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In 2021, Blair starred in Introducing, Selma Blair, a documentary about her life since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Her autobiography, Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up, was published by Knopf in 2022.
Early life
Blair was born on June 23, 1972,[1] in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan, the youngest of four daughters of Molly Ann (née Cooke) and Elliot I. Beitner. Her maternal grandfather was the founder of Penn Fruit and she spent a great deal of her childhood in Philadelphia.[2] Both of her parents were lawyers; her father was a labor arbitrator and was active in the U.S. Democratic Party until his death in 2012; her mother died in 2020. Her parents divorced when Blair was 23. Selma and her sister Elizabeth officially changed their surname to 'Blair'; in her memoir, Blair wrote that, following a concerted effort on the part of her father's girlfriend to derail her career, she did not speak to her father for 12 years.[3][4]
Blair's father and maternal grandfather were Jewish; her Scottish maternal grandmother, and her mother, were Anglican but Selma and her sisters had a Jewish upbringing and Selma formally converted to Judaism in the second grade; her Hebrew name is 'Bat-Sheva'.[5][6][7] Blair attended Hillel Day School in Farmington Hills, and Cranbrook Kingswood in Bloomfield Hills. She then spent two years (1990–1992) studying photography at Kalamazoo College.[8]
At age 21, Blair moved to New York City, where she lived at The Salvation Army.[9] Intending to become a photographer, she attended New York University (NYU), and took acting classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory, the Column Theater, and Stonestreet Studios. She returned to Michigan, transferred from NYU to the University of Michigan and, in 1994, graduated magna cum laude with a triple major in photography, psychology, and English. She then returned to New York City to pursue a career in the arts.[10][11]
Career
1990–1998: Career beginnings
In 1990, during her time at Cranbrook Kingswood, Blair was involved in a production of T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral. She considered it a failure, but her English teacher told her not to give up; that was the first time she thought she could be an actress. In 1993 in New York, an agent discovered her in an acting class and Blair signed with her. After 75 auditions, Blair got her first advertising job, a TV ad for the Theater of Virginia.[12]
Blair won her first professional role in a 1995 episode of the children's sitcom The Adventures of Pete & Pete. In 1996, she landed her first feature film role in the comedy The Broccoli Theory.[13] In 1997, she made her first appearance in a mainstream feature film, the comedy In & Out. She auditioned six times for the role and remained on-set for several weeks, but most of her scenes were cut from the film's final version.[14]
Her first lead role was in the film Strong Island Boys.[15] She then won the lead in the 1997 fantasy film Amazon High. The film, which was proposed as a third show set in the Hercules and Xena mythological genre, did not air, but portions of it were used in the 2000 Xena: Warrior Princess episode "Lifeblood".[16][17] She was considered for the role of Joey Potter in Dawson's Creek, a role which ultimately went to Katie Holmes.[18] She subsequently appeared in several independent and short productions, including the award-winning Debutante.[19][20]
Blair co-starred in the 2001 hit comedy Legally Blonde, portraying a preppy, snobby law student; The Hollywood Reporter found her to be a "strong presence" in her role.[28] The film topped the US box office in its opening weekend; it grossed US$96.5 million in North America and US$141.7 million worldwide.[29] She next starred as a college student having an affair with her professor in the 2001 independent drama Storytelling. It premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival; SPLICEDwire cited Blair and co-start Leo Fitzpatrick for "painfully authentic performances as an emotionally insecure coed and her cerebral palsy-stricken dorm neighbor and lover".[30] In its review, View Auckland noted: "The acting, throughout, is excellent, with Selma Blair giving a mature performance that suggests better roles await her than those she’s had so far."[31] Blair next appeared in the 2002 comedy The Sweetest Thing. While the film was generally panned,[32][33] it grossed US$68.6 million worldwide. Blair appeared with her co-starts from the film on the cover of Rolling Stone and was nominated for the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress – Comedy for her work in the film.[34][35]
In 2004, Blair took on the role of Liz Sherman, a depressedpyrokinetic superhero,[36] in Guillermo del Toro's blockbuster fantasy film Hellboy, co-starring Ron Perlman. Based on Mike Mignola's popular comic book series, the film was favorably received by critics; The New York Times remarked: "Blair's heavy-lidded eyes seem to be at half mast from some lovely lewd fantasy. With her sleepy carnality and dry, hesitant timing, she is a superb foil for Mr. Perlman's plain-spoken bravado."[37]Hellboy topped the box office in the U.S. and Canada in its opening weekend, and ultimately grossed US$99.3 million.[38][39]
