Biography

She was born in Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

. A former child actor

Child actor

The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...

, she has described herself as somewhat ambitious. She is of Russian, Polish and British descent, and the press has noted her small physical stature. She took an interest in films at the age of 6, and started living in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 at 17 to attend York University

York University

York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....

, but left to audition for the title role in the 1997 film version of Lolita

Lolita (1997 film)

Lolita is a 1997 French-American drama film directed by Adrian Lyne. It is the second screen adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel of the same name and stars Jeremy Irons as Humbert Humbert and Dominique Swain as Dolores "Lolita" Haze, with supporting roles by Melanie Griffith as Charlotte Haze,...

, which she lost to Dominique Swain

Dominique Swain

Dominique Ariane Swain is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as the title character in the 1997 film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, and as Jamie Archer in the film Face/Off.- Early life :...

.

Litz would go on to achieve a long acting resume, although she often received no money for her parts and instead chose projects she liked. In 1998 and 1999 she appeared in episodes of the Canadian television series Due South

Due South

Due South is a Canadian crime drama series with elements of comedy. The series was created by Paul Haggis, produced by Alliance Communications, and stars Paul Gross, David Marciano, and latterly Callum Keith Rennie...

and Wind at My Back

Wind at My Back

Wind at My Back is a television series which aired in Canada on CBC Television between 1996 and 2001. It was created and produced by Kevin Sullivan, best known for his adaptation of Anne of Green Gables and Road to Avonlea...

. She starred in Jeremy Podeswa's The Five Senses that screened at The Director's Fortnight in Cannes. She later received the title role in the short film Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl

Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl

Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl is a 2002 award-winning short film and black comedy directed by Newfoundlander Brad Peyton. It stars Nadia Litz in the title role, and Joshua Close, and is narrated by Maurice Dean Wint...

(2002) by Brad Peyton

Brad Peyton

Brad Peyton is a Canadian-born film director, writer and television producer, born in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador. His latest film is Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.-Career:...

. That year, she also appeared in the television film Salem Witch Trials

Salem witch trials

The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...

as Mary Walcott

Mary Walcott

Mary Walcott was one of the witnesses at the Salem Witch Trials of Salem, Massachusetts in the years 1692 and 1693....

 (here called May Walcott), and has starred in films such as Rhinoceros Eyes (2003) and Monkey Warfare

Monkey Warfare

Monkey Warfare is a 2006 Canadian drama film written and directed by Reginald Harkema, starring Don McKellar, Tracy Wright and Nadia Litz. The film received multiple awards at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2006, and won "Best Canadian Feature Film - Special Jury Citation" at the 2006...

(2006) for which she won a Vancouver Critics Award and You Are Here

You Are Here

You Are Here is the debut album of New Zealand pop rock group, Opshop released on 3 May 2004 under Siren Records. On 12 May, 2005, a special edition of the album was released...

 (2011).

Eye Weekly

Eye Weekly

Eye Weekly was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The following week, Torstar launched a successor publication, The Grid.-...

has described her career by saying she was praised for her role in The Five Senses, and that magazine credited her work in Love That Boy

Love That Boy

Love That Boy is a 2003 Canadian film and romantic comedy directed by Andrea Dorfman and starring Nadia Litz and Adrien Dixon. It is about a woman in love with a younger teenage boy. In French the film is called J'aime ce garçon.-Plot:...

with transforming "a potentially irritating character- Phoebe, a 21-year-old overachiever who accidentally falls for a boy seven years her junior- into an oddly endearing figure who's surprised to find herself wracked by the aches that love brings." Her honours have included being named by Maclean's

Maclean's

Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...

magazine as "25 People Under 25 To Watch" for The Five Senses, and being nominated for a Gemini Award

Gemini Award

The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...

 for acting in the television miniseries After the Harvest.

While studying film theory, Litz briefly considered law school

Law school

A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...

 as a "fallback career possibility," although the law degree would be used for film production and not to leave the film business. She explained to the press that "I work, but I work in independent films. There have been a few years that I have made a living and a few years that I haven't. It's a struggle for anyone trying to have a full-time career in film in Canada. Or anywhere."

Litz's graduating year she wrote, directed, shot and edited her first short film, on super 8 film called Remembering The Only Time I Tried To Stop My Heart From Failing (and Failed).

In 2009 she attended the prestigious Berlinale Talent Campus and studied under Janusz Kaminski

Janusz Kaminski

Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński is a Polish cinematographer and film director. He has photographed all of Steven Spielberg's films since 1993's Schindler's List.-Life and career:...

 and Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton

Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...

 who were guest moderators. Later that year, she was accepted as a Director-in-Residence to Norman Jewison

Norman Jewison

Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, O.Ont is a Canadian film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Highlights of his directing career include In the Heat of the Night , The Thomas Crown Affair , Fiddler on the Roof , Jesus Christ Superstar , Moonstruck , The Hurricane and The...

's sought after program at the Canadian Film Center. There she directed the successful short film called How To Rid Your Lover Of A Negative Emotion Caused By You! which made its world debut at the Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

 in September 2010, described by The Style Notebook as "one of the best films at TIFF this year!"

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