Although she was born in 1977 (in Atlanta, Georgia), Brittany Murphy is a show-business veteran who grew up fast.
Murphy, an only child who was raised in New Jersey and California, started acting in regional theater at the age of 9, going into TV commercials aged 13. She scored her first big film role in the 1995 teen comedy "Clueless." Though seemingly very well adjusted, Murphy specialized for a long time in playing characters who were troubled or mentally disturbed, as in the 1998 TV-movie remake of a 1960s film movie about romance between two asylum inmates, "David and Lisa"; the 2002 Eminem vehicle "8 Mile"; and the movie version of Frank Miller's dark graphic novels, "Sin City," in 2005. Aside from film, her TV credits have included roles in shows such as "Frasier," "Party of Five," "Murphy Brown" and "Blossom."
But now she appears in a brand-new and unusual role: that of a young American stranded in Tokyo after she breaks up with her boyfriend.