celebrities Updates
Today's bio:
celebrities - Lucy Lawless Lucy Lawless
Lucy Lawless (born Lucille Frances Ryan on March 29, 1968 in Auckland, New Zealand), is a Kiwi actress and singer best known for her role as Xena on the television series Xena: Warrior Princess from 1995 to 2001.
Lucy was born the fifth child of Frank and Julie Ryan. She discovered an enjoyment of acting in high school. At Auckland University, she studied foreign languages for a year. She then left for Europe with her boyfriend to travel around Germany and Switzerland. They went back and landed a job with a mining company in Australia. In 1988, Lucy and Garth Lawless were married. They returned to New Zealand and had a daughter, Daisy.
She had a guest role in 1990 on New Zealand TV series Shark in the Park, around the same time compatriot Karl Urban appeared.
Vanessa Angel was supposed to play a new character, the villainess Xena, in an en episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, but became sick and was unable to travel to New Zealand. Lucy had previously played two different characters in Hercules, so the directors chose her as a replacement (though Lucy's hair had to be dyed to distinquish her from the previous, unrelated characters). Under the 5'10 1/2" Lucy, Xena's character became popular, so she started to redeem herself and got her own her series, Xena: Warrior Princess. The show was a hit, lasting six seasons.
A testament to the popularity of Xena: Warrior Princess is that Lawless is a universally recognized celebrity even though she has not had a single great success outside of it. She was even immortalized as a character on The Simpsons (playing a super-powered, flying version of herself).
She would later be named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People magazine in 1997.
She has since appeared in the Vagina Monologues, on the first two episodes of the ninth season of The X-Files, and in the short-lived (eight episodes) television series Tarzan. She has had brief appearances in the movies Eurotrip, Spider-Man, and the horror film Boogeyman. Her next role was on TV battling bugs in her new TV-movie Locusts!.
Lucy Lawless as fleet reporter D'anna Biers on Battlestar Galactica.Recently, Lawless has taken on a recurring role on the Battlestar Galactica television series. She plays a D'anna Biers, a reporter with a secret agenda who works on a critical documentary about the crew of the Galactica (and who in secret is actually a Cylon humanoid robot that has infiltrated the ship to help bring about its destruction).
Lucy and Garth were divorced in 1995. She married the executive producer of Xena, Robert G. Tapert, in 1998. The couple had a son in 1999 named Julius Robert Bay Tapert. Lucy gave birth to her son in New Zealand. Her third child, and second with Robert Tapert, was born 2002 in New Zealand, and named Judah Miro Tapert.
Due to her character Xena's ambiguous sexuality, Lucy Lawless gained a large cult following in the lesbian community. A new term, dykon, was coined to describe her status as a gay icon. Although she is heterosexual, Lucy Lawless has enhanced this reputation by appearing at gay pride events such as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
celebrities - Mandy Moore Mandy Moore
Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American pop music singer and actress. She was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, but grew up in Seminole County, Florida, outside of Orlando. In between releasing albums, she attended Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs. She is of English, Irish and Cherokee Indian descent.
Biography
Music career
So Real album coverOn December 7, 1999, fifteen-year old Moore released her debut album So Real on Sony's Epic Records, reaching a peak of #31 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. At the time when she burst out onto the music scene, Moore was considered only as the latest installment in a quickly-growing line of heavily-marketed 'pop princesses' that included Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson. As the last (and youngest) of the four to reach mainstream radio, her success didn't match that of her peers. Still, So Real managed to be certified platinum in the US by early 2000, while her debut single, the gold-selling "Candy" just missed the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at #19. A follow-up single entitled "Walk Me Home" was later released, though it failed to achieve much success.
Moore released a re-worked version of her debut album entitled I Wanna Be With You on May 9, 2000, only six months after So Real hit stores. The album included several new songs, along with tracks from So Real, as well as a couple of remixed songs. I Wanna Be With You reached a peak of #21 on the Billboard 200 and was later certified gold in the US for selling over 500,000 copies. The title track was featured as the lead single, reaching a peak of #17 on the Hot 100 and becoming Moore's biggest hit to date. The song was also featured in the movie Center Stage.
