Nikki Reed is an American actress, screenwriter, and entrepreneur best known for her role as Rosalie Hale in The Twilight Saga (2008–12). Reed rose to prominence when she starred in and co-wrote the psychological drama film Thirteen (2003) with director Catherine Hardwicke, for which she won Best Breakthrough Performance and was nominated for Best First Screenplay at the 19th Independent Spirit Awards.
Early life
Reed's mother is Cherokee-Italian whereas her father, a set designer, is Jewish. Reed was raised without religion but has identified as Jewish. She grew up around some Jewish practices, as her brother had a Bar Mitzvah.
Reed has said in numerous interviews that her early home life was "pretty complicated". Her parents divorced when Reed was two, after her mother found her father in bed with another man. She was raised by her mother. In 2002, when Reed was 14 years old, she moved out of her mother's house and began living on her own, mainly in apartments in the Los Angeles area. After Thirteens success, Reed returned to Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, but dropped out again after a year. She said that "mothers who were sneaking into the school at lunchtime to confront and harass her about the film" were the reason for her departure. invited Reed to work on a script with her when she said she was interested in acting. They finished the script for the semi-autobiographical film Thirteen in six days. Producers asked Reed to play a role in the film because they had trouble casting it, as it was an "uncomfortable" role for most young actresses.
Reed said that her early decision to avoid acting in television series or in mainstream cinema was naïve. She had thought at the time they were not right for her, but had since gained valuable experience in them. She had a lead role in Mini's First Time, which received a limited release in the United States on July 14, 2006. Reed played a teenager who, through seduction, involves her stepfather in a plot to murder her mother. Reed has noted that her character does not "understand the weight of consequence". She said she had enjoyed playing someone who she describes as "crass" and having a "trucker's mouth". Reed's character has sex scenes. As Reed was 16 at the time and legally unable to film such scenes in an explicit way, she was filmed from the back to hide her face. The film, directed by Stewart's mother, takes place in a dorm of the Los Angeles County Jail. It was to feature both Stewart and Reed as female characters. Later that year, Reed said that she was no longer part of the project.
In July 2010, Reed joined the cast of the lady assassin action-drama Catch .44, alongside Bruce Willis, Forest Whitaker and Malin Akerman. In November 2010, it was announced that Reed would star with Hayden Panettiere in the film Downers Grove, a movie adaptation of Michael Hornburg's novel. The screenplay was written by Bret Easton Ellis, the novelist who wrote The Rules of Attraction and American Psycho.
In December 2011, it was announced that Reed joined the cast of Pawn, an indie crime thriller directed by David A. Armstrong. The film also stars Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta, Common, Michael Chiklis, Sean Faris, Stephen Lang, Marton Csokas and Jessica Szohr. In July 2013, Reed joined the cast of the independent sports comedy Balls Out, alongside Jake Lacy, Kate McKinnon, Beck Bennett and Jay Pharoah. The film is about a group of college friends who get together in their final year to play a game of intramural football. In 2019, she appeared in an episode of the Hulu original TV show Dollface.
Other work
Reed recorded a song, "Now That I've Found You", with her then-husband Paul McDonald, which debuted on Ryan Seacrest's radio show on November 15, 2011. The couple released their first EP, The Best Part, on October 29, 2012. Their song "All I've Ever Needed" is on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 soundtrack.
In January 2013, Reed filmed Hanson's 2013 music video for their single, "Get the Girl Back", also with McDonald. The video was released in April 2013. Other well-known figures in the video include Kat Dennings, Drake Bell, Drew Seeley, Amy Paffrath, and Alex Beh.
Reed wrote a script set in New Zealand between the 1960s and the 1980s. She has said she feels more versatile than her typecasting in roles of "sexy bad girls". She has sometimes been told by producers that she is too "sexy" for a particular part.
In 2017, Reed and friend Morgan Bogle set up a sustainable jewelry brand BaYou With Love. The company works with Dell turning recycled technology into jewelry.
Personal life
Reed met Paul McDonald, a singer-songwriter and former American Idol contestant, on the red carpet at the premiere of Red Riding Hood in March 2011. This moment was broadcast on an American Idol episode as part of a segment that showed the contestants attending the premiere. The couple began dating, and moved in together not long after. They confirmed their engagement in June 2011, and married on October 16, 2011, in Malibu, California. In March 2014, Reed and McDonald announced that they had separated after living apart for the previous six months due to "work obligations". Reed filed for divorce in May 2014, and the divorce was finalized on January 2, 2015.
