Paula Patton

Paula Patton is the daughter of Joyce (Vanraden), Patton, 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 up, and she was an avid movie buff from her early days. Her mother, too, who appreciated good films, was a schoolteacher, and her father was a lawyer. Paula states that as young, she would try to escape from the world by "pretending to appear to be someone else" which is why it came as the case that she appeared in plays for high school at Hamilton Magnet Arts High School. Her most loved role was "Abigail" from "The Crucible". In the end, she chose to learn film at the University of Southern California in a summer program, and won a 3-month assignment making documentaries for PBS. The result was that she was able to work as a production assistant on television documentaries as well as on Howie Mandel’s talk show. Later, she produced documentaries for Medical Diaries (2000 on Discovery Health Channel). Paula claims she enjoys her job, however, she has a longing to be an actor. She was almost instantly successful and was featured in major roles in Hitch (2005), Idlewild (2006) as well as the lead female role in Deja Vu (2006) opposite Denzel.