After the endeavors of her first two albums, Moore confessed that the music style and dance routines that had so heavily affected her success were 'not hers', and that she no longer felt comfortable performing them. So, in an attempt to become more artistically 'in control' of her music and image, Moore released the self-titled Mandy Moore on June 19, 2001. Critics hailed the album as an "attempt to stake her own space", and remarked that it was one of the most real and fulfilling pop albums on the market at the time. However, this critical success unfortunately did not lead to commercial success, as the LP debuted at a disappointing #35 on the Billboard 200. It has since went on to be certified gold in the US. The lead single, "In My Pocket", was tinged with a unique Middle-Eastern sound, along with a stunning, colorful video; it failed to make a dent in the charts, however, missing the Billboard Hot 100 completely. The follow-up single, "Crush", suffered the same fate, although it received considerable airtime on MTV. The final single, "Cry", was released in early 2002 and tied-in with Moore's movie A Walk to Remember. It also failed to perform well on the charts. The album sold well in Eastern Asia, however, and the songs "17" and "Saturate Me" were both released as singles overseas.
Coverage album coverOn October 21, 2003, Moore released her fourth album, Coverage. The record consisted entirely of cover songs from the 1970s and '80s that Moore was influenced by as a child, as well as songs she recently discovered. The album peaked at #14 on the Billboard 200 (her highest ranking to date), though the only released single entitled "Have A Little Faith In Me" failed to perform well on the charts. A video was made for the song "Drop The Pilot", though it was not released as a single in the US.
In early 2004, after Moore was dropped from Sony's Epic Records, she signed with Warner Brothers Records. However, before she was done with Sony, they released the album Best Of on November 16, 2004, which included all of Moore's biggest hits from the past five years. However, due to absolutely no promotion, the album peaked at an abysmal #148 on the Billboard 200.
It has been reported that Moore has been working on a new album since June 2005, and that recording will finally end in November 2005.
Film career
In 2001, Moore ventured into Hollywood when she appeared in a small part as the mean, blonde, popular cheerleader Lana Thomas opposite Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews in the film The Princess Diaries. In the movie, Moore performs with friends Anna and Fontana. The song "Stupid Cupid" can also be found on the movie's soundtrack. Up until this point, her acting had only included the straight-to-video children's movie Magic Al and the Mind Factory and a voiceover role in Dr. Dolittle 2. In 2001, Mandy also had a small part in the Good Charlotte music video for "Little Things" in which she played a snobby mean girl, much like the character she played in The Princess Diaries.
In 2002, Moore portrayed Jamie Sullivan in her first starring role opposite Shane West in A Walk to Remember. The movie, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, revolves around the developing romance between social outcast and devout Christian, Jamie, and West as bad boy Landon Carter. The movie was considered a moderate success, bringing in $41 million and cementing Moore's status as a genuine actress. That same year, she played the role of Aeris in the Playstation 2 role-playing game, Kingdom Hearts.
Moore and her A Walk to Remember co-star, Shane WestThe soundtrack featured four songs by Moore ("Cry", "Someday We'll Know", "It's Gonna Be Love" and "Only Hope"). Awards also began rolling in for Moore, as she took home Breakthrough Female Performance at that Summer's MTV Movie Awards, as well as Choice Female Breakout Performance and Choice Chemistry (with Shane West) at the Teen Choice Awards.
In 2003, Moore starred as Halley Martin in How to Deal. Allison Janney, Peter Gallagher, Alexandra Holden, and Trent Ford also starred. Halley is a troubled teen who decides to abandon love after witnessing her parents' (Janney and Gallagher as Lydia and Len) divorce, her best friend's (Holden as Scarlett) unexpected incident, and her sister's rocky engagement. Macon (Ford) comes along and restores Halley's faith in finding happiness when in love. The movie failed to draw in the teenage crowds in the US, and grossed a total of just $14 million.
Later in 2003, Moore appeared on Punk'd, after being tricked by Ashton Kutcher for destroying someone else's home.
Moore's next attempt at a box-office hit was 2004's Chasing Liberty, which only grossed a disappointing $12 million. Later that summer, she co-starred in a supporting role in the low-budget, religious satire Saved! as Hilary Faye, the popular "good girl" at a Christian school. Although the film never received wide-release, it was critically successful and she received many positive reviews for her role.
