104 Facts About Dianna Agron

Dianna Elise Agron is an American actress and singer.

Dianna Agron has directed several short films and music videos and, in 2017, began performing as a singer at the Cafe Carlyle in New York City, while continuing to star in films including Novitiate and Hollow in the Land in 2017, Shiva Baby in 2020, and As They Made Us in 2022.

Dianna Agron acted in and directed part of the 2019 anthology feature film Berlin, I Love You.

Dianna Agron is Jewish and has spoken of how her religion relates to her career.

Dianna Agron has been involved with significant charity work, particularly in support of LGBTQ+ rights and human rights.

Dianna Elise Agron was born on April 30,1986, in Savannah, Georgia, to Mary, a seamstress, and Ronald S "Ron" Agron, a former general manager of Hyatt hotels.

Dianna Agron's father was born to a Jewish family, while her mother converted to Judaism before they married.

Dianna Agron is Ashkenazi Jewish, of Russian Jewish descent; her father's family were Jewish immigrants from Novgorod-Seversky in Ukraine, and the family's original surname was Agronsky.

Dianna Agron is distantly related to Gershon Agron and Martin Agronsky.

Dianna Agron was raised in San Antonio, Texas, and Burlingame, California; her family lived in various hotels due to her father's career, but her mother made sure that Dianna Agron and her brother knew this was not the norm.

Dianna Agron has said that there was always music from the 1960s and 1970s playing at their home, and that her mother sheltered her from watching contemporary films and television even as a teenager, opting to let her watch mostly classic musicals because she felt they had "a certain amount of loveliness to [them]".

Dianna Agron lived in Texas from the age of two until she was nine, and took up dancing at the age of three, studying jazz and ballet, and later hip-hop dancing.

Dianna Agron often performed in local and school musical theater productions, including as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz when she was eight.

Dianna Agron attended Hebrew school growing up, as well as being educated at a Jewish day school through third grade.

Dianna Agron was bullied harshly for her Jewish faith while living in Texas and noted that she assumed having police guarding their Temple was normal until the family moved to California, adding that being Jewish was a large part of her identity as a child because of how it ostracized her.

Dianna Agron said that she found it much easier to make friends there than she had in Texas, though described her middle school experience as sometimes unpleasant, giving the example of a boy following her around and calling her a man when, aged thirteen, her voice dropped significantly.

In high school, Dianna Agron was on the homecoming court in both her junior and senior years, tying for homecoming queen with a friend; she has said she was not "popular" in a stereotypical sense in high school, but had many friends in different groups.

Dianna Agron was involved in school theater, performing in Vanities and Grease as a senior, and helping with set design, costumes, and painting.

Dianna Agron was injured in a traffic collision and underwent physical therapy in high school.

Dianna Agron took piano lessons and said that she came to love photography in high school, as well, where she learnt on film.

When she was a teenager, her father became ill with what the family would determine was multiple sclerosis after tests proved indefinitive; Dianna Agron was not made aware of his illness until she was fifteen, when he had a stroke and began losing his cognitive and physical abilities.

Dianna Agron spoke to Cosmopolitan about the impact of this on her family, which caused her parents' marriage to fall apart, saying the separation was devastating for her and her brother.

Dianna Agron added that she "had to play therapist to [her] family[,] be the glue".

Dianna Agron later said that, when her father became ill, he "lost his faith for some time" and the family stopped attending Temple.

Dianna Agron moved to Los Angeles in 2005, attending an audition for a dance agency on the same day.

Dianna Agron had wanted to go to New York, but instead chose Los Angeles as it was closer to her family in case she needed to support them.

Dianna Agron was signed by the agency and told them that she wanted to be in musicals; they sent her out for music video auditions.

Dianna Agron was hesitant to be in music videos, worrying that she could not be considered both a dancer and an actress, though she agreed to be in the video for Robin Thicke's "Wanna Love You Girl"; she was cut when Pharrell Williams became involved and the concept was changed.

