Selma Blair Beitner (born June 23, 1972) is an American actress.

She played a number of roles in films and on television before obtaining recognition for her leading role in the film Brown's Requiem (1998).

At the age of 20 she moved to New York City, where she lived at The Salvation Army.

She attended New York University (NYU), as well as acting classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory, the Column Theatre, and the Stonestreet Screen Acting Workshop.

In 1990, during her time at Cranbrook Kingswood, Blair was involved in a production of T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral.

She considered it a failure, but her English teacher told her not to give up; that was the first time she thought she could be an actress.

In 1993, she began training at acting schools in New York. An agent discovered her in an acting class, and Blair subsequently signed with her.

Blair began auditioning in the mid-1990s. Her first audition was for a cereal commercial.

She won her first professional role in 1995 in an episode of the children's television sitcom The Adventures of Pete & Pete, where she portrayed the love interest of the main character, Big Pete