In 2005, Moore lent her voice to the movie Racing Stripes. Upcoming films include Romance & Cigarettes, which is slated for an August 2005 release, as well as Personal Shopping.
She is gearing up for a supporting role with Dennis Quaid, William Dafoe, Hugh Grant, Seth Meyers, Jennifer Coolidge, Chris Klein and recently-added Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden for American Dreamz. Shooting completed recently, and Mandy Moore is already back to work with a supporting role in Southland Tales. Mandy has also guest-starred on Entourage in a fictional role of herself quite a few times this season. She is portrayed in the HBO series as a co-star with Vincent Chase in the film adaptation of Aquaman, which in the series is fictionally directed by guest-star James Cameron, who portrays himself.
She will also star in boyfriend Zach Braff's comedy Scrubs later this year (2005).
She also has been cast to play Diane Keaton's daughter in Because I Said So. Keaton will portray a meddling mother who tries to keep her daughter (Moore) from following in her own footsteps. One tactic she uses is to try to set her up with the perfect man. Karen Leigh Hopkins and Jessie Nelson wrote the script.
Embarassing Moment
Mandy Moore was at the 2002 MTV Video music Awards fo Asia. Apparently Mandy was suffering from throat problems. When it was time to perform her single Cry (single) Mandy voice kept cracking. Luckily her back up singer aided her through the performance.
Personal Life
Mandy Moore with brown hairMandy's father is an airline pilot, her mother is an former radio journalist. She has two brothers.
Moore has had a relationship with Scrubs actor Zach Braff since February 2005. They met at a fundraising event for the Democratic party during election time November 2004.
Moore dated actor Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) for almost two years (2000-2002). Soon after she broke up with Wilmer, Mandy started dating tennisstar Andy Roddick. Andy and Mandy were together for only 16 months, Roddick ended the relationship March 2004.
During Moore's stint as an opening act for the Backstreet Boys in their 1999 tour, many female fans in attendance booed and jeered impolitely, due to the rumors that she was dating BSB member Nick Carter (in truth, he was dating supermodel/tv host/pop singer Willa Ford, who was also nicknamed "Mandy").
Discography
Albums
1999: So Real #31 US (Platinum)
2000: I Wanna Be With You #21 US (Platinum)
2001: Mandy Moore #35 US (Platinum)
2003: Coverage #14 US (Gold)
2004: Best Of #148 US
2006: Once Moore (Post-Production)
Singles
From So Real
1999: Candy; #41 US, #6 UK, #2 AU
2000: So Real; #21 AU
2000: Walk Me Home
From I Wanna Be With You
2000: I Wanna Be With You (single); #17 US, #21 UK, #13 AU
From Mandy Moore
2001: In My Pocket; #11 AU
2001: Crush (single); #25 AU
2002: Cry (single)
From Coverage
2003: "Have A Little Faith In Me"
Other songs
2000: "Feel Me"
2001: "On The Line" featuring Backstreet Boys, Mandy Moore and others
2002: "Only Hope" from soundtrack 'A Walk to Remember'
2004: "God Only Knows" duet with Michael Stipe
2004: "Hey!" demo written by James Randle (Sire Records)
Filmography
2001: Magic Al and the Mind Factory
2001: Dr. Dolittle 2 (voice)
2001: The Princess Diaries
2002: A Walk to Remember
2002: Kingdom Hearts (voice)
2002: Try Seventeen (a.k.a. All I Want)
2003: How to Deal (filmed in Toronto, June-July-August 2002, released July 2003)
2004: Chasing Liberty (filmed in LA and Europe, May-June-July 2003, released January 2004)
2004: Saved! (filmed in August-September 2003, released April 2004)
2005: Racing Stripes (voice)
2005: Romance & Cigarettes (supporting role, filmed in New York area March-April-May 2004, completed June 2004, currently unreleased)
2006: American Dreamz (supporting role, filmed in June-August 2005, post-production)
2006: Southland Tales (supporting role, filmed in September 2005, post-production)
2006: Brother Bear 2(Voice) (filming)
2006: Personal Shopping (pre-production)
2006: Because I Said So (filming begins November 2005)
Trivia
Her favorite actress is Bette Midler.
