Heather Donahue is an American writer and retired actress, known for her role in the 1999 sleeper hit film The Blair Witch Project, which grossed nearly a quarter of a billion dollars on a $60,000 budget.
Donahue is best known for her role in found-footage horror film The Blair Witch Project. In 1997, she read about an audition that was being advertised in Backstage magazine for actors with strong improvisational abilities, which was needed for an independent horror film. She auditioned at the Musical Theater Works in New York City and was cast as one of the three principal roles. For the role, Donahue had to learn how to be able to operate a camera, spending two days in a "crash course". She said she modeled her character after a director she once worked with, citing the character's self-assuredness when everything went as planned, and confusion during crisis. After filming, Donahue and the two other leads were asked not to appear on any television shows or in any films, as the filmmakers made great advertising efforts to perpetuate the events in the film as factual, including the distribution of flyers at festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival, asking viewers to come forward with any information about the "missing" students. The IMDb page also listed the actors as "missing, presumed dead" in the first year of the film's availability. The promotion for the film was so convincing that Donahue's mother received sympathy cards from people who believed that her daughter was actually dead or missing. Once released, the film received unexpected acclaim from critics and became a resounding box office success-grossing over US$248 million worldwide, making it one of the most successful independent movies of all time. Despite the film's highly positive reception, Donahue's performance received a mixed reaction. While being nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress – Newcomer, and an Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress, she was also nominated for worst actress at the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, and won in the same category at the Golden Raspberry Awards. Donahue later admitted there was a considerable amount of backlash against her because of her association with the film, which led to her having threatening encounters with people, and difficulty finding other employment. A year after the release of the film, she appeared in the independent film Home Field Advantage, and alongside Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Jason Biggs in the romantic comedyBoys and Girls. In 2001, she appeared in the independent film Seven and a Match and in the short film The Velvet Tigress. In 2002, she had a starring role in science fiction miniseries Taken, for which she was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television. The same year, she appeared in an array of short films and televised films, such as The Walking Hack of Asbury Park, New Suit and The Big Time. Her last acting role was in the 2008 direct-to-DVD horror film The Morgue.
