Zoë Isabella Kravitz (born December 1, 1988) is an American actress, singer, and model. She made her acting debut in the romantic comedy film No Reservations (2007). Her breakthrough came with portraying Angel Salvadore in the superhero film X-Men: First Class (2011), which earned her nominations for a Teen Choice Award and a Scream Award. She rose to prominence playing Christina in The Divergent Series (2014–2016) and Leta Lestrange in the Fantastic Beasts film series (2016–2018).
Kravitz earned praise for her lead roles in the HBO drama series Big Little Lies (2017–2019), which earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, and the Hulu romantic comedy series High Fidelity (2020). She appeared as Toast the Knowing in George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), and has starred in numerous independent films including Dope (2015), Gemini (2017), and Kimi (2022). She voiced Mary Jane Parker in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), and played Catwoman in the animated The Lego Batman Movie (2017) and the live-action DC film The Batman (2022), the latter earning her nominations for a Saturn Award among other accolades. She is set to make her directorial debut with Pussy Island, which she also co-wrote and co-produced.
Time magazine named Kravitz one of the 100 Most Influential People in 2022. She works as a fashion model and musician, and has starred in campaigns for Tiffany & Co., Vera Wang, Balenciaga, Alexander Wang, Coach New York, Tumi, and Calvin Klein. As of 2017, Kravitz is the face of YSL Beauté. She also fronts the band Lolawolf and released the albums Calm Down in 2014 and Tenderness in 2020.
Early life
Kravitz was born in Venice, Los Angeles at the home of her parents, musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet. Both her parents are of half African-American and half-Jewish descent. Her paternal grandmother, actress Roxie Roker (a first cousin once removed of television weather forecaster Al Roker), and her maternal grandfather, Allen Bonet, were African American, with some of her grandmother's family being from The Bahamas. Her paternal grandfather, NBC television news producer Sy Kravitz, and maternal grandmother, Arlene Litman, were both Ashkenazi Jews. Kravitz's paternal grandfather's family emigrated from Ukraine. Kravitz identifies as a secular Jew. The song "Flowers for Zoë", included on her father's second album Mama Said, was written as a tribute to the two-year-old Zoë.
Kravitz's parents married in 1987 and divorced six years later, in 1993, when Zoë was five years old. She lived with her mother in Topanga Canyon and then moved to Miami at age 11 to live with her father, spending summers with her mother. Kravitz has two half-siblings from her mother's second marriage to actor Jason Momoa. Her godfather is movie producer Bruce Cohen, and her godmothers are actresses Marisa Tomei and Cree Summer.
Kravitz attended Miami Country Day School and Rudolf Steiner School in Manhattan graduating in 2007. Kravitz began studying that year at the acting conservatory under Scott McCrea at the State University of New York at Purchase where her peers included Micah Stock and Jason Ralph. She left college after a year and moved to Brooklyn, New York to work in films. She struggled with anorexia and bulimia throughout high school, until around age 24.
Career
Early work and breakthrough (2008–2012)
Kravitz landed her first film role while in high school, playing a babysitter hired by Catherine Zeta-Jones's character in the 2007 romantic comedy No Reservations. In the same year she also appeared in the action thriller The Brave One. In 2008, Kravitz appeared in the music video for Jay Z's "I Know" and was featured singing in will.i.am's music video for "We Are the Ones", in support of US presidential candidate Barack Obama. That same year she also appeared in the family drama Birds of America and neo noir comedy Assassination of a High School President. She began making music at the age of 16. She fronted the New York/Philadelphia-based band Elevator Fight, which she formed in 2009. The band performed at the South by Southwest music festival and on the main stage of the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia in June 2009, along with The Roots, TV On The Radio, and The Black Keys. Kravitz stated in 2011 that her music is a hobby. She also performed with the cabaret troupe The Citizens Band.