Dianna Agron's first film role was an uncredited appearance as a cheerleader in the 2006 remake film When a Stranger Calls.

Dianna Agron told Rolling Stone that during her early career most of the film roles she was offered were horror films or nudity, and that she turned down all of these.

Dianna Agron had a recurring role in the third season of Veronica Mars as Jenny Budosh, a student in Veronica's criminology class at college who is involved with a fraud cover-up.

Dianna Agron then appeared in a recurring role for the second season of Heroes as Debbie Marshall, the mean captain of the cheerleading squad at the new school Claire Bennet attends.

Dianna Agron said that when she was cast in the role it "helped open a lot of people's eyes to [her], as an actor", because it is different to who she is as a person.

Dianna Agron landed her breakthrough role in 2009 as Quinn Fabray on the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee.

The producers had felt the character would be unnecessary if she could not be given more depth, though they did not initially reveal this to Dianna Agron; Ulrich told Variety that when they saw her audition, the show finally "came together".

Shortly before Glee, Dianna Agron had over thirty unsuccessful auditions for a small role in a musical, and so auditioned with no expectations.

In 2009, members of the Glee cast, including Dianna Agron, performed the national anthem before Game 3 of the World Series.

Dianna Agron had played multiple "mean cheerleader" roles, and when she began to be offered more during Glee first season she asked her team to start turning them away.

Dianna Agron was positioned as a top choice for the role of Gwen Stacy in the reboot of the Spider-Man films when The Amazing Spider-Man began casting in 2010, but lost out to Emma Stone.

Deadline reported there were concerns about the availability of Dianna Agron, who tested for the role just as Glee second season began, due to having a large role on a major network show.

Club wrote that Dianna Agron was "one of the show's best actors" but often sidelined.

Dianna Agron rarely sang in her chest voice in the first season, and in 2011 HuffPost described Quinn's singing register as falsetto.

In 2011, Dianna Agron wrote the Time 100 entry for her Glee co-star Chris Colfer.

Dianna Agron's breakthrough movie role came in the 2011 YA adaptation I Am Number Four as co-lead Sarah Hart, whom Agron described as an "artsy kid that is a little misunderstood".

Dianna Agron took on the role because it was different to her Quinn character, and said that while she wanted to work during the Glee hiatus, she would not take just any project that fit in her schedule because "it's so hard as an actor to really engage with a character and a script if you don't love it".

Dianna Agron's filming restrictions for Glee meant she almost did not get the role.

The shoot got moved to the summer, when Dianna Agron was available, and she learned she got the role a few weeks before filming.

Dianna Agron's I Am Number Four co-lead was Alex Pettyfer; after Pettyfer dropped out of playing Tom in Seventh Son in May 2011, Dianna Agron tested for the role of Alice Deane.

In one story, her character was paralyzed in a car accident, but only for four episodes before she was performing again; Dianna Agron had previously said that the story, which she discussed with Murphy, would be "slow and gradual" as Quinn struggles through accepting a more challenging situation.

Caramanica criticized the fact that Dianna Agron's cover of "Papa Don't Preach" was omitted from the soundtracks, writing that it was "one of the most grounded and moving covers the show has yet done".

Dianna Agron's cover of "Never Can Say Goodbye" reached 107 on the Billboard charts.

Dianna Agron appeared less frequently in Glees fourth season, being reduced to a guest star, with co-star Naya Rivera saying that she did so by choice to work on projects; Rivera and Dianna Agron shared an argument scene in the Thanksgiving episode that Vulture said was "weirdly powerful", noting the pair "have always popped in scenes like this, and have never gotten enough of them".

Dianna Agron tweeted that the scene was one of her favorites, and Murphy joked that the two characters could have a spin-off.

The Irish Independent wrote that "Dianna Agron is one of the best things in the film [and] successfully grounds the more preposterous aspects of the plot".

