Julia O’Hara Stiles born on March 28, 1981 is an American actress. She was born on New York City. Her mother Judith Newcomb Stiles is a potter and her father is a John O’Hara businesswoman.  She has a brother Johnny and a sister Jane and she is the eldest among the three sibling.  She graduated from Columbia University with s degree in English literature. She started acting at the age of 11.

She first acted in the films securing small roles as in the 1996’s romantic drama film I Love You, I Love You Not, The Devil’s Own(1997) as Alan and in comedy drama film Wide Awake (1998). Her first film as a lead character was Wicked (1998), where she portrayed a teenage girl who might have murdered her mother so she could have her father all to herself.

Her following films are Gil Junger’s 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Down To You(2000), Hamlet (2000), State and Mate (2000), Tim Blake Nelson’s O (2001) but none of the movies was a success.

Next she appeared in a commercial hit film Save The Last Dance (2001)  as an aspiring ballerina forced to leave her small town in downstate Illinois to live with her struggling musician father. The role won her two more MTV awards for Best Kiss and Best Female Performance, and a Teen Choice Award for best fight scene for her battle with Bianca Lawson.

In 2003 she appeared in the movie Mona Lisa Smile as Joan, The Price and Me (2004), A Guy Thing (2003), The Omen (2006), It’s Disaster (2012).

In May 2010, she was cast in a major role in the Showtime series Dexter and signed for 10 episodes. For this role, Stiles received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film, as well as a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

On January 3, 2016, she announced her engagement to camera assistant Preston J. Cook, with whom she worked on Blackway. Stiles is expecting her first child in 2017.