7 Must-Know Facts about Alana Haim
Get to know the star of Licorice Pizza and the youngest member of the pop-rock group Haim.
Best known for being 1/3 of pop-rock band Haim, Alana Haim has been making music with her two sisters, Danielle and Este, since they were children, breaking into the industry as a trio band in 2012. Now, Alana is receiving attention after her acting debut in Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza, which is even generating Oscar buzz from critics across the movie sphere. The coming-of-age comedy made a limited release in November and will be in theatres nationwide from December 25.
While moving from music to movies is a big shift, it's clear that Haim does so effortlessly. To get to know the freshman actress a little better, L'OFFICIEL rounds up seven must-know facts about Alana Haim.
She was born and raised in Los Angeles.
The Haim sisters grew up in Los Angeles, and more specifically, the Valley, which has become an integral part of Alana Haim's identity. "I'm a valley girl through and through, all day everyday," she said to Vanity Fair. This was particularly integral to her role in PTA's Licorice Pizza, as he said to Variety, "Alana looks like a girl from the Valley; she talks like a girl from the Valley; she is a girl from the Valley."
Her family is musical.
Not only is she in a band with her two sisters, Este and Danielle, her parents also had musical backgrounds. Her mother won a singing competition in the '70s called "The Gong Show," and her father was a drummer. When the Haim sisters were young, their entire family formed a band called the Rockinhaim band, a name their father had come up with for them. Of course, as the sisters grew up they moved on from playing classic rock covers in the family band and renamed themselves Haim.
She had a Mardi Gras themed Bat Mitzvah.
Growing up Jewish, each of the Haim sisters had memorable bat mitzvahs. Alana's was particularly interesting, telling GQ that she had wanted her theme to be masquerade but didn't know the word, which resulted in a Mardi Gras theme.
"My parents found a place in an office building that had a party room in it," she said about her party. "It was so tiny. My friends figured out there was a door that would open to this weird office building, and that's where they went to make out with people. 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."
She acted in school plays when she was younger.
Haim's acting career didn't begin with Licorice Pizza, she was actually cast twice in her school plays as the Wicked Witch of the West, where her goal was to make the audience laugh. While her brief stage appearances didn't help much in her acting career in Hollywood, it does serve as a fun anecdote.
Haim is signed by Jay-Z.
Jay-Z signed the girl group to his label, Roc Nation, after the release of their first EP in 2012. Since then, the band has received Grammy nominations, first for Best New Artist at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, and next for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance during the 63rd Grammys.
She doesn't like partying after concerts.
While many musicians like to let loose after shows, Haim prefers having a quieter night in, preferably "in our Snuggies watching random John Cusack movies and easting post-show pizza," the actress-singer said to Entertainment Weekly.
Paul Thomas Anderson sent her the script of Licorice Pizza in an email.
Licorice Pizza director Paul Thomas Anderson is an old family friend of the Haim sisters, which helped connect the two together on the project. Interestingly enough, Haim's mother was Anderson's art teacher when he was in school, and the entire Haim clan, from Danielle and Este to her parents, are featured in the film. Considering it was her acting debut, Alana found it surprising that he had only sent the script to her. "I assumed that if he sent it to one Haim, he sent it to all three," she said to Interview Magazine. Even so, the singer immediately said yes and the rest is history.
