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Neve Campbell - Biography

The literal Scream queen, Last Call and House of Cards actress was born in 1973

Neve Campbell smiling at a red carpet event
Hannah Watkin
Content Writer
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Early life

Neve Adrianne Campbell was born in Guelph, Ontario, on 3 October 1973, to Gerry, a Scottish drama teacher, and Marnie, a Dutch yoga instructor and psychologist. The couple divorced when Neve was two-years-old, and she and her elder brother Christian grew up with their father in Mississauga, Ontario, while regularly visiting their Guelph-based mum. 

With maternal grandparents who ran a theatre company and paternal grandparents who were also performers, it perhaps wasn't surprising that as a nine-year-old Neve was accepted by the National Ballet School Of Canada after being inspired by a production of The Nutcracker she saw when she was six. After leaving ballet school she landed a singing and dancing role in the chorus line of the Toronto production of The Phantom Of The Opera, which was followed by a part in the Canadian TV series Catwalk.

Breakthrough success

Her real showbiz breakthrough, however, came when, in 1994, she was cast as brainy big sister Julia Salinger in the series Party Of Five. She played the role until 2000. In 1996, Neve starred in the first film of the Scream franchise alongside Courteney Cox and David Arquette, and immediately became a well-loved scream queen. She has since starred in all the franchises sequels. 

MORE: Kelly Clarkson left horrified as Scream star Neve Campbell details terrifying bear attack 

Alongside her horror movie roles, Neve has also starred in other films including the 2001 indie drama Investigating Sex, and the comedies Churchill: The Hollywood Years and I Really Hate My Job. She also returned to her dance roots in 2003 by writing, producing and starring in the Robert Altman directed flick The Company

As well her continued successful screen career, Neve has returned to stage on several occasions, and has also starred in several TV shows including Netflix's House of Cards and The Lincoln Lawyer.

Personal life

From 1995 to 1998, the horror-movie star was married to Jeff Colt. Neve met her second husband John Light in 2005 while they were both filming Investigating Sex. The married in 2007, but divorced in 2010. Since 2011, Neve has been in a relationship with the actor JJ Field. They have two sons, Caspian, who was born in August 2012, and Raynor, who the couple adopted in June 2018. The pair live in LA, in an impressive $2.8 million mansion which the actress purchased in 2020.

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