Oscillating between high tension and high camp projects, exotic young actress Camilla Belle became one of Hollywood’s new “It” girls after surviving both a brutal killer in “When a Stranger Calls” (2006), as well as the mordantly funny suburbs in “The Chumscrubber” (2005).Born on Oct. 2nd, 1986 in Los Angeles, CA to an American father and Brazilian mother, Belle (whose real name is Camilla Belle Routh) was named after actress Renata Sorrah's character, in the Brazilian soap opera, "Cavalo de Aço." An attractive brunette child, Belle landed her first modeling gig for a national print ad at the ripe old age of nine months. The ambitious youngster segued smoothly into acting, appearing in minor roles in network and cable television movies such as “Trouble Shooters: Trapped Beneath the Earth” (NBC, 1993), “Empty Cradle” (ABC, 1993) and “Deconstructing Sarah” (USA Network, 1994). She went on to appear in several more made-for-TV movies and direct-to-video movies, including “Annie: A Royal Adventure” (ABC, 1995), “Poison Ivy 2” (1996) and the Jimmy Smits’ vehicle, “Marshal Law” (Showtime, 1996).
Belle segued to the big screen as one of the orphans in Alfonso Cuaron’s exquisite 1995 remake of “A Little Princess,” which led to small roles in major studio films, including Steven Spielberg’s “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (1997) and the Nicole Kidman/Sandra Bullock chick-flick “Practical Magic” (1998), in which she portrayed a young Bullock – all before the age of twelve.
While attending Marlborough, an elite, all-girls high school, Belle hit a bit of a dry spell work-wise, finding time to appeared in a few forgettable films in the late 1990s. Her only semi high-profile project was the HBO thriller “The Patriot” (1998) in which she played Steven Seagal’s daughter. In her downtime, Belle found time to study classical piano (with aspirations of going pro) and modern language (with the University of Edinburgh offering her a chance to study their modern language program). She also became actively involved in various charities, including becoming an international spokesperson for “Kids With a Cause,” a program created to provide help for children suffering from poverty, hunger, neglect and abuse.
Now a young woman on the verge of movie stardom, Belle starred in the critically acclaimed 2005 indie film, “The Ballad of Jack and Rose,” playing the daughter of Daniel Day-Lewis' character. The film, her first in nearly four years, received a limited theatrical release, but Belle was labeled an "impressive newcomer” nonetheless. That same year, Belle also landed a major role in the dark comedy, “The Chumscrubber.” Following two solid but little seen films, Belle got the chance of a lifetime, headlining a major release. Cast in Screen Gems' horror film remake of the 1979 slasher classic, “When a Stranger Calls (2006), Belle gave an appropriately sympathetic portrayal of a young babysitter being harassed on the phone by an unknown killer who is closer than she knows.
Shortly after the release of “When a Stranger Calls,” Belle was seen in “The Quiet” (2006), a psychological drama about a family whose dark secrets get exposed after adopting a recently orphaned deaf girl harboring her own disturbing past. Belle was then cast opposite Steven Strait in the Warner Bros. film, “10,000 B.C.” – a prehistoric epic to be directed by Roland Emmerich of “Independence Day” and “Day After Tomorrow” fame. Scheduled for a 2007 release, the film was shot on location in South Africa and Namibia.
