Violet Baudelaire

Gallery[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Videos[]

Trivia[]

  • Weissman had also worked with Barry Sonnenfeld and Robbie Amell in the film Nine Lives.
  • Sonnenfeld, who chose Weissman for the role of Violet, had directed her in the aforementioned film and knew her ability to speak quickly without overacting.
  • Weissman is of German, Palestinian, and Romanian descent.[3]
  • Weissman is fluent in Spanish, English, and German.[3]
  • Weissman has an older sister; Ayla Weissman.
  • Weissman has around 1,000,000 followers on Instagram.
  • Weissman appeared in a music video for her sister; Ayla.[4]
  • Louis Hynes is actually more than a year older than Weissman. This is despite the fact that Hynes' character, Klaus, is nearly two years younger than Weissman's character; Violet.
  • Weissman was born the same year that the film adaptation began shooting.
  • Weissman's resemblance to previous Violet portrayer Emily Browning has been noted, even by Browning herself.
  • Weissman portrayed a young Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) in the first and second seasons of TV's Supergirl, while Dylan Kingwell portrayed a young Clark Kent (Superman) in the first season of TV's Superman & Lois.
  • Weissman and co-star, friend and onscreen adversary Kitana Turnbull have identical or identical-sounding names to that of Mortal Kombat characters Kitana and Mileena, two fighters and rivals from said game series.

Sources[]


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