Her favorite movie is Beaches.
Her favorite artists are Elton John, Janet Jackson, Madonna and Bette Midler.
Her favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.
In 2000, Play Along Toys released a Mandy Moore Doll.
In March 2002, Moore was featured in Elton John's video for "Original Sin". She was criticized for wearing a bikini top and hot pants in the video.
She recorded Elton's song "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" for Coverage.
In 2002 she gave a voice to beloved Final Fantasy VII character Aerith Gainsborough in the Square Enix-Disney crossover video game Kingdom Hearts. Coincidentally, Maaya Sakamoto, Aerith's seiyuu in the original Japanese version of the game is also a singer.
In 2003, Moore frequently appeared in episodes of the MTV reality show The Osbournes as she became friends of short duration with Jack Osbourne. Jack accompanied her to a tattoo shop where Moore got a tattoo on her toe.
She hosted a short-lived MTV talk show.
She's made a list with things to do or achieve before she turns 30. Number 10: learning how to cook.
Early in her career, it was reported in British newspapers that she was a relative of the British actor Ian Lavender, who played Private Pike in the sitcom Dad's Army.
Moore was a Neutrogena spokesperson, appearing in commercials as well as print ads for the product.
In 2005, Moore designed a few tee-shirts with Mblem for charity.
Models for Coach handbags in Japan.
Models for clothing brand Penshoppe in the Philippines.
In August 2005, she dyed her hair blonde and got hair extensions for her roles in both American Dreamz and Southland Tales.
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As many as 10,000 south Mississippi children will be helped this Christmas by the Salvation Army. Some of the people who are helping those children braved Tuesday's chilly morning wind to ring bells and collect holiday donations. The celebrity angels sang carols, and rang Salvation Army bells.
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A Great female celebrities Resource.
Today's bio:
female celebrities - Katherine Heigl Katherine Heigl
Katherine Marie Heigl (b. November 24, 1978) is an American actress, best known for her roles on the TV series Roswell and Grey's Anatomy.
Early life
Heigl was born in Washington, D.C. to parents Nancy and Paul, of Irish and German descent; she was raised a Mormon. The family moved to New Canaan, Connecticut a short time later. Tragedy struck her family when her older brother Jason died in 1986 of brain injuries suffered in a car accident. He had been thrown from the back of a pickup truck, and doctors determined Jason was brain-dead. Despite their grief, the family decided to donate his organs. This has motivated Katherine to become a strong proponent of organ donation.
Career
When she was nine years old, an aunt visiting the family decided to take a number of photographs of the young Heigl. After returning to her home in New York, the aunt sent the photos to a number of modelling agencies, all with the permission of Katherine's parents. Within a few weeks, Heigl had been signed as a child model.
Almost immediately, a client slated her for use in a magazine advertisement. Television jobs soon followed, the first in a national spot for Cheerios breakfast cereal. It was not long until she landed her first big-screen debut in the 1992 movie That Night. After meeting such fast success and enjoying her new-found career, she realized that acting was her passion.
Heigl then appeared as Christina Sebastian in Steven Soderbergh's Depression-era drama King of the Hill before landing her first leading role as Nicole in the 1994 comedy My Father The Hero. During this time, Heigl continued to attend New Canaan High School, balancing her film and modeling work with her academic studies.
She then played opposite Steven Seagal in the role of Sarah Ryback in in 1995 action thriller Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. Despite an increased focus on acting, she still modeled extensively, appearing regularly in magazines such as Seventeen. She took the lead role in Disney's Wish Upon a Star in 1996. It was also in 1996 that Heigl's parents divorced. After her high school graduation in 1997, she and her mother moved into a 4-bedroom house in Malibu Canyon, Los Angeles. Heigl's mother then became her manager.
In 1998 she co-starred with Peter Fonda in a re-working of the classic Shakespearian play The Tempest, set during the American Civil War. Later in 1998 Heigl was featured in the 1998 films Bug Buster and Bride of Chucky. In 1999, Heigl turned her attention to television when she accepted the role of Isabel Evans on the science fiction TV drama Roswell, a modest role that was expanded in the show's second and third seasons.
