MARISA TOMEI

 INTRO:

Marisa Tomei (born December 4, 1964) is an American stage, film and television actress. Following her work on As The World Turns, Tomei came to prominence as a supporting cast member on The Cosby Show spinoff A Different World in 1987. After appearing in a few films, her breakthrough came in 1992 with the comedy My Cousin Vinny, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Appearing in many films over the past fifteen years, her most commercially successful films to date are What Women Want (2000), Anger Management (2003), and Wild Hogs (2007). She received critical acclaim for her performances in Unhook the Stars (1996), Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) and received subsequent Academy Award nominations for her performances in In the Bedroom (2001) and The Wrestler (2008).

EARLY LIFE:

Tomei, an Italian American, was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Patricia Adelaide "Addie" , an English teacher, and Gary A. Tomei, a trial lawyer. She has a younger brother, actor Adam Tomei, and was partly raised by her paternal grandparents, Rita and Romeo Tomei. Tomei grew up in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. While there, she became captivated by the Broadway shows that her theater-loving parents took her to, and became drawn to acting as a career. At Andries Hudde Junior High School, she played the part of Hedy LaRue in a school production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Graduating from Edward R. Murrow High School in 1982, she attended Boston University for a year.

Tomei followed up As the World Turns, in 1986, with a role on the sitcom A Different World as Maggie Lauten during the first season. Her film debut was a minor role in the 1984 comedy film The Flamingo Kid, with Matt Dillon. Following several small films, her breakthrough comedic performance came in My Cousin Vinny (1992), where she received critical praise for her performance. Critic Vincent Canby wrote, "Ms. Tomei gives every indication of being a fine comedian, whether towering over Mr. Pesci and trying to look small, or arguing about a leaky faucet in terms that demonstrate her knowledge of plumbing. Mona Lisa is also a first-rate auto mechanic, which comes in handy in the untying of the knotted story. For her performance, Tomei was named Best Supporting Actress at the 1993 Academy Awards, prevailing over Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, Vanessa Redgrave and Judy Davis. American film critic Rex Reed created controversy (and a minor Hollywood myth) when he suggested that Jack Palance had announced the wrong name after opening the envelope. While this allegation was repeatedly disproved– even the Academy officially denied it – Tomei called the story "extremely hurtful." A Price Waterhouse accountant explained that if such an event had occurred, "we have an agreement with the Academy that one of us would step on stage, introduce ourselves, and say the presenter misspoke."

After her Oscar win, Tomei appeared as silent film star Mabel Normand in the film Chaplin, with her then-boyfriend Robert Downey Jr. as the title character. The following year she starred in the romantic drama Untamed Heart with Christian Slater where they won the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss. Tomei had won the previous year for Best Breakthrough Performance for My Cousin Vinny. The following year Tomei appeared alongside Downey again in the romantic comedy Only You. She then appeared in Nick Cassavetes's Unhook the Stars opposite Gena Rowlands. Of Tomei's performance, The New York Times wrote, "Ms. Tomei is equally fine as Mildred's younger, hot-tempered neighbor, whose raw working-class feistiness and bluntly profane vocabulary initially repel the genteel older woman." She received her first Screen Actor's Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Female Supporting Actor for her performance. In 1998, she received an American Comedy Award nomination for Funniest Supporting Actress for Tamara Jenkins's cult film Slums of Beverly Hills, in which she appeared alongside Natasha Lyonne and Alan Arkin. The independent film was well received by critics and the public. The New York Times writes, "Jenkins makes the most of an especially ingratiating cast, with Ms. Tomei very charming and funny as Rita while another critic states Tomei is "spunky and sexy, . . . more subdued than she usually is."Tomei spent several years away from high-profile roles and major motion pictures in the late 1990s, before rising again to prominence in the early 2000s. Tomei appeared in the 2000 film What Women Want with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, which was a commercial success, and had a supporting role in the romantic comedy Someone Like You with Hugh Jackman and Ashley Judd.

