Jena Malone
Biography
Jena Laine Malone is an American actress, musician, and photographer born on November 21, 1984, in Sparks, Nevada. She spent her early life in Sparks and Las Vegas, where her mother participated in local theater productions. Inspired by this environment, Malone moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. In addition to her work in film and television, she is an indie pop musician. She has performed under her own name, including as Jena Malone and Her Bloodstains, and as a member of the musical duo The Shoe. She maintains a professional presence in the entertainment industry with numerous credits across her career.
Career overview
Jena Malone began her professional acting career in 1996 at the age of 12 with the television film Bastard Out of Carolina. Her performance in this project earned her nominations for both an Independent Spirit Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Following this debut, she appeared in several made-for-television movies during the late 1990s. In 1997, she gained recognition for her role as the younger version of the lead character in the feature film Contact. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, she built a diverse filmography with appearances in projects such as Ellen Foster, Stepmom, For Love of the Game, Donnie Darko, and Life as a House.
Her career continued to expand with roles in films including Saved!, Pride & Prejudice, Into the Wild, and The Ruins. In the 2010s and 2020s, Malone appeared in a variety of high-profile productions, including Sucker Punch, the Hunger Games film series, The Neon Demon, Nocturnal Animals, and Antebellum. With 92 known credits, her work spans multiple genres and decades of cinema. Beyond her film roles, she has remained active in the music industry, balancing her acting pursuits with her creative projects as a musician.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- The Boroughs (2026) as Claire Cooper
- Sylvia (2026) as Sylvia
- One Battle After Another (2025) as Greeting Code (voice)
- Heroic Dose (2025) as Jena
- Love Lies Bleeding (2024) as Beth
- Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024) as 'Ellen' Harvey
- Little Death (2024) as Jessica Klein
- Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) as Harmada
- Consecration (2023) as Grace
- Swallowed (2022) as Alice
- Adopting Audrey (2022) as Audrey
- Adopting Audrey (2022) Executive Producer
- Lorelei (2020) as Dolores
- Lorelei (2020) Executive Producer
- Antebellum (2020) as Elizabeth
- Stardust (2020) as Angie Bowie
- Too Old to Die Young (2019) as Diana
- The Public (2019) as Myra
- Bottom of the World (2017) as Scarlett
- Lovesong (2017) as Mindy
- Angelica (2017) as Constance
- Goliath (2016) as Samantha Margolis
- Nocturnal Animals (2016) as Sage Ross
- The Neon Demon (2016) as Ruby
- The Caged Pillows (2016) as Ediza
- Pawns No More: The Making of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2016) as Self (Johanna Mason)
- Deus ex Machina: The Philosophy of 'Donnie Darko' (2016) as Self (archive footage)
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015) as Johanna Mason
- Time Out of Mind (2015) as Maggie
- The Mockingjay Lives: The Making of the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2015) as Self - Johanna Mason
- The Rusted (2015) as Karen
- Straight from the Heart: A Tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman (2015) as Self
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014) as Johanna Mason
- Inherent Vice (2014) as Hope Harlingen
- Memory 2.0 (2014) as Sophie
- 10 Cent Pistol (2014) as Danneel
- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) as Johanna Mason
- The Wait (2013) as Angela
- Teenage (2013) as American Girl (voice)
- Center Jenny (2013) as Nark Vision1
- Hatfields & McCoys (2012) as Nancy McCoy
- For Ellen (2012) as Susan
- In Our Nature (2012) as Andie
- Dakota (2012) as Dakota
- The Painted Lady (2012) as Painted Lady
- Sucker Punch (2011) as Rocket
- Their Houses (2011)
- David Goldberg (2011) as Vida
- Five Star Day (2010) as Sarah Reynolds
- Jake Gyllenhaal Challenges the Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (2010) as Gretchen Ross (archive footage)
- Rachel (2010) as Rachel
- The Messenger (2009) as Kelly
- The Soloist (2009) as Cheery Lab Tech
- The Ruins (2008) as Amy
- Lying (2008) as Grace
- Into the Wild (2007) as Carine McCandless / Additional Narration (voice)
- The Go-Getter (2007) as Jeoly
- Four Last Songs (2007) as Frankie
- Child Star Confidential (2006) as Self
- Container (2006) as The Woman / Speaker (voice)
- Pride & Prejudice (2005) as Lydia Bennet
- The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005) as Red Berry
- Saved! (2004) as Mary Cummings
- Break Up (2004) as Girl
- Corn (2004) as Emily Rasmussen
- Corn (2004) Associate Producer
- Punk'd (2003) as Self
- Cold Mountain (2003) as Ferry Girl
- Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) as Geli Raubal
- The United States of Leland (2003) as Becky Pollard
- American Girl (2002) as Rena Grubb
- American Girl (2002) Co-Producer
- The Badge (2002) as Ashley Hardwick
- The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002) as Margie Flynn
- Character Building: Inside 'Life As a House' (2002) as Self
- Donnie Darko (2001) as Gretchen Ross
- Life as a House (2001) as Alyssa Beck
- The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (2001) as California Morning "Lucy" Whipple
- Cheaters (2000) as Jolie Fitch
- For Love of the Game (1999) as Heather
- The Book of Stars (1999) as Mary McGuire
- Stepmom (1998) as Anna Harrison
- Contact (1997) as Young Ellie
- Ellen Foster (1997) as Ellen Foster
- Hope (1997) as Lilly Kate Burns
- Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) as Ruth Anne 'Bone' Boatwright
- Hidden in America (1996) as Willa
- Chicago Hope (1994) as Stacy Morissey
- Touched by an Angel (1994) as Casey Peña
- MTV Europe Music Awards (1994) as Self - Presenter
- Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) as Debbie Straub
- HBO First Look (1992) as Self
- Law & Order (1990) as Michelle Landon
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) as Ellen Foster
- Buff as Joss
- The Movers as Kay