To publicize her role on Roswell, she appeared on the covers of magazines such as TV Guide, Maxim, and Teen as well as appearing in FHM. She later appeared in the FHM and Maxim calendars and FHM's annual 100 sexiest women in the world. While Roswell was in production, Heigl worked on several films, including, 100 Girls, an independent 2001 film in which she played competitive tomboy Arlene, and Valentine, a horror film starring David Boreanaz and Denise Richards in which she played medical student Shelley Fisher.
In the spring of 2001, Heigl accepted a role in Ground Zero, a television thriller scheduled to be telecast that fall, which was based on the bestselling novel, The Seventh Power, by James Mills. She co-starred as a brilliant and politically-concerned college student who helps to build a nuclear device to illustrate the need for a change in national priorities, but which ends up in the hands of a terrorist following betrayal by a fellow student. After September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, however, the film was shelved when its plot was considered too inappropriate, and it re-emerged in 2003 under the title Critical Assembly. After the terrorist attacks, Heigl recorded a passionate public service announcement for the American Red Cross in an effort to help raise money for victims.
In early 2003, Heigl returned to the horror genre with Evil Never Dies, a modern-day variation on the Frankenstein story co-starring Thomas Gibson. She played the role of Eve, the professor's assistant whose intentions are unclear. Love Comes Softly, a telefilm for Hallmark Entertainment in 2003, found Heigl starring in the role of Marty Claridge, a young, pregnant newlywed travelling west. In October 2003, Heigl was cast opposite Johnny Knoxville, as the leading lady in The Ringer, a Farrelly brothers comedy that was later released in December 2005. Heigl was then cast as Isabella Linton in MTV's modern revamp of Emily Brontë's classic novel Wuthering Heights.
Heigl was cast in the role of Romy in the 2005 movie Romy and Michele: In The Beginning, a prequel to the 1997 movie, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. Heigl is currently starring in Grey's Anatomy, a medical drama on ABC.
Personal life
Heigl had dated her former Roswell co-star, Jason Behr, for several years. However, in interviews such as in the November 2004 FHM, she indicated that the relationship had come to an end. She also told FHM she did not lose her virginity until she was 22.
Credits
Grey's Anatomy (TV) 2005
Romy & Michele: In The Beginning (TV) 2005
Love's Enduring Promise (TV) 2004
Wuthering Heights (TV) 2003
Evil Never Dies (TV) 2003
Descendant 2003
Love Comes Softly (TV) 2003
The Twilight Zone (TV) 2002
Critical Assembly (Ground Zero) (TV) 2001
Valentine 2001
100 Girls 2000
Roswell (TV) 1999
The Tempest (TV) 1998
Bride Of Chucky 1998
Bug Buster 1998
Stand-Ins 1997
Prince Valiant 1997
Wish Upon A Star 1996
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory 1995
My Father The Hero 1994
King Of The Hill 1993
That Night 1992
female celebrities - Katie Holmes Katie Holmes
Kate Noelle "Katie" Holmes (born December 18, 1978) is an American actress from Ohio best known for her role as Joey Potter, the tomboy down the titular waterway on The WB television drama Dawson's Creek. Only her second role, Dawson's Creek made Holmes a star, praised by critics and adored by fans. Holmes' movie roles have ranged from art house films such as Pieces of April to thrillers such as Abandon, but she has not found the same success in films as she did on television.
In June 2005, she became engaged to the actor Tom Cruise, which made her the center of international press attention, much of it negative, claiming firstly the relationship was a publicity stunt and later speculating Cruise had brainwashed the actress into marriage and joining the Church of Scientology.
Early life and career
Holmes, born in Toledo, Ohio, is the youngest of the five children (four daughters, one son) of Martin J. Holmes, Sr., an attorney, and Kathleen Holmes. She lived in Sylvania Township and attended Catholic schools in Toledo, attending high school at the all-female Notre Dame Academy. While in high school, she went with her mother to Los Angeles to audition for pilots for television shows. She did not land a television role, but was cast as the character Libbets Casey in the film The Ice Storm (1997), directed by Ang Lee and starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver.
