Biography
Date of Birth
30 December 1986, Savannah, Georgia, USA
Birth Name
Dianna Elise Agron
Height
5' 5½" (1.66 m)
Mini Biography
Dianna Elise Agron was born in Savannah, Georgia to Mary and Ronald Agron and grew up in a middle-class family in Savannah before moving to Texas and, later, San Francisco, California, because her father was a general manager for Hyatt. Dianna and her brother Jason were raised Jewish and she graduated from Burlingame High School with honors.
While Dianna was growing up, she spent much of her time performing. She began dancing at age three, focusing mainly on jazz and ballet; she later began hip-hop dancing. She also appeared in many local musical-theater productions.
After graduating from high school, Dianna decided to pursue acting as a career and began appearing in commercials and television shows including CSI: NY (2004), Numb3rs (2005), Veronica Mars (2004), and Heroes (2006). In 2009, she won the role of high-school cheerleader Quinn Fabray on the FOX television series Glee (2009). Since the hit television show's premiere on May 19th, 2009, she and her castmates have received critical praise for well as her fellow cast mates, have received critical praise for their incredible work. In addition to her work on, Glee (2009), Dianna has ventured into films, such as Burlesque (2010), where she had the opportunity to star alongside Christina Aguilera, Cher, and Stanley Tucci, and the action thriller I Am Number Four (2011). There is no doubt that her beautiful talent will shine for years to come.
Trivia
She was born in Savannah, Georgia, but was raised in San Fransisco, California to Mary Agron and Ronald Agron, a general manager for the Hyatt hotel chain.
Dianna's father is from an Ashkenazi Jewish family (from Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Latvia, and Estonia). Their original surname, Agronsky, was altered when they immigrated. Dianna's mother has Irish, German, Norwegian, English, and distant Welsh, ancestry, and converted to Judaism when marrying Dianna's father.
Was roommates with Glee (2009) co-star, Lea Michele (2009).
Began dancing at age 3, first focusing on jazz and ballet, then later taking up hip-hop. When she was a teenager she used to teach it to younger kids.
She is a big fan of Tim Burton.
Named one of People Magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People of 2010.
Tattoos: Left rib cage that says "Mary had a little lamb", referencing her mother Mary, and herself being the lamb, which is her nickname from her mother.
Her favorite novels are "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll, and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis.
Likes the band Radiohead.
Her favorite performance on Glee (2009) was "Somebody to Love" by Queen.
In 2011 she jumped up 18 spots from her previous ranking in "The 2011 After Ellen's Hot 100 List", coming in at #8.
Ranked #81 in the 2011 FHM list of "100 Sexiest Women in the World".
Ranked #81 in the Ask Men list of the Top 99 "most desirable women" of 2011.
Likes to spend time in graveyards as she finds it peaceful, and is very interested in gloomy, death-related things (e.g. skulls, cemeteries, etc.).
Ranked #9 in People's "25 Beauties (and Hotties) at 25" list in 2011.
Older sister of Jason Agron.
Voted #28 on Ask men's top 99 'most desirable' celebrity women of 2012.
After the Glee tour 2011, she took a trip to Paris with co-star Naya Rivera.
Ranked #13 in 2012 AfterEllen.com's "Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters".
Placed #44 on the 2012 FHM Sexiest Woman awards.
Has been selected as #2 on 2012 AfterEllen Hot 100 list, bumping her Glee (2009) co-star, Heather Morris, who was #2 in 2011.
Was cast on Glee (2009) just two days before the pilot began shooting.
Fifth cousin, once removed, of singer Jack Gilinsky. Her paternal four times great-grandparents, Shmuel Labe Agronsky and Fruma Chana Bakhrakh, were also Jack's paternal five times great-grandparents.
She sent in an audition for the role of Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). The role eventually went to Emma Stone.
Her role in The Family (2013) was written specifically for her after Luc Besson saw her in Glee (2009-2015).
Trademarks:
Her nasal accent
Quotes
What a world we live in. I want to be incredibly close to the heart of it all. To live honestly, truthfully and to be completely present is the ultimate enterprise. And right now, I couldn't possibly ask for anything more. I am a very lucky girl.
Having a dance background, I became used to rejection at an early age. Dance is very competitive, especially for a sensitive person like me. But I realized it's better not to take it so seriously. If you beat yourself up, it's hard to keep going.
[on Glee (2009) compared to other high school television shows] I think that it shows that regardless of who you are and what group you belong to, there are so many emotions behind each person in high school. Sometimes with teens, writers or directors change them and make them be simple individuals--you're either the jock or the popular kid or the nerd. Everybody has those shades to them. This show, it really expands upon vulnerability and excitement and anger--all the experiences that you probably actually go through in high school.
Every day is an opportunity to fall or hurt yourself.
I definitely wasn't cool in high school. I really wasn't. I did belong to many of the clubs and was in leadership on yearbook and did the musical theater route, so I had friends in all areas. But I certainly did not know what to wear, did not know how to do my hair, all those things.
[Apologizing for the controversial photos taken of her and Glee (2009) co-stars Cory Monteith and Lea Michele, for GQ Magazine] In the land of Madonna, [Britney Spears, [Miley Cyrus],, Gossip Girl (2007) and other public figures and shows that have pushed the envelope and challenged the levels of comfort in their viewers and fans . . . we are not the first. Now, in perpetuating the type of images that evoke these kind of emotions, I am sorry . . . if you are hurt or these photos make you uncomfortable, it was never our intention. And if your eight-year-old has a copy of our GQ cover in hand, again I am sorry. But I would have to ask, how on earth did it get there? . . . I understand that in today's world of advanced technology, the Internet, our kids can be subject to very adult material at the click of a button. But there are parental locks, and ways to get around this.
I think that as an artist, the more that you can do to diversify, and kind of challenge yourself, the more you grow.
[on having a nose job]: I had convinced my mom to let me go to my first party. I was able to be there for an hour with two of my friends . . . [but] it accidentally turned into an argument and instead of the girl punching the guy, she wound up to the side and punched me . . . [there was] blood everywhere. The first time I didn't go to the doctor because I didn't want to tell my mom what had happened and she would never let me out of the house. I found out about it a year ago because things were getting worse and everything was getting really nasally and I went to a doctor. He said, "When did you break your nose? You have a horrible deviated septum." And the second time, I couldn't get it fixed because we were in the middle of doing this concert tour and we were filming. We had a day off and I met up with some of my friends and we were dancing. And again, there was another collision of sorts--I must be turning too quickly, people don't see me coming or something--but it's fixed now!
I started ballet when I was three, and the movies that my mom would show me were all musicals. And that was something that was so prevalent in that era of film was musicals. So I thought maybe I could do it. I just moved to this new school, I was like, "Nobody really knows me; this might be fun to get involved in," and so I auditioned and I got it, and that's the first time I sang and I was so nervous and it worked out. And then in middle school there was a few summer theater camps that I did, but it wasn't really until senior year of high school that I got into the acting class full time and loved it and knew I wanted to move to L.A. and took it one step at a time and took acting classes every day and auditions and smaller roles.
[on I Am Number Four (2011)] I heard about this project well before I was able to read the script, and I thought it sounded so interesting. I then read it and fell in love with it. I love the whole The Outsiders (1983), The Breakfast Club (1985), feel of the film.
When we first started doing Glee (2009), journalists would ask me who my dream guest star was. I would say Christopher Walken, and you could see their faces fall: "Just say Justin Timberlake!"
I don't party a lot. I've smoked cigarettes, but I'm not a smoker.
