Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw (born July 19, 1976) is an American film actress and model. Shaw has starred in numerous motion pictures since the early 1990s and was a supporting cast member in the Showtime Drama Ray Donovan. Her breakout role was in Disney's 1993 Halloween comedy-fantasy hit film Hocus Pocus. She also was in Ladybugs (1992), Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (1999), the 2006 remake of Wes Craven's horror picture The Hills Have Eyes, as well as 40 Days and 40 Nights as Josh Hartnett's sadistic ex-girlfriend.

Biography

Shaw attended Barnard College in New York, but dropped out to pursue acting. Shaw was attending the college when she was approached by Stanley Kubrick for her role in Eyes Wide Shut.

Shaw was raised a Buddhist. She embraced the Nichiren Buddhist philosophy during her first year attending college in 1996: "I was lonely and depressed, and I had so many questions about life. I called my dad every night crying, saying that I wanted to go home." As a core practice of Nichiren Buddhism, Shaw chants daimoku daily, and is also a facilitator of the SGI-USA lay Buddhist Association for Peace, Culture, and Education. Shaw mentioned her practicing of the religion in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in February 2009. Shaw has been engaged to behind-the-scenes film artist Kristopher Gifford since 2008.

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