Zoë Kravitz

• 1. A Song for Zoë

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  Zoë Kravitz was only two years old when her father put her name on a record. The song is called "Flowers for Zoë," and it appears on Mama Said, the second album by the musician Lenny Kravitz. He wrote it as a tribute to his young daughter.

  That toddler grew up to work as an actress, a singer and a filmmaker. What does it mean to be born into a family already known for its talent? How did she choose which parts to play, and which ones to build for herself? And how does one person end up working in film, television, music and fashion all at once?

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• 2. Family Roots

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  Zoë Isabella Kravitz was born on the 1st of December 1988 at her parents' home in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles. Her mother is the actress Lisa Bonet. Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz married in 1987 and divorced in 1993.

  Each of her parents is half African American and half Ashkenazi Jewish. Her paternal grandmother, the actress Roxie Roker, was African American, and part of that family came from The Bahamas. Roker was also a first cousin once removed of the television weather forecaster Al Roker. Her paternal grandfather, Sy Kravitz, worked as a news producer at NBC, and his family had emigrated from Ukraine. On her mother's side, her grandfather Allen Bonet was African American and her grandmother Arlene Litman was Ashkenazi Jewish. Kravitz identifies as a secular Jew.

  After the divorce, she lived with her mother in Topanga Canyon. At age 11 she moved to Miami to live with her father, and she spent her summers back with her mother. Her godfather is the film producer Bruce Cohen, and her godmothers are the actresses Marisa Tomei and Cree Summer.

  Her mother's second marriage, to the actor Jason Momoa, gave her two half-siblings. Their names would one day be borrowed by a band.

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• 3. Early Years

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  In Topanga Canyon, the young Zoë joined local drama clubs and staged shows at her grandmother's house. Her usual number was a reenactment of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Her mother nudged her toward the films she had loved in her own childhood.

  In Miami she attended Miami Country Day School. She later went to the Rudolf Steiner School in Manhattan and graduated in 2007. She struggled with anorexia and bulimia through high school and until about age 24.

  She also studied at the acting conservatory of the State University of New York at Purchase, under Scott McCrea. Her peers there included Micah Stock and Jason Ralph. She left after a year and moved to Brooklyn, New York, to look for work in films.

  Her first film role came while she was still in high school. In the 2007 romantic comedy No Reservations, she played a babysitter hired by the character played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. She also appeared that year in the action thriller The Brave One.

  Music videos followed in 2008. She appeared in Jay Z's video for "I Know." She also sang in will.i.am's video for "We Are the Ones," made in support of the presidential candidate Barack Obama.

  The same year brought two more films, the family drama Birds of America and the neo-noir comedy Assassination of a High School President.

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• 4. Franchise Worlds

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  In 2011, Kravitz played Angel Salvadore, also called Tempest, in the superhero film X-Men: First Class. Her scenes were shot in London. She worked on wires to simulate her character's ability to fly.

  The year 2013 brought the science fiction film After Earth. In 2014 she began playing Christina in the dystopian film series Divergent, and she returned for the sequels Insurgent and Allegiant. In 2015 she appeared in the post-apocalyptic action film Mad Max: Fury Road.

  The wizarding world came next. In 2016 she appeared as Leta Lestrange in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, in a photographic cameo. She returned to the role in 2018 for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, with a larger part.

  Her voice also carried franchise roles. In The Lego Batman Movie in 2017, she spoke the lines of Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman. In 2018 she voiced Mary Jane Parker in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

  On the 4th of March 2022, The Batman reached cinemas, directed by Matt Reeves. Kravitz now played Selina Kyle in live action. The film earned over $700 million internationally.

  The Independent wrote that her Catwoman "brings an almost-extinct sensuality to the role." Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com called her "a fighter and a survivor with a loyal heart and a strong sense of what's right." Her nominations included the Saturn Award for Best Actress.

  That same year, Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People.

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• 5. Independent Films and Directing

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  Smaller productions have carried some of her most personal work. In the 2009 ensemble drama The Greatest, she played a character addicted to grief counseling groups. In 2010 she appeared in It's Kind of a Funny Story, and she also played the female lead in the romantic comedy Beware the Gonzo opposite Ezra Miller.

  The coming-of-age film Yelling to the Sky followed in 2011. In 2014 she starred in The Road Within and Pretend We're Kissing and appeared in Good Kill. In 2015 she played Nakia in Dope.

  Gemini, a mystery thriller, arrived in 2017. In 2022 she starred in Kimi, a thriller from the filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, which drew generally positive reviews. Her performance in it was singled out for praise.

