Lorraine Nicholson

Lorraine Broussard Nicholson (born April 16, 1990) is an American actress and director. She is known for playing Alana Blanchard in the biographical film Soul Surfer (2011). Early life Nicholson was born in Los Angeles to actors Jack Nicholson and Rebecca Broussard. She was named after her father's aunt. She has a younger brother, Raymond, as well as two older half-siblings; a half-sister, Jennifer Nicholson and a half-brother, Caleb Goddard. She was four years old when her parents separated. In 2008, she graduated from Brentwood School in Brentwood, California. Career Nicholson's first on-screen appearance was as an extra, at the age of 13, in her father's movie Something's Gotta Give. In 2008, she provided the voice of Katie in the animated film Fly Me to the Moon. After mostly minor roles as a child actor, Nicholson landed her first major role in Soul Surfer, playing Bethany Hamilton's best friend Alana Blanchard, who was there to help her after a shark attack took her left arm. As Blanchard was a competitive surfer, Nicholson had to take a crash course in wave riding.