She returned to Toledo but her audition tapes continued to circulate. One reached the producers of a new show created by Kevin Williamson for Columbia Tri-Star Television: Dawson's Creek. Her appointment to read for it was unknowingly set by the producers for the same day as her high school production of Damn Yankees (she was playing Lola), but they permitted her to send a videotape rather than make her miss the show. Holmes read for the part of Joey, the tomboyish best friend of the title character, while her mother read Dawson's lines, including dialogue about sex and masturbation. Holmes won the part. Williamson said "She had those eyes, those eyes just stained with loneliness."
Dawson's Creek
Katie Holmes as Joey Potter in the TV series Dawsons Creek."Im a lot like Joey," she said. "I think they saw that. I come from a small town. I was a tomboy. Joey tries to be articulate and deny that she doesnt have a lot of experience in life. Her life parallels mine, which is all about new everything--relationships, personnel, perceptions—and about being guarded." Dawsons Creek filmed its first season in the spring and summer of 1997. Holmes moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, where the show filmed, and for a time lived with creator Williamson.
At 59" (some sources say 57"), the tall brunette enchanted the press. "The Audrey Hepburn of her generation," was one typical comment. Variety, reviewing the pilot, said Holmes "is a confident young performer who delivers her lines with slyness and conviction." So good was Holmes that The New York Times Magazine would claim everyone in Hollywood was looking for the "Katie Holmes type" when casting shows. "The Katie Holmes type," the reporter claimed, "is a throwback to the 1950s: she is a smart girl next door (as opposed to the babe-o-rama blondes)"--the sort represented by her Dawsons Creek co-star Michelle Williams. But her "type" was no less attractive, Arena magazine declaring her "the most coquettishly sexy woman on television. Anywhere."
Dawsons Creek ran from 1998 to 2003 and Holmes was the only actor to appear in all 128 episodes. "It was very difficult for me to leave Wilmington, to have my little glass bubble burst and move on. I hate change. On the other hand it was refreshing to play someone else," she said in 2004. Holmes confirmed that, as is often the case on soaps, the character is a caricature of the actor:
I miss her spirit, and her spunk, and I miss her anxiety. She always had these long speeches about her fears and her future and love. It was a great tool for me personally because I got to get it all out. I was able to psychoanalyze all of it everyday with her and then I wouldnt have to do it on my own. So much of me is in Joey and it really felt like I grew up on television.
Film career
Holmes in 2005 characterized her film career as being a string of "bombs". "Usually Im not even in the top ten," she said, the highest grossing film of her career at that time being Phone Booth.
Her big break came when she had a role in the movie The Ice Storm (1997) she starred in a part opposite Tobey Maguire. Her first leading role came in Disturbing Behavior (1998), a Stepford Wives-goes-to-high school thriller where she was a loner from the wrong side of the tracks. Holmes won a MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance for the role, though Holmes said the film was "just horrible". Next she was a disaffected supermarket clerk in Doug Limans stylish ensemble piece Go (1999). She had an uncredited cameo with Dawsons Creek co-star Joshua Jackson in Muppets From Space (1999), which was also filmed in Wilmington. Kevin Williamsons disaffection for his own high school days spawned Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), which he wrote and directed. Holmes played a straight-A student whose vindictive teacher (Helen Mirren) threatens to keep her from a desperately needed scholarship.
Katie Holmes on the Pieces of April DVD cover.In the academic world of Wonder Boys (2000), the witty and intelligent film version of the Michael Chabon novel, she had only a small role (six and one-half minutes of screen time). Even so, she attracted the attention of numerous film critics with her performance as Hannah Green, the talented creative writing student of pot-puffing Pittsburgh professor and one-hit novelist Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas). Hannah, who is smitten with Grady, is a boarder in his house. In a memorable scene, she offers a critique of his huge, unwieldy 2,611-page second novel, commenting, "Even though your book is really beautiful, its... very detailed. You know, with the genealogies of everyones horses, and the dental records, and so on. I could be wrong, but it sort of reads in places like you didnt make any choices." For Holmes, this role was the right choice, since it became a turning point in her career, demonstrating she could create a film character with depth and dimension when given a sophisticated screenplay.