In 2014, Dianna Agron starred as the scorned bride in Sam Smith's "I'm Not the Only One" music video.

Glamour wrote that Dianna Agron's "convincing Desperate Housewives act [shows] off some major acting skills [and] really brings Sam's heart wrenching pop-ballad to life".

Dianna Agron directed the music video for "Till Sunrise" by Goldroom, starring Gabrielle Haugh and her brother Jason, and worked as a photographer with Jason for the February 2014 issue of Galore magazine.

Dianna Agron returned to Glee for its final season but did not appear in the episode "A Wedding", when Quinn's best friends get married, which was seen to be equally as unusual as missing "The Quarterback".

Dianna Agron played the lead role in Natalia Leite's 2015 drama film Bare, which follows Agron's character, Sarah, as she becomes romantically involved with a female drifter.

The film includes a nude scene, which had been extensively discussed between Leite and Dianna Agron, taking inspiration from My Summer of Love for the tone.

Dianna Agron was unable to reprise her role for the Theatre Royal Haymarket transfer due to filming commitments.

Dianna Agron performed the US national anthem in London at Winfield House, the US ambassador's residence, for Independence Day 2015, with Katherine Jenkins performing the British national anthem.

Dianna Agron relocated to New York City in 2016 and took time away from working in that year.

Dianna Agron had a supporting role in the Vatican II-set film Novitiate, portraying Sister Mary Grace, a foil to the harsh instruction of the Mother Superior, opposite Melissa Leo and Margaret Qualley.

Dianna Agron spoke about playing a Catholic nun as a Jewish actor, saying that she was interested in exploring faith and spirituality that exist outside of her own experiences.

Dianna Agron portrayed Alison Miller, the lead of the drama Hollow in the Land.

In September 2017, Dianna Agron made her singing debut with a residency at the Cafe Carlyle, saying that she "missed singing publicly" and wanted to pursue this again in New York.

Dianna Agron suggested that she would consider releasing an album, but not of the pop music featured on Glee.

Dianna Agron directed a segment in the film from a screenplay by David Vernon, as well as playing a puppeteer who reinvigorates the life of a burnt-out Hollywood star played by Luke Wilson.

Dianna Agron was initially approached to act in the segment, and asked if she could direct it instead before being hired for both roles; filming for the segment took one day.

Dianna Agron played Kim Beckett in Shiva Baby, a comedy set at a Jewish mourning service.

The film and its cast received widespread praise, with some reviews noting the depth Dianna Agron brought to her role.

Dianna Agron then portrayed Laura Riding in the historical biopic The Laureate; telling the story of Riding's life with Robert Graves and their lovers, it premiered in 2021.

Abigail is the daughter of Hoffman and Bergen's characters; Dianna Agron had previously played Bergen's daughter in the 2010 film The Romantics and said it was "super special" to work with her again at a different stage.

The film deals with parental death, something which Dianna Agron related to due to experiences with her own father's illness.

Dianna Agron noted that about a year before filming the project she had finally become ready to address father-daughter relationships in her work; the theme is present in Acidman, a film Agron began working on in 2020.

In March and April 2022, Dianna Agron performed her third residency at the Cafe Carlyle.

Dianna Agron returned to television for the first time since Glee to be part of the main cast of the upcoming Netflix original television show The Chosen One, an adaptation of the Mark Millar comic series American Jesus, which is set to be released in 2024.

Dianna Agron's public image and style have been described as "old Hollywood", something she has enjoyed since she was a child admiring figures including Audrey Hepburn, Lucille Ball and Leslie Caron.

The role of Quinn in Glee saw Dianna Agron nominated for the Teen Choice Award for Female Breakout Star in 2010, and she and other cast members were awarded the Screen Actors Guild Award for Ensemble in a Comedy Series that same year.

