Malone was born in Sparks, Nevada, and lived in 27 different locations by the age of nine, including Lake Tahoe, California. Malone was raised by her mother, Deborah, and her mother's girlfriend, whom she calls "Godmom". She began taking an interest in acting after watching her mother, who was involved in community theatre. She briefly moved to Las Vegas, hated it, and persuaded her mother to move Read more...

Malone made the jump to professional acting with the 1996 film Bastard Out of Carolina. She was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance in a TV Movie or Miniseries for this role. From there, her roles have grown to include several Hollywood features. In 1997, she was nominated for a Golden Globe, Best Actress Read more...

Jena Malone (born November 21, 1984) is an American actress, primarily in independent films. She is also a musician. She made her screen debut with the movie Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), and has appeared in films including Stepmom (1998), Donnie Darko (2001), Saved! (2004), and Into the Wild (2007).