In 2001, Tomei appeared in Todd Field's Best Picture nominee In the Bedroom opposite Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson, earning several awards including a ShoWest Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2002. Variety wrote, "Tomei is winning in what is surely her most naturalistic and unaffected performance," while The New York Times writer Stephen Holden exclaimed, "Ms. Tomei's ruined, sorrowful Natalie is easily her finest screen role.In the Bedroom earned Tomei a second Academy Award nomination and her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Tomei also shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast. In 2002 she appeared in the Bollywood-inspired film The Guru and voiced the role of Bree Blackburn, the main antagonist in the animated feature film The Wild Thornberrys Movie.

During the latter part of the 1990s Tomei made several television appearances. In 1996, she made a guest appearance on the sitcom Seinfeld, playing herself in the two-part episode "The Cadillac." In the episode, George attempts to get a date with her through a friend of Elaine's. She also made an appearance on The Simpsons as movie star Sara Sloane, who falls in love with Ned Flanders. Former Saturday Night Live cast member Jay Mohr wrote in his book Gasping for Airtime that, as guest host in October 1994, Tomei insisted that a proposed sketch (Good Morning Brooklyn) not be used because she did not like the idea of being stereotyped; that stand displeased the writers and performers, given the show's penchant for satirizing celebrities.

In 2003, Tomei appeared in one of her biggest commercial hits, Anger Management. The following year, she appeared in the film Alfie based on the 1966 British film of the same name, opposite Jude Law. In 2005, she was featured in an ad campaign for Hanes with the slogan "Look who we've got our Hanes on now", featuring various other celebrities including Michael Jordan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Damon Wayans, Matthew Perry and, on Spanish-language advertising, Aracely Arámbula and Pablo Montero. In 2006, Tomei had a recurring role on Rescue Me, playing Johnny Gavin's ex-wife Angie. She won a Gracie Allen Award for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work in the four episodes she appeared in. The following year she appeared in the comedy Wild Hogs alongside John Travolta, Tim Allen, William H. Macy and Martin Lawrence. The film was the 13th highest-grossing movie of 2007 ($168,273,550 domestic box office). She also starred in the Sidney Lumet-directed Before the Devil Knows You're Dead opposite co-stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke. The film was released to critical acclaim.

In 2008, Tomei played Cassidy/Pam, a struggling stripper in the Darren Aronofsky independent film The Wrestler opposite Mickey Rourke. She appeared in several nude scenes performing dance numbers in the film, on working with Tomei, director Aronofsky said, "This role shows how courageous and brave Marisa is. And ultimately she's really sexy. We knew nudity was a big part of the picture, and she wanted to be that exposed and vulnerable." Numerous critics heralded this performance as a standout in her career, The Hollywood Reporter states, "Tomei delivers one of her most arresting performances, again without any trace of vanity."Ty Burr of The Boston Globe writes, "Tomei gives a brave and scrupulously honest performance, one that's most naked when Pam has her clothes on." Variety exclaimed, "Tomei is in top, emotionally forthright form as she charts a life passage similar to Ram's." For her performance she was nominated for her first BAFTA, second Golden Globe and third Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Tomei was included at #18 on the FHM annual list of "100 Sexiest Females in the world" in 2009. The following year she appeared in two films, the first a comedy-drama, Cyrus and a cameo in the comedy film, Grown Ups. Tomei hosted the 2011 Scientific and Technical Awards, which was followed by an appearance at the 83rd Academy Awards. She starred alongside Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Phillippe in the mystery suspense film, The Lincoln Lawyer. She also appeared in Salvation Boulevard with Jennifer Connelly, Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Tomei's 2011 films included Crazy, Stupid, Love., with Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, and Emma Stone, and the George Clooney film, The Ides of March, with Clooney, Ryan Gosling, and Paul Giamatti. She is in talks to star alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in the indie comedy, Married and Cheating. In an interview, Lady Gaga stated that she would want Tomei to portray her in a film about the singer, Tomei responded saying, "I was thrilled when I heard. I love her. I love her music. And she's a smart businesswoman. So I was so touched, really. I think it's incredible that she likes my work and that she'd think of me."

Tomei was featured in the second episode of the third season on NBC's, Who Do You Think You Are?, on February 10, 2012. In the episode, she travelled to the Tuscany region of Italy and the island of Elba to uncover the truth about the 100-year-old murder of her great-grandfather, Francesco Leopoldo Bianci, on her mother's side of the family.

INNER LIFE:

Tomei is the recipient of an honorary degree from Boston University.

