Katherine Langford

 Katherine Langford

Katherine Langford (born 29 April 1996)[1] is an Australian actress. After appearing in several independent films, she had her breakthrough starring as Hannah Baker in the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why (2017–2018), which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination.[2] She then appeared in the films Love, Simon (2018) and Knives Out (2019), and headlined the dark comedy Spontaneous (2020) and the Netflix series Cursed (2020).

Early life

Langford was born in Perth, Western Australia,[1] and raised in Applecross, a riverside suburb of Perth.[3] She is the eldest daughter of Elizabeth Langford (née Green), a paediatrician, and Stephen Langford, a flying doctor and director of medical services at the Royal Flying Doctor Service Western Operations.[4][5][3][6] Her younger sister, Josephine Langford, is also an actress.

Langford began voice lessons with Heidi Lake in 2005, and received classical, jazz, and contemporary vocal training. She was offered a place at Perth Modern School[7][8] for her senior high school years, where she studied music and drama, and was sports captain and a nationally ranked swimmer.[9][10]

Initially during her time at high school, Langford was interested in medicine and politics in addition to musical theatre. In 2012 as a teenager, Langford attended a Lady Gaga concert, the Born This Way Ball, which inspired her to learn to play piano.[11] She shared videos of herself singing three original songs she wrote: "I've Got a Crush on Zoe Bosch," "Young and Stupid," and "3 Words."[12][13] "Young and Stupid" is an anti-suicide song she wrote in 2013 after three Perth teens took their lives.[14] For her final year at Perth Modern, Langford stopped swimming and switched her focus to music and performance.[15] She was successful in a number of musical eisteddfods and drama competitions. Langford appeared in the school's production of Hotel Sorrento in 2013[16][17] and graduated that same year.[18]