Fairuza Alejandra Balk (born May 21, 1974), better known plainly as Fairuza Balk, is an American actress, probably more famous than anything for her participation in the 1996 movie The Craft. She is a native of Point Reyes, California.
Legend has it that she was named Fairuza because her father, an expert in Persian culture, exclaimed that word the moment she was born, Fairuza meaning Turquoise in Persian, and Balk's eyes being of that color. Soon after her parents split, Fairuza became a world traveller. Raised for the first part of her life in San Francisco, she and her mother moved to Vancouver when Fairuza counted nine years of age. At the age of 11, she moved to London, where she attented various prestigious ballet and acting schools. At that age also, she was picked by the Walt Disney Company to act in the movie Return to Oz. In 1988, she moved to Paris, to do more work as an actress and by 1989 she was back in Vancouver, and she began to attend high school. Soon, however, she decided to take correspondence courses instead.
Then, she went back to Hollywood, where she began to be more and more noticed as an actress. In 1992, she was awarded an Independent Spirit Award , in the category of Best Actress.
Balk was soon cast in The Craft, in which she forms a teenage coven along with Neve Campbell, Rachel True and Robin Tunney. This was particularly appropriate casting, as Fairuza is a wiccan in real life, and she owns a store dedicated to that religion, named Panpipes Magickal.
Balk also had a memorable performance as a neo-nazi opposite Edward Norton in American History X.
Balk has been romantically linked to British actor David Thewlis. She also dated Marilyn Manson, but they have since split.
Filmography
