| The Best Supporting Actress Oscar statuette for A Beautiful Mind (2001) was presented to her by Benicio Del Toro (24 March 2002 / Kodak Theatre Los Angeles). |
| Met husband-to-be Paul Bettany on the set of A Beautiful Mind (2001). The couple later married without ever dating in the interim. |
| She has ADHD, for which she has been medicated ever since she was a kid. |
| Is one of 22 Oscar-winning actresses to have been born in the state of New York. The others are Alice Brady, Teresa Wright, Anne Revere, Celeste Holm, Claire Trevor, Judy Holliday, Shirley Booth, Susan Hayward, Patty Duke, Anne Bancroft, Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda, Lee Grant, Beatrice Straight, Whoopi Goldberg, Mercedes Ruehl, Marisa Tomei, Mira Sorvino, Susan Sarandon, Melissa Leo and Anne Hathaway. |
| Is one of 13 actresses who won their Best Supporting Actress Oscars in a movie that also won the Best Picture Oscar (she won for A Beautiful Mind (2001)). The others are Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind (1939), Teresa Wright for Mrs. Miniver (1942), Celeste Holm for Gentleman's Agreement (1947), Mercedes McCambridge for All the King's Men (1949), Donna Reed for From Here to Eternity (1953), Eva Marie Saint for On the Waterfront (1954), Rita Moreno for West Side Story (1961), Meryl Streep for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Juliette Binoche for The English Patient (1996), Judi Dench for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Catherine Zeta-Jones for Chicago (2002) and Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave (2013). |
| Was the 120th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for A Beautiful Mind (2001) at The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002) on March 24, 2002. |
| Returned to work 10 months after giving birth to her daughter Agnes to begin filming Stuck in Love (2012). |
| When she was 17 she auditioned for the role of Sarah Tobias in Les accusés (1988), but the part went to Jodie Foster. |
| Princess Jasmine's appearance in the Disney animated film Aladdin (1992) was based and influenced on her, as well as the sister of her animator, Mark Henn. |
| Gave birth to her daughter Agnes Lark Bettany, with husband Paul Bettany, at home in New York via scheduled water birth (31 May 2011). |
| Expecting her third child [December 14, 2010]. |
| Has twice played a character named "Sarah Williams". First was in Labyrinth (1986), second was in Waking the Dead (2000). |
| Returned to work 5 months after giving birth to her son Stellan in order to begin filming Dark Water (2005). |
| Returned to work 7 months after giving birth to her son Kai in order to begin filming Waking the Dead (2000). |
| The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), in which she starred, opened on her 38th birthday. December 12, 2008. |
| Is an only child. |
| With A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Reservation Road (2007), has now played the wife of Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, who both appeared in Gladiator (2000) = Crowe as the hero and Phoenix as the villain. |
| Auditioned for the title role of Firestarter (1984). |
| Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#54). [2007]. |
| Has an interest in mathematics and software. |
| Is a vegan. |
| Ranked as #88 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005). |
| Ranked #85 in Askmen's "Most Desirable Woman" (2002). |
| Ranked #74 in FHM-USA's "100 Sexiest Women" (2002). |
| Ranked #53 in Stuff's "103 Sexiest Women" (2003). |
| Ranked #14 in Celebrity Sleuth's "25 Sexiest Women of 1993". |
| Has said she used to use the online username "ecksor", which is a phonetic spelling of XOR (Exclusive OR) - a tribute to her cousin Jerry who is a computer security expert. |
| Enrolled at Yale as an English major, then transferred two years later to Stanford. |
| She was nearly cast as Diane Court in Cameron Crowe's Say Anything... (1989). Ione Skye got the part instead. |
| In three of her movies (Dark City (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), and House of Sand and Fog (2003)), she appears standing at the end of a pier in a striking image. All three directors created the shots for different reasons, and they are not an homage or reference to each other, just a coincidence. |
| Named her son Stellan after Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård. |
| Her father was of Irish and Norwegian heritage. Her mother was from an Ashkenazi Jewish family (from Poland and Russia). |
| First child with husband Paul Bettany, a son named Stellan Bettany, born 5 August, 2003. Stellan's Godfather is the actor Charlie Condou, Paul's best friend. |
| Daughter-in-law of actor Thane Bettany and Anne Kettle. |
| The character Veronica in Heathers (1988) was originally written with her in mind, but she turned the role down. |
| Was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in 2002. |
| Is fluent in French and Italian. |
| Cut a single in Japan, which she sang in phonetic Japanese. She says her agent made up the idea that she is semi-fluent in the language. |
| Has a son, Kai Dugan (born 1997), with photographer David Dugan. |