Dianna Agron has since said that the level of success Glee had when she was in her early twenties "[catapulted her] into a world [in which she was] not very equipped to, kind of, explore that coming-of-age in the public eye", adding that the sudden emergence of social media at the time did not help; she explained that she chose to travel to keep grounded.

Dianna Agron was one of the most-followed and most influential celebrities on Twitter in 2012 and 2013.

Dianna Agron has been credited with influencing the popularity of the fishtail braid; shaggy bob; and pompadour hairstyles, and her presence at Met Galas helped popularize it to become one of New York's biggest social events.

Dianna Agron describes her style as "eclectic", adding that she enjoys dressing in both feminine and masculine looks.

In 2010, she appeared on the cover of GQ with Glee co-stars Michele and Monteith; after "minor controversy" following complaints that the actors were dressed too provocatively for their younger fans, Dianna Agron wrote an apology on her blog.

Dianna Agron is named in the liner notes of the Taylor Swift song "22", as an inspiration of the song, and some fans have speculated that Swift's song "Wonderland" references her.

Dianna Agron knows Hebrew and visited Israel to study her faith in 2016.

The couple had a messy break-up in February 2011, the day after the film was released, with reports that he threatened her over the phone and had a "heated confrontation" with actor Sebastian Stan, someone with whom Dianna Agron was close in early 2011.

Dianna Agron temporarily moved to a hotel under a false name so that Pettyfer would not be able to find her, and Pettyfer was instructed not to attend an event at which she would be present.

In early 2011, Dianna Agron met actor Chris Evans at an Oscars party and the two were linked in April that year; reportedly, Evans' brother Scott was a fan of Dianna Agron from Glee and supported the idea of the couple.

Dianna Agron began dating Stan in June 2011; they split in December, due to Dianna Agron being unable to spend time with him while having to work on Glee, but began dating again in February 2012 and were still together in April.

Dianna Agron was linked to Belgian painter Harold Ancart in 2021 and reportedly dated actor Bradley Cooper in 2022.

Dianna Agron was again with Ancart in 2022, when it was reported that an incident involving her and publisher Lucas Zwirner caused Ancart to suddenly cut ties with art dealer and gallery owner David Zwirner.

Dianna Agron has given her time to charitable endeavors supporting children, including organizations like Camp Wonder and UNICEF, and has hosted and participated in various fundraisers for literacy non-profit 826LA, including emceeing the 2010 concert "Chickens in Love".

Since 2012, Dianna Agron has been a GLAAD Spirit Day ambassador, and since 2014 she has been a Global Citizen Ambassador, regularly participating in the Global Citizen Festival.

In politics, Dianna Agron endorsed Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, and Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.

Naya Rivera and Cory Monteith had hosted a parallel event on March 24,2012, in New York City, auctioning off kisses to the audience; Dianna Agron did the same, raising $5,500 for the campaign.

In women's rights, Agron spoke at the 18th San Francisco Power of Choice Luncheon to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade in 2013, and criticized the Supreme Court of the United States when it repealed this in June 2022.

Dianna Agron has prominently been a supporter of charities for refugees, particularly children, affected by war.

In 2012, Dianna Agron visited the Somaly Mam Foundation's Kampong Cham center, where she met child and teenage residents, and in 2013 she promoted a campaign fundraiser benefiting the foundation.

Dianna Agron has raised money and advocated for War Child since 2014, particularly for Syrian refugees, and in 2016, she traveled with the UN to visit resettled Syrian refugees in Austria and Jordan.

Dianna Agron has supported military personnel, providing services and live entertainment to United States troops and their families as part of the December 2014 United Service Organizations tour at Bagram air field, Afghanistan, and locations in Spain, Italy, Turkey, and the UK.

Several short films and videos created by Lexy Hulme, a dancer and friend of Dianna Agron, were shared on the website, which accepted submissions for inspiration posts through a related Tumblr blog.

In February 2013, Dianna Agron hosted a concert for the curation blog in Los Angeles, where she performed Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" and Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do with It" with the band A House For Lions.