Paula Patton

Paula Patton was born in Los Angeles, California, to Joyce (Vanraden) and Charles Patton. Her father is African-American and her mother who is caucasian is of German, English, and Dutch roots. Her family lived directly next to the 20th Century Fox lot as she grew older, and she was an avid enthusiast of films from her early days. Her mother was a teacher while her father was an attorney. Paula claimed that she tried to escape as an innocent child by "pretending" to become someone else. Therefore, it's no surprise that she was a part of Hamilton Magnet Arts High School plays. Her most loved role was that of "Abigail" in "The Crucible". She continued her studies at the University of Southern California, where she completed a summer program in film. It was during this time that she was given a three-month task to create documentaries on PBS. Then she was employed as a production assistant on television documentaries as well as Howie Mandel's talk show. In the following time she was able create documentary segments for Medical Diaries 2000 on Discovery Health Channel. Paula says she is passionate about the work she does, but her ambition was the same. She studied acting and changed gears to become a performer. She quickly became successful and within three years, had played the lead roles in major movies, Hitch (2005) and Idlewild (2006) and the female leading lady in Deja Vu (2006) opposite Denzel Washington.