In The Gift (2000), a Southern Gothic story directed by Sam Raimi and starring Cate Blanchett, she played the antithesis of Joey Potter: a slutty rich girl carrying on with everyone in town, from a white trash wife-beater (Keanu Reeves) to the district attorney (Gary Cole), and who winds up dead for her trouble. Holmes did her first nude scene for the film, baring her breasts in a scene where her character was about to be murdered. Of the scene, she said, "I just hope there arent a lot of pauses on DVD players." Her appearance deshabille was lamented by Varietys Steven Kloter: "It seems the only time we see a naked woman on screen is when someone like Katie Holmes needs to break with her sanitized WB past and march brazenly into a new future."
In Abandon (2002), written by Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan, Holmes was a delusional and homicidal college student named "Katie." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times commended Holmes performance and the films intelligence, but other critics and audiences savaged it[1]. Holmes was the mistress of the public relations flack played by Colin Farrell in Phone Booth (2002) and Robert Downey, Jr.s nurse in The Singing Detective (2003). Her next starring role was in Pieces of April (2003), a gritty comedy about a dysfunctional family on Thanksgiving. Variety said it was "one of her best film performances."
Holmes played the Presidents daughter in First Daughter, which was originally to be released in January 2004 on the same day as Chasing Liberty, the Mandy Moore film about a presidential daughter, but was ultimately released in September 2004 to dismal reviews and ticket sales. First Daughter, directed by Forest Whitaker, also starred Michael Keaton as Holmes father and Marc Blucas as her love interest. The Hollywood Reporters Kirk Honeycutt called Holmes character, Samantha Mackenzie, "a startling example of how a studio film can dumb down and neutralize the comic abilities of a lively young star."
In 2005, Holmes played Rachel Dawes, the love interest of the title character in Batman Begins.
Forthcoming roles
Entertainment Weekly reported in its December 17, 2004 issue that Holmes was to play the murdered wife of Spade Cooley in a biopic written and directed by Dennis Quaid, who is to play Cooley. Also forthcoming is an adaptation of Christopher Buckleys satirical novel Thank You For Smoking about a tobacco lobbyist played by Aaron Eckhart. The film is directed by Jason Reitman and Holmes plays a Washington reporter who seduces Eckhart.
Guest appearances and endorsements
Katie Holmes in an advertisement for The Gap.Holmes hosted Saturday Night Live on February 24, 2001, participating in a send-up of Dawsons Creek where she falls madly in love with Chris Kattans Mr. Peepers character and singing "Hey, Big Spender" from Sweet Charity. Holmes was annually named by FHM magazine as one of the sexiest women in the world from 1999 forward and was named one of Peoples "50 Most Beautiful People" in its May 12, 2003 issue. Teen People declared her one of the "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" in its June/July 2003 issue. She has appeared in advertisements for Garnier Lumia shampoos and The Gap.
Personal life
Holmes dated her Dawsons Creek co-star Joshua Jackson for several months, the relationship ending amicably. Holmes met actor Chris Klein in 2000. A Midwesterner like Holmes, Klein and Holmes were engaged in 2004, but in early 2005 Holmes and Klein broke off their engagement. Press accounts cited the distance imposed by their careers as a factor. In April 2005, about two months after her relationship with Klein ended, Holmes began dating actor Tom Cruise. They revealed their relationship at the Venice Film Festival. Holmes, a Catholic, joined the Church of Scientology as a result of Cruise, a longtime and vocal member. After weeks of dating, Cruise proposed to Holmes in the early morning of June 17, 2005 atop Pariss Eiffel Tower and she accepted. Holmess father has been quoted in the press saying favorable things about Cruise while admitting he had not met the actor.
Speculation was rampant in the press that the very public affair and engagement were merely designed to promote their upcoming movies, War of the Worlds and Batman Begins. A poll in People found that 62 per cent of readers believed the Cruise-Holmes affair was merely a publicity stunt. Even the staid New York Times expressed doubts, publishing an article headlined "I Love You With All My Hype." Articles doubting the actors sincerity noted that Cruise has been extremely private about his personal life and the flaunting of his new relationship was a marked contrast from his past behavior. The weak box office performance of Cruises most recent films and the series of "bombs" (her word) Holmes has appeared in was also cited.