Reed began dating actor Ian Somerhalder in mid-2014. They confirmed their engagement in February 2015, and married on April 26, 2015, in Malibu, California. They have two children: a daughter born in 2017 and a son born in 2023.
Reed is close friends with her Twilight co-star Jackson Rathbone and Spy Kids actress Alexa Vega, who was her maid of honor at her first wedding.
Activism
Reed teamed up with Staples and Do Something for their third Annual School Supply Drive in the summer of 2011. She is also an animal rights advocate. She volunteers at animal shelters in her free time and she designed a limited edition collar and leash for Gilt to benefit ASPCA. On October 22, 2014, she was honored with the ASPCA Compassion Award for her contributions to animal welfare.
Reed endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for President in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Film
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 2003
| Thirteen
| Evie Zamora
| Also co-writer
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2005
| Man of God
| Zane Berg
|
|-
| Lords of Dogtown
| Kathy Alva
|
|-
| American Gun
| Tally
|
|-
| 2006
| Mini's First Time
| Minerva "Mini" Drogues
|
|-
| 2007
| Cherry Crush
| Shay Bettencourt
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2008
| Twilight
| Rosalie Hale
|
|-
| Familiar Strangers
| Allison
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2009
| '
| Rosalie Hale
|
|-
| Last Day of Summer
| Stefanie
| Also executive producer
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2010
| '
| Rosalie Hale
|
|-
| Chain Letter
| Jessie Campbell
|
|-
| Privileged
|Lauren Carrington
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2011
| Catch .44
| Kara
|
|-
| The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
| rowspan="2" | Rosalie Hale
|
|-
| 2012
| The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2013
| Empire State
| Lizzette
|
|-
| Pawn
| Amanda
|
|-
| Enter the Dangerous Mind
| Wendy
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2014
| Balls Out
| Meredith Downs
|
|-
| In Your Eyes
| Donna
|
|-
| Murder of a Cat
| Greta
|
|-
| 2015
| About Scout
| Georgie
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2016
| Jack Goes Home
| Crystal
|Also co-producer
|-
| A Sunday Horse
| Debi Walden
|
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Television
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2006
| '
| Sadie Campbell
| 6 episodes
|-
| Justice
| Molly Larusa
| 1 episode
|-
| 2015–2016
| Sleepy Hollow
| Betsy Ross
| 15 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2019
| Dollface
| Bronwyn
| 1 episode
|-
| V-Wars
| Rachel
| 5 episodes
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Music videos
|-
! Year
! Title
! Artist
! Notes
|-
| 2005
| Just Feel Better
| Santana feat. Steven Tyler
|
|-
| 2010
| No Rose Petals & Bubblebaths
| Sabrina
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2012
| Now That I've Found You
| Nikki Reed and Paul McDonald
| Also director
|-
| All I've Ever Needed
| Nikki Reed and Paul McDonald
|
|-
| 2013
| Get the Girl Back
| Hanson
|
|-
| 2015
| Til It Happens to You
| Lady Gaga
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2016
| In Too Deep
| The Sweeplings
| Also director
|-
| Where's the Love?
| The Black Eyed Peas featuring The World
|
|-
|}
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Award
! Category
! Work
! Notes
! Result
|-
| rowspan=3|2003
| Nantucket Film Festival – Screenplay Award
| Best Feature Screenplay
| rowspan="8" |Thirteen
| Shared with Catherine Hardwicke
|
|-
| Young Hollywood Awards
| One to Watch – Female
|
|
|-
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards
| Best Original Screenplay
| rowspan=2|Shared with Catherine Hardwicke
|
|-
| rowspan="5" | 2004
| rowspan=2|Independent Spirit Award
| Best First Screenplay
|
|-
| Best Debut Performance
|
|
|-
| Prism Award
| Best Performance in a Theatrical Feature Film
|
|
|-
| rowspan=2| Satellite Award
| Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
| Shared with Evan Rachel Wood
|
|-
| Best Original Screenplay
| Shared with Catherine Hardwicke
|
|-
|2008
| Method Fest Independent Film Festival Award
| Best Ensemble
| Familiar Strangers
| Shared with Cast
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2009
| Teen Choice Award
| Choice Fresh Face – Female
| rowspan=2|Twilight
|
|
|-
| Scream Award
| Best Ensemble
| Shared with Cast
|
|-
|rowspan=2| 2010
| Young Hollywood Awards
| Superstar in the Making
| rowspan=2|'
|
|
|-
| rowspan=3| Teen Choice Award
| Most Fanatic Fans
| Shared with Cast
|
|-
| 2011
| Choice Favorite Vampire
| The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
|
|
|-
| 2012
| Scene Stealer Female
| The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
|
|
|}