Jennifer Connelly Says Getting into Acting as a Child 'Was My Mom's Idea': 'I Didn't Even Watch Movies'

Before getting her start in the acting world as a preteen, Connelly said, 'I never even did a school play'

Acting just kind of happened for Jennifer Connelly!

The Dark Matter star stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers this week to talk about her new show, and opened up about how her career came to be — namely, thanks to her mother!

"I started working when I was so young — I started working when I was 10 years old," said Connelly, 53. "And it wasn't something that I had pursued. I never even did a school play. Like, I didn't even watch movies."

"It was my mom's idea, and I started working," the Oscar winner recalled. "And then at a certain point, when I got a little bit older, I was like, 'Do I really wanna do this? This isn't what I chose for my life.' "

"Well here, I am, so obviously I re-chose it," Connelly told host Seth Meyers. "But after some investigation and really thinking about it."

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Before winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in 2001's A Beautiful Mind, Connelly first broke out role as Sarah, opposite David Bowie's Jareth the Goblin King, in the 1986 musical fantasy flick Labyrinth.

While the movie — which follows teenage Sarah's journey as she attempts to rescue her baby brother, Toby, from the clutches of doom — didn't succeed at the box office at the time, it has gone on to become a cult classic.

Other memorable Connelly film performances include The Rocketeer (1991), Inventing the Abbotts (1997), Requiem for a Dream (2000), Reservation Road (2007), Stuck in Love (2012) and 2022's Top Gun: Maverick.

While she has not starred on many TV series, Connelly appeared in Snowpiercer from 2020 to 2022, and plays one of the main roles in Apple TV+'s new sci-fi show, Dark Matter, opposite Joel Edgerton.

Related: Jennifer Connelly Is 'Ready' to Film Top Gun 3 with Tom Cruise: 'I'll Be There'

Aside from staying booked and busy in her career, Connelly is a mom to three kids. She shares son Kai, 26, with ex David Dugan, and two children with her husband of 21 years, Paul Bettany: son Stellan, 20, and daughter Agnes, 12.

And if she hadn't gone into acting, "My son Stellan, he thinks that I would've been a pretty good detective," she told Meyers, 50, laughing.

"I'm like, 'I'm not sure that's a compliment,' " Connelly added. "Am I really [a] hyper-vigilant mom who sees everything?"

Dark Matter's first two episodes are now streaming on Apple TV+, with new episodes every Wednesday.

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