Auden Thornton is an American actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she is the eldest daughter of Shauna Lee Maher Thornton, an elementary school teacher, and Michael Lawrence Thornton, a private practice lawyer. She has three younger sisters, Leydon, Loren, and Evan Leigh. Drawn to acting from a young age, she grew up performing in plays at St. John's School, where her mother taught and she attended, as well as at the Tony Award winning regional theater, The Alley, where she was fortunate to find a mentor in resident company actor Todd Waite. While in Houston, she was cast at the age of nine in the film Arlington Road, starring Jeff Bridges, Joan Cusack, and Tim Robbins, and directed by Mark Pellington, which shot there. In high school she left Texas to attend Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan for her Junior and Senior year. After graduating she went on to study acting at Juilliard in New York City. In 2017 she won a special jury prize for Best Actress: Breakout Performance for her role in Beauty Mark from the Los Angeles Film Festival.