full legal name  leta jane greene-kaufman professional name  leta drew birthdate / age  March 3, 1989 (25) birthplace  surrey, england, uk hometown  santa monica, california residence  west village, new york occupation  actress family  Joan Greene (mom, 55, ex-model)
 Michael Kaufman (dad, deceased)
 Ezra G-K (brother, 14, student)
miscellaneous  JEWISH / PISCES / INFJ
It happened pretty much all the time: at school, at McDonalds, on the beach, walking the dog, on vacation in a foreign country - nowhere was safe.

"Oh my god, Michael Kaufman! I love you! Can we take a picture!?"

Leta Greene-Kaufman's dad was famous. And it was totally, ridiculously weird. She never grew used to it, and it never felt normal - having people rush her goofy, embarrassing dad in public, begging for an autograph or picture, telling him how much he was loved and how funny he was. Leta certainly concurred (he was funny, and obviously lovable) but... wasn't it kind of weird that complete strangers said it more often than she did? She thought so. To make matters even weirder, her mom was famous, too, but in a different kind of way. Leta could remember being in high school and discovering several of her classmates thought her mom's old modeling pictures were "SO HOT... in a vintage way, right?!" after bringing them up on Google. Uh, gross.

Despite the trappings of a wealthy, successful, entertainment family, Leta's childhood was pretty much normal. Sure, everybody always acted weird around her parents and her dad would often disappear for months at a time while he was working, but the rest of it was normal. Her British, ex-model mother was bossy and loving and ran a tight ship, one of those mothers who always seemed to trick you into getting her way; Leta heard the story of her birth a dozen times over from her father, how Joan insisted that Leta be born in her own hometown of Surrey, so she could be with her mother (and so her daughter could have a proper birth certificate). Leta's father Michael was more low key, the type of man to want a headstrong woman in his life; despite all of his success and ever-cemented status as a beloved American actor, he'd never really found true happiness until that British hurricane of a woman came flying into his life.

After Leta was born, they moved back to California, of course, because that was really where home was, even Joan could admit it. Leta attended the school where other celebrity children attended, went to all the charity events that other celebrity children attended, and generally lived the lifestyle of a celebrity child (or at least a well-adjusted one, anyway). She was a loving older sister to her brother (an "oops!" baby if Leta had ever seen one) and fulfilled all her Hebrew school duties as the very Jewish daughter of two very Jewish parents. Her bat mitzvah resembled something out of "My Super Sweet Sixteen" - the only time anybody would've ever been close in labeling Leta G-K a stereotypical JAP. Despite her access to the good life, Leta was more or less a girl scout, thanks to her strict mother. She never turned up in the papers for partying or drinking, but instead for her scholarly achievements; she never expressed any interest in capitalizing on her family's connections, but instead attended college.

Everything changed when her father passed away. Leta was only a few weeks away from earning her AA degree when she heard the news - via a news alert sent to her phone, no less. Needless to say, the entire experience cracked her girl scout exterior. She didn't exactly go off the rails or anything, but the sudden (very sudden) lack of such a strong presence in her life? Yeah, that was hard for an eighteen-year-old girl to swallow. Leta left USC in a hurry (after finalizing her AA, of course, because her father had taught her to always finish what she started) and moved to New York City all on her own. With no direction, no job, and no emotional stability, she turned to therapy. Living in New York had already helped her start to discover herself, but it wasn't until a tangential discussion with her therapist on the various factors of her father's impact on her life led her to take an acting class.

Now, Leta would've been lying if she'd said she had any desire to act. She'd always been more of an academic than an artist, at least in her opinion, and she'd always looked at both of her parents and their passions with a bit of... judgment. That was the reason for the acting class, she thought, to figure out what her father got out of that whole experience. Within several months, buttoned-up Leta suddenly transformed into someone else: she was confident, and comfortable, and emotionally stable, and she felt whole. It was a re-birth. And it all happened totally by coincidence.

Coincidence and connections are probably what made everybody look upon Leta G-K with a bit of well-deserved judgment when her first on-screen acting appearance was as Sandra Bullock's daughter in the massively Oscar bait drama The Blind Side. Because, yeah, it pretty much was a coincidence that Leta had fallen into a place in her life when she wanted to "try out" being an actress. And, yeah, it definitely was one quick phone call to a family friend of her father's expressing interest in maybe "trying out" being an actress that resulted in her skipping over the whole, dead girl #2 on CSI: New York phase that just about every other actress had to go through, for either months, years, or even decades.

Was it cliche to say that a phone call and her father's legacy got her foot in the door, but it was her hard work and eagerness to learn that really got the ball rolling? Sure, she was a product of nepotism, but she liked to think she was also the product of her own drive. If she wasn't any good, they wouldn't continue to hire her five years later, would they? After all, it wasn't like her dad was still around to actually campaign for her or anything. Needless to say, despite finding a career path (acting) and a home base (New York City) that gave her some much-needed stability and peace of mind, Leta G-K still needs a little bit of therapy. But... doesn't everybody?
FILMOGRAPHY
(????) Room ... Ma (2016) Untitled Oliver Stone Project ... Lindsay Mills (2016) Kubo and the Two Strings ... Rooney Mara's role (voice) (2015) Crimson Peak ... Edith Cushing (2015) Carol ... Therese Belivet (2015) Equals ... Nia (2014) Love, Rosie ... Rosie Dunne (2014) White Bird in a Blizzard ... Kat Connor (2013) Stoker ... India Stoker (2013) Her ... Catherine (2012) On the Road ... Marylou / Luanne Henderson (2012) Mirror, Mirror ... Snow White (2011) Martha Marcy May Marlene ... Martha (2011) Sleeping Beauty ... Lucy (2010) Greenberg ... Sara (2010) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World ... Envy Adams (2010) The Social Network ... Amelia Ritter (2009) Youth in Revolt ... Sheeni Saunders (2009) The Blind Side ... Collins Tuohy

TELEVISION
"Community" (2013-2014) ... Rachel (3 episodes) "Hung" (2011) ... Sandee (8 episodes)

MUSIC VIDEOS
"Claudia Lewis" by M83 (2013) ... Lily Collins' role "Our Deal" by Best Coast (2011) ... Shailene Woodley's role
FACTS
  • fact one

  • fact two

  • fact three

  • fact four

  • fact five

  • played by anna speckhart • leta @ sundance • EST timezone, 18+ writer. • 3rd person, storybook, threading only. adult or ftb. • original codingedits