Neve Adrianne Campbell (/ˈnɛv ˈkæmbəl/; born October 3, 1973) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres.
Following a series of minor appearances, Campbell played a starring role in the drama series Catwalk (1992–1994) and the television film The Canterville Ghost (1996), the latter winning her a Family Film Award for Best Actress. She subsequently relocated to the United States to play the role of Julia Salinger in the Fox teen drama series Party of Five (1994–2000), which was her breakthrough role, earning her recognition as a teen idol and a nomination for the Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress. While on the show, she starred in her first American feature film, headlining the supernatural blockbuster The Craft (1996).
Campbell rose to international prominence for starring as Sidney Prescott in Wes Craven's slasher film Scream (1996), which emerged as a critical and commercial success—becoming the highest grossing slasher film for over 20 years—and obtained a cult following. The success of the film spawned the Scream franchise, for which she reprised the role in the series' second (1997), third (2000), fourth (2011) and fifth (2022) installments, playing the role for 25 years. Although critical reception has varied with each film, Campbell has consistently earned praise for her work, and is one of the genre's highest-grossing and acclaimed heroines of all time. Scream has earned her several accolades, including two Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for Best Actress, a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Actress, a Saturn Award for Best Actress, and an MTV Award for Best Female Performance, all of which were collectively awarded for the first two installments.
Campbell has achieved success in films such as the neo-noir thriller Wild Things (1998), 54 (1998) and the crime films Drowning Mona and Panic (both 2000), all of which garnered acclaim. She furthered this success with roles in the drama films Last Call (2002), The Company (2003) and When Will I Be Loved (2004), the comedies Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004) and Relative Strangers (2006) and the romantic-drama Closing the Ring (2007); Last Call won her the Prism Award for Best Performer in a TV Film/Miniseries. She returned to television after Closing the Ring, playing Olivia Maidstone in the NBC action drama series The Philanthropist (2009), LeAnn Harvey in the Netflix political thriller series House of Cards (2016–2017) and Margaret McPherson on the Netflix crime drama The Lincoln Lawyer (2022–present). She appeared in the miniseries Titanic: Blood and Steel (2012) and continues to work in film, starring in the comedy-drama Walter (2015), the action film Skyscraper (2018), the Canadian drama Castle in the Ground (2019) and the musical drama Clouds (2020).
Early life
Campbell's Dutch mother, Marnie (née Neve), is a yoga instructor and psychologist from Amsterdam. She descends from Sephardic Jews who immigrated to the Netherlands and converted to Catholicism. Her Scottish father, Gerry Campbell, immigrated to Canada from his native Glasgow, and taught high school drama classes in Mississauga, Ontario. Campbell's maternal grandparents ran a theatre company in the Netherlands, and her paternal grandparents were also performers. Campbell has an older brother, Christian Campbell, and two younger half-brothers, Alex Campbell and Damian Campbell. Her parents divorced when she was two.
At age six, she saw a performance of The Nutcracker and decided she wanted to take ballet, enrolling at the Erinvale School of Dance. She later moved into residence at the National Ballet School of Canada, training there and appearing in performances of The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. After accumulating numerous dance-related injuries, she moved into acting at age 15, performing in The Phantom of the Opera at the Canon Theatre in Toronto while attending John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute in Guelph, where she trained in acting and worked in theatre. One of her classmates was actress Tara Strong.
Campbell's early work included a 1980s Eaton's department store Christmas commercial, and a 1991 Coca-Cola commercial; she promoted the latter's sponsorship on Bryan Adams' Waking Up the Nation Tour (1991–1992).