Concern has also been voiced about Holmes and her relationship to Scientology. Roger Friedman of the Fox News Channel claimed that Katie Holmes disappeared for sixteen days in April when even her own family did not know where she was. Allegedly, the last time she had been seen, Holmes had flown to meet with Tom Cruise for a possible role in Mission Impossible 3. When she re-appeared, Holmes stated she was in love with Tom Cruise and studying Scientology. The actress then fired her long-time manager and agent and acquired a new "best friend," Jessica Feshbach, a prominent member of the Church of Scientology described as part of its "royalty". Feshbach has been referred to as Holmes Scientology "minder" as she follows the actress everywhere (including the bathroom) and openly tells Holmes what to say during interviews . The reports have led to claims Holmes has been coerced or brainwashed into marrying Cruise and promoting Scientology. Fans of the actress have established a web-site, Free Katie, promoting this theory, the site claiming to be "devoted to rescuing sweet Katie from the clutches of the mad scientologist Tom Cruise!"
On October 5, 2005, People magazine broke the news Holmes is pregnant, quoting Cruises sister and publicist. The child will be Holmess first and Cruises first biological child. (He has two adopted children, Connor, 10, and Isabella, 12, from his marriage to Nicole Kidman.) Holmes had previously claimed she would remain a virgin until she wed.
Filmography
2005 Thank You For Smoking Heather Holloway Awaiting release
2005 Batman Begins Rachel Dawes
2004 First Daughter Samantha Mackenzie
2003 Pieces of April April Burns
2003 The Singing Detective Nurse Mills
2003 Phone Booth Pamela McFadden
2002 Abandon Katie Burke
2000 The Gift Jessica King
2000 Wonder Boys Hannah Green
1999 Teaching Mrs. Tingle Leigh Ann Watson First starring role
1999 Muppets From Space Joey Potter Uncredited cameo
1999 Go Claire Montgomery
1998 Disturbing Behavior Rachel Wagner
1997 The Ice Storm Libbets Casey First professional role
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hot celebrities bio
hot celebrities - Kate Beckinsale Kate Beckinsale
Kate Beckinsale (born July 26, 1973 in London, England) is an English actress.
Early life
She is the daughter of Judy Loe (a stage actress) and the late Richard Beckinsale, a well-known television actor who died in 1979, at the age of 31. Kate's paternal great-grandfather was Burmese.
Beckinsale she won first prizes in several young writing competitions. After finishing school in London, she followed in the footsteps of her parents and began her acting career. Her first role was in One Against the Wind, a television film about World War II that was first aired in 1991. Beckinsale then began studying German, French and Russian at New College, Oxford University, though she did not complete her studies. She felt that a general university background would be better for her than attending a school of performing arts.
Film career
During her first year at Oxford, Beckinsale was offered a part in Kenneth Branagh's big-screen film, Much Ado About Nothing, adapted from the Shakespeare play. She spent her last year of studies in Paris, after which she decided to quit university and concentrate on her acting career. She subsequently appeared in a few notable but low-profile films, including Cold Comfort Farm (1995) and The Last Days of Disco (1998). She also appeared in television films and in stage roles.
Her first major American film, Brokedown Palace (1999), was a not a commercial success. Soon after, Beckinsale was cast in the 2001 film Pearl Habor, which was one of the highest grossing films of its year. In the years following, she appeared in a series of American films that were high-profile but were given a poor critical reception, including Serendipity (2001), Underworld (2003) and Van Helsing (2004).
Beckinsale was selected by Hello Magazine as England's #1 Beauty of 2002.
Private life
Beckinsale and Welsh actor Michael Sheen have a daughter, Lily, but they are no longer together. In June 2003, she became engaged to the director of Underworld, Len Wiseman, and the two were wed in May 2004 in Bel-Air, California.
Beckinsale speaks Russian.
Selected Filmography
Beckinsale in UnderworldClick (2006)
Underworld: Evolution (2006)
The Aviator (2004)
Van Helsing (2004)
Underworld (2003)
Laurel Canyon (2003)
Serendipity (2001)
Pearl Harbor (2001)
The Golden Bowl (2001)
Brokedown Palace (1999)
The Last Days of Disco (1998)
Shooting Fish (1998)
Cold Comfort Farm (1995)
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
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