Paula Patton In A Live Event

Patton was born 5th December 1975 in Los Angeles, California, to Joyce (née Vanraden), a school teacher, and Charles Patton, a lawyer. Her father is African-American and her mother, who is Caucasian, is of German and English descent. She graduated from Hamilton High School, and then started college at UC Berkeley, transferring to USC Film School after her first year and graduating magna cum laude. Shortly after completing her studies, she won a three-month assignment making documentaries for PBS. Later she worked for the Discovery Health Channel as producer for the show Medical Diaries.

Her first acting role was a small part in 2005's Hitch, which starred Will Smith and Eva Mendes. She followed that with a small part in the drama London and appeared alongside OutKast members Andre Benjamin and Big Boi in Idlewild.

Patton's big break came in 2006 when she landed the pivotal role of Claire Kuchever in the science fiction thriller Déjà Vu, starring Denzel Washington and Jim Caviezel. She played television reporter Kate Madison in 2008's Swing Vote. She appeared in the film Mirrors, alongside Kiefer Sutherland, in 2008. She also appeared in her husband Robin Thicke's "Lost Without You" video in 2006.

In Precious (2009), Patton plays Ms Blu Rain, a teacher at 'Each One, Teach One' an alternative high-school in Harlem, New York. At the school, Miss Rain teaches and mentors disadvantaged students, including the film's main character, C. Precious Jones.

In the fall of 2010, Patton was announced as succeeding Sharon Stone as the new full-time assistant district attorney on the NBC legal drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. However, Patton landed the lead female role in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and thus her role on SVU was reduced to one episode. She was replaced by Melissa Sagemiller.

 

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