Photo: Getty
From singer-songwriter to movie star.
It’s not an often occurrence that an actor’s first film is the title that earns them an award nomination, but for multi-hyphenateAlana Haim, that incredible feat has been achieved.
Scoringa Critics Choice Award nominationfor best actress for her role inLicorice Pizza, Haim stars alongsideCooper Hoffman,Bradley Cooper, andGeorge DiCaprioin thePaul Thomas Andersonfilm.
Licorice Pizza, which is also up forthree awards at the Academy Awards(includingBest Picture), follows Haim’s character, Alana, and her journey of self-discovery and new love in California’s San Fernando Valley set in the 1970s.
Paul Thomas Anderson/Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Inc
While Haim is new to the silver screen, she is no stranger to acclaimed filmmaker Anderson — as he’s become a close friend of the actress, having worked with her and her sisters' Grammy-nominated band,Haim, on music videos over the years.
From Haim’s famous friends to her time in truck driving school, keep scrolling for more interesting facts about the self-described “Valley Girl.”
Alana Haim comes from a musical family.
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Seeing that their father and mother have musical backgrounds, the California-based sister’s decision to form a musical group made total sense — but prior to the band’s breakout, they had a family band called Rockinhaim.
Posing no problem for Moti, “The next day he went out and bought the girls instruments and we started working on songs,” Donna toldLA Weekly.
Donna is a singer in her own right. She competed and wonThe Gong Showin the 1970s singing a Bonnie Raitt song. As for Moti, he is a former Israeli footballer, actor, and drummer.
Haim.Frazer Harrison/Getty
“To be able to say that Jay-Z is my boss makes me want to throw up,” Haim excitedly admitted during a 2013 interview withFuse. “We are obsessed with Jay-Z and we’re just really excited that he wants us to be in his personal space.”
Alana Haim is friends with Taylor Swift.
Christopher Polk/WireImage
The Haim sisterscollaborated with Swifton 2021’s “Gasoline,” but their friendship dates back even further. While the girlsinitially met at a dinnerand instantly hit it off, their online friendship began when the bandtweeted their loveof Swift’s “This Love” — and to their surprise, she tweeted back!
Since then, they’ve vacationed together, performed together, and evencelebrated birthdays together.
Alana Haim had zero professional acting experience prior toLicorice Pizza.
Getty
Haim revealed in an interview withThe New York Timesthat she received theLicorice Pizzascript via email, opened it up, read her name on it, and was in complete shock at the opportunity, given that she had zero acting experience prior.
“What if I’m just terrible? I was like, ‘I don’t even know where to look. What if I look at the camera?'” she said of her initial concerns. Fears aside, she was a natural — critics raved, and David Rooney ofThe Hollywood Reportercalled it “one of the most exciting screen debuts in recent memory.”
Alana Haim attended truck driving school.
GM / Courtesy Everett Collection
There are a few scenes inLicorice Pizzathat show Haim driving a stick-shift moving van from the 1970s, but with a lack of van-driving experience prior to filming, she had to go to truck school to learn.
“I’m a terrible driver, I’m terrible,” Haim admitted onThe Tonight Show. “I didn’t tell anybody that I was a bad driver, but then it came the day that I had to do it.” Not to mention, she had costar Cooper in the passenger seat (no pressure there!).
Alana Haim has a unique relationship with Paul Thomas Anderson.
What eventually blossomed into an incredible working relationship between the Haim sisters and Anderson — having collaborated on seven music videos, one live song performance, and a short film — coincidentally began thanks to their good friend Asa Taccone, who overheard the director talking about the girls at a party.
“Hey, PTA [Paul Thomas Anderson] wants me to give you his email. Can you email PTA?” recalled Haim of Taccone when speaking withVanity Fair. “I think it took us five days to muster up the courage,” she continued. “Half of our thought process was, ‘This is probably a hoax.’ And so we finally sent him an email. And then we started emailing each other.”
But that’s not even the unique part as the girls later found out that their mother, Donna, was Anderson’s art teacher in grade school! “I loved your mom,” Haim quoted him when chatting with theoutlet. “I can’t believe you’re Miss Rose’s daughters.”
Alana Haim has a Bat Mitzvah dream to this day.
The Jewish sisters reminisced toGQabout the bar and bat mitzvahs they attended when they were younger and highlighted the teen antics that often took place, ranging from prepubescent boy banter to first kiss drama that unfolded.
“To this day, all I want is a dude to make out with me at a bat mitzvah and it just never happened,” Haim admittedly told the outlet. “The only person that I wanted to make out with was this guy Harell Dahari. I was like, it’s my moment, it needs to happen. And he was like, No. Hell no. I got shut down.”
source: people.com
