Paula Patton

Paula Patton was the daughter of Joyce (Vanraden) and Charles Patton. Her father is African-American and her mother is caucasian is of German, English, and Dutch roots. Her family lived next to the 20th Century Fox lot as she grew up and she was a huge movie buff from her very early years. Her mother, who appreciated good films taught in a school, as was her father, an attorney. Paula states that as young, she would try to escape from the world by "pretending to play a different character" so it was not a surprise that she acted in plays for high school at Hamilton Magnet Arts High School. Her favorite character was that of "Abigail" in "The Crucible". After graduating from the University of Southern California's summer school, she pursued film studies and was assigned a three-month assignment to create documentaries on PBS. Then, she was hired 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 admits now that she loved the work she was doing however her goals was the same as when she was younger, and she began acting classes and shifted gears to become a performer. She was a star within a matter of days and was in Hitch (2006), Idlewild (2006), and Deja Vu (2006) as the female leading lady.