  In 2025 she co-starred opposite Austin Butler in Caught Stealing, a crime thriller directed by Darren Aronofsky.

  Then she moved behind the camera. Blink Twice, released in 2024, was her directorial debut, a psychological thriller she also co-wrote and produced. She gave herself a small cameo as a stewardess. Award groups took notice, including the Astra Film Awards, the San Diego Film Critics Society and the NAACP Image Awards.

  In June 2022, it was announced that she would star in and produce a heist thriller for Warner Bros., titled The Sundance Kid Might Have Some Regrets.

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• 6. Small Screen

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  Eight episodes of the Showtime series Californication in 2011 gave Kravitz her first long television run. She played Pearl, the vocalist of an all-female band called Queens of Dogtown. In 2016 she also appeared in an episode of Portlandia titled "Breaking Up."

  The HBO drama Big Little Lies, from 2017 to 2019, gave her the part of Bonnie Carlson. The role earned her two Black Reel Award nominations. She also shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for the cast's work in a drama series.

  In 2019 she was cast as the lead of High Fidelity, a Hulu romantic comedy series. It was based on a 2000 film in which her mother had starred. The series premiered on Valentine's Day 2020 and she also served as an executive producer.

  Margaret Lyons of The New York Times called her performance "mesmerizing." Lyons added, "She's so good, in fact, that it's almost impossible to believe she can't find someone to love her exactly as-is." Alison Herman of The Ringer called her a "bona-fide leading lady."

  Despite the praise, the series was cancelled after one season. Kravitz won a Black Reel Award for it and was nominated for a Satellite Award.

  In August 2021, it was announced that she would star in and executive produce Phatty Patty, an animated coming-of-age series backed by Westbrook Studios, the company of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. In 2022 she hosted Saturday Night Live, in an episode paired with the musical guest Rosalía.

  In 2025 she played a fictionalized version of herself in the Apple TV+ comedy The Studio. It earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.

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• 7. Lolawolf and Other Music

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  At 16, Kravitz started making music. In 2009 she formed and fronted a band called Elevator Fight, based between New York and Philadelphia. The group played at the South by Southwest festival. In June 2009 it took the main stage at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, on a bill with The Roots, TV On The Radio and The Black Keys.

  By 2011 she was describing her music as a hobby. She also performed with a cabaret troupe called The Citizens Band.

  Lolawolf was the project that lasted. She started it in Los Angeles while filming The Road Within, with members drawn from the band Reputante. The name honors her younger siblings, Lola and Nakoa-Wolf. The group debuted at the Mercury Lounge in November 2013.

  An EP titled Lolawolf appeared in early 2014. The debut album Calm Down was released on the 21st of October 2014. That year the band toured in support of Lily Allen, Miley Cyrus and Warpaint. A five-track EP arrived on the 23rd of June 2015, and her album Tenderness followed on the 3rd of July 2020.

  Her voice also turned up on other artists' records. She is credited on "Passionfruit" from Drake's More Life in 2017. She is on "Screwed" from Janelle Monáe's Dirty Computer in 2018. She is also on "Anti-Social Smokers Club" from Rae Sremmurd's SR3MM. A song called "Don't" appeared on the Big Little Lies soundtrack.

  In 2022 she was a credited co-writer on Taylor Swift's "Lavender Haze," from the album Midnights. The other writers were Swift, Jack Antonoff, Mark Anthony Spears, Jahaan Sweet and Sam Dew.

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• 8. Brands and Private Life

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  In 2009, Vera Wang hired Kravitz as lead spokesperson for her Princess fragrance. She was featured in a 2010 campaign for the designer Alexander Wang. In 2011 she represented Wang's Preppy Princess fragrance.

  In 2013 she released a jewelry line with the crystal company Swarovski. Ethnic and vintage jewelry inspired it, along with her birthstone, turquoise. In 2015 she became the face of a jewelry line by the Brooklyn-based designer Alexis Bittar.

  The fashion website Net-a-Porter ranked her among the best dressed women of 2018. In May 2025 she worked with the champagne brand Dom Pérignon on a campaign called "Creation is an Eternal Journey."

  She lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Her relationship with the actor Karl Glusman began in 2016, and they became engaged in February 2018. They married on the 29th of June 2019 at her father's home in Paris. She filed for divorce in December 2020, and it was finalized in August 2021.

  One more film, with its title still to be announced, is listed for 2026 and was in post-production.

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