HEATHER GRAHAM

 INTRO:

Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. Graham received critical acclaim for her performance in the 1989 film Drugstore Cowboy and for her role as Rollergirl in 1997's Boogie Nights, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

EARLY LIFE:

Heather Graham was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the older of two children. Her family is of "three quarters Irish" descent, with her father's side from County Cork. Her younger sister, Aimee Graham, is also an actress and writer. Their mother, Joan , is a teacher and author of children's books. Their father, James Graham, is a retired FBI agent. The girls were raised with traditional Catholic values. Her family relocated repeatedly before settling down in Agoura Hills, California when she was nine years old. She was introduced to acting during a school production of The Wizard of Oz. Graham graduated from Agoura High School in California in 1988.

After high school, Graham enrolled in extension classes of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and studied English for two years. There she met actor James Woods. They became romantically involved during filming of the movie Diggstown, where Woods had landed the starring role and Graham a featured role. After two years Graham withdrew from UCLA to pursue acting full time, despite her parents' objections.

CAREER:

Her first film appearance was an uncredited cameo in Mrs. Soffel (1984). Her second film appearance was in the television film Student Exchange. In 1986, she appeared on a special "Teen Week" episode of the NBC-TV game show Scrabble. Then she appeared in numerous television commercials, and the sitcom Growing Pains in 1987. In the 1988 teen comedy License to Drive, she co-starred with Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. Her strict parents forbade her to appear in the black comedy, Heathers, which had an expletive-rich script.

Graham was cast in a number of parts as a supporting actress including the part of Nadine in the 1989 film Drugstore Cowboy. In 1991, she appeared in the TV series Twin Peaks as Annie Blackburn, Dale Cooper's second-season love interest. Many became familiar with her for these two roles. She appeared in a brief but important role in the 1996 hit Swingers. Her breakthrough role proved to be that of the porn starlet "Roller Girl" in 1997's Boogie Nights, in which she appeared in scenes with frontal nudity and received several award nominations. Since then, Graham has been known as a Hollywood sex symbol. She has been part of two ensemble casts that have earned Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast (Boogie Nights and Bobby).
Her first starring role was in 1999 as Felicity Shagwell in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. She appeared in the music video for Lenny Kravitz's cover of "American Woman". Also in 1999, she appeared in the movie Bowfinger.

Graham has taken roles in mainstream films, including Mary Kelly in the 2001 film From Hell, based on the story of Jack the Ripper, and Judy Robinson in 1998's film Lost In Space, and she has also been cast in a number of independent films. Some of those films, like 2006's Bobby, have brought her critical praise. She also starred in the erotic thriller Killing Me Softly.

Graham played herself on one episode of the TV series Sex and the City. In 2003, she appeared in the comedy Anger Management. She was given special guest-star status on nine episodes of NBC-TV's Scrubs during its fourth season (2004–2005), and also appeared as George Michael Bluth's ethics teacher in an episode of Fox's television series, Arrested Development. In 2005, Graham became the spokeswoman and TV model for the Garnier brand of hair care products. In 2003, she also posed for a photoshoot by photographer Sam Jones, during which she was levitated several feet into the air by a magician, who later also sawed her in half. Also in 2003, Graham appeared on the cover of Time magazine for an article titled "The Science of Meditation", indicating that Graham has been practicing Transcendental Meditation since 1991. In 2001, Graham was named by People Magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People". Graham voiced the character of Antonia Bayle in the online role-playing game EverQuest 2.

Graham starred in the US ABC-TV comedy series Emily's Reasons Why Not, in 2006. However, ABC canceled the show after its first airing on January 9, 2006. Graham had posed for a Life Magazine cover story, printed weeks in advance of the assumed series schedule, referring to her as "TV's sexiest star" which appeared two weeks later in their January 27, 2006 issue.

In 2009, she played the stripper Jade in The Hangover. The film was released to critical and box office success. Her most recent film was family comedy Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summe

INNER LIFE:

Graham is a public advocate for Children International. She also supported the climate change campaign Global Cool in 2007.

ELIZA DUSHKU

 INTRO:

Eliza Patricia Dushku (born December 30, 1980) is an American actress known for her television roles, including recurring appearances as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel. She starred in two Fox series, Tru Calling and Dollhouse. She is also known for her role in films including True Lies, The New Guy, Bring It On, Wrong Turn and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, as well as her voice work on video games.