Also in 2004, Blair played the role of an exhibitionist dancer in John Waters' satirical sex comedy A Dirty Shame, alongside Tracey Ullman. The film received a mixed response; A.V. Club described the production as a "proud retreat back into the sandbox of sexual juvenilia" and a "potty-mouthed manifesto from an elder statesman of shock", while pointing out that Blair and Ullman "throw themselves headfirst into the insanity, reveling in the forfeiture of dignity, self-respect, and self-consciousness their roles demand".[40] Blair also took part on the social project The 1 Second Film as a producer, and was included on the FHM list of "The 100 Sexiest Women of 2004".[41][42]
2005–2011: Independent films and The Diary of Anne Frank
Blair in May 2010
From 2005 to 2007, Blair appeared in a string of independent films. In 2008, she reprised her role of Liz Sherman in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, where her character had a larger role than its predecessor.[43] The film garnered largely positive reviews from critics and became a worldwide commercial success, grossing US$160 million.[44] Blair was nominated for the Scream Awards for Best Actress in a Fantasy Movie or TV Show.[45]
In 2008, Blair starred as a drug-addicted and alcoholic mother in Lori Petty's independent drama The Poker House. It received generally favorable reviews from critics,[46][47] with The Hollywood Reporter considering Blair's performance one her best.[48][49]
Also in 2008, Blair accepted the titular role on the NBC sitcom Kath & Kim.[50] The sitcom, which was based on the Australian television series of the same name, was canceled after one season.[51][52]
In 2012, Blair returned to television as the female lead with the premiere of FX's Anger Management, co-starring Charlie Sheen. She starred in 53 episodes as Dr. Kate Wales, Sheen's neurotic therapist and love interest.[53] The series premiered to mixed critical reviews,[54] but broke ratings records with 5.74 million viewers in its debut and ranks as the most-watched sitcom premiere in cable history.[55][56] Blair left the show in June 2013, during the shooting of the second season, due to disagreements with Sheen, who fired her via text message.[57][58][59][60][61]
In 2012, Blair narrated Xfinity TV commercials, including the London 2012 Olympics ads.[62] In 2014, she obtained her first television role since Anger Management when she was cast as Joanna in the Amazon's comedy pilot Really. [63] The pilot was not picked up but, in February 2016, Blair co-starred in the FX miniseries American Crime Story: The People vs. O. J. Simpson.[64][65][66]
In 2018, Blair was cast in a recurring role on the Netflix science-fiction drama series Another Life; it ran from 2019 to 2021 before being canceled.[67][68]
In September 2022, Blair became a contestant on season 31 of Dancing with the Stars but left in the fifth week of the competition because of her deteriorating health.[69][70]
In 2010, Blair posed with Demi Moore and Amanda De Cadenet for a spread in Harper's Bazaar magazine.[85] In 2012, she became the spokesperson for, and first actress to appear on, the "Get Real For Kids" campaign.[86] In the spring of that year, she released SB, a line of handbags and wallets which she designed.[87]
In 2010, Blair began dating fashion designer Jason Bleick; their son, Arthur Saint Bleick, was born that July.[100][101][102] In September 2012, they announced that they had separated.[98][103]
In 2022, Blair and her ex-boyfriend, author Ron Carlson, who she had been seeing since 2017, requested temporary restraining orders against each other, with both claiming physical abuse.[104] The order requests were mutually dismissed.[105]
Health
In October 2018, Blair revealed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in August of that year.[106] In a 2023 interview with British Vogue, Blair said that her symptoms had begun to manifest themselves when she was a child, and that her un-diagnosed MS had caused brain damage. As the condition worsened, she was heavily medicated, developed a dependency on alcohol and attempted suicide.[107] She was inspired to reveal the news as a way to thank Allisa Swanson, her costume designer, who had become her unofficial "dresser" for her role in the Netflix series Another Life, saying that Swanson "gets my legs in my pants, pulls my tops over my head, (and) buttons my coats."[106][108] Blair wrote about her experiences with multiple sclerosis in her memoir, Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up, which was published in May 2022.[109]
In June 2022, Blair became Chief Creative Officer of Guide Beauty, a company which creates cosmetic products for those with mobility challenges.[122] In December 2022 she was chosen as one of the BBC's 100 women.[123]