EARLY LIFE:

Dushku was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, the daughter of Philip R. Dushku, an administrator and teacher in the Boston Public Schools, and Judith "Judy" , a political science professor. Dushku's father is Albanian and her mother is of Danish and English descent.Dushku attended Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, and graduated from Watertown High School. She was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the faith of her mother, though she is not practicing. She has three older brothers: Aaron, Benjamin (Ben), and Nathaniel (Nate). Her parents divorced when she was an infant.

 CAREER:

Dushku came to the attention of casting agents when she was 10. She was chosen in a five month search for the lead role of Alice in the film That Night. In 1993, Dushku landed a role as Pearl alongside Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in This Boy's Life, a role that she said opened a lot of doors. The following year, she played the teenage daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies. She had parts as Paul Reiser's daughter in Bye Bye Love, as Cindy Johnson in Race the Sun, and roles in a television movie and a short film.

Dushku took time off from acting to finish her junior and senior years of high school. She was accepted to the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and Suffolk University in Boston, where her mother serves as professor of government and previously served as dean of the campus in Dakar, Senegal.

After completing high school, Dushku returned to acting with the role of Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a Slayer much more troubled than the main character Buffy Summers. Though initially planned as a five episode role, the character became so popular that she stayed on for the whole third season and returned for a two-part appearance in season four, after which the remainder of her original story arc was played out as part of the first season of the Buffy spin-off series Angel. Repentant and rededicated, Faith returned as a heroine in other episodes of Angel and in the last five episodes of Buffy. Dushku was inundated with piles of fan mail from legions of prisoners. She said:

    I've been getting fan mail from maximum security penitentiaries and death row. What are the authorities thinking of in playing a show with young teenage girls to Death Row inmates? They write everything – disgusting things that you don't even want to know about. And they send me pictures – "Oh, here's a picture of me before I was incarcerated!" – and there's some guy sat on the sofa with a bottle of beer and a moustache, and a big gut. It's so creepy. Way more creepy than Buffy.

In 2000, Dushku starred in the hit cheerleader comedy Bring It On. She followed that up with Soul Survivors, reuniting her with Race The Sun co-star Casey Affleck. One reviewer described the film as "84 minutes of everyone's wasted time". In 2001, she appeared in The New Guy with DJ Qualls and City by the Sea with Robert De Niro and James Franco. The latter film garnered attention from a wider adult audience and several good reviews. The same year, Kevin Smith invited Dushku to be a part of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

In 2003, Dushku starred the horror film Wrong Turn, and The Kiss, an independent comedy-drama. Starting that same year, she starred in a new Fox TV series, Tru Calling, where she played the main character, medical student Tru Davies. After having a grant pulled out from under her, Tru is forced to take a job at a local morgue where she discovers her power to "re-live" the previous day over again if one of the deceased asks for her help to change what has happened. Dushku turned down a role in a spin-off of Buffy The Vampire Slayer which would have been about Faith. She has had many roles as a "bad girl" in movies and relishes the opportunities. In an interview with Maxim in May 2001, Dushku says of her roles, "It's easy to play a bad girl: You just do everything you've been told not to do, and you don't have to deal with the consequences, because it's only acting."

Dushku starred in an Off-Broadway production entitled Dog Sees God from December 2005, playing "Van's sister", a character paralleled with Lucy Van Pelt from the Peanuts comic strip on which the play production is based. She quit in February 2006 along with other members of the cast amidst rumors of abuse from the producer (which were later dismissed).

She played the lead character on Nurses, a hospital comedy/drama for Fox. This was the second Fox pilot in which she was cast, but not broadcast. She appeared in the Simple Plan music video, "I'm Just a Kid", as the band's love interest, as well as Nickelback's video for "Rockstar".

Dushku has roles in two video games. She voiced the role of Yumi Sawamura in the English language version of Yakuza for the PlayStation 2, which was published and developed by SEGA, and released in September 2006. Dushku also stars as Shaundi, one of the lead characters in Saints Row 2, which was developed by Volition and published by THQ. It was released in North America on October 14, 2008, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. She was the voice talent for the role of Rubi Malone, the main character in the game WET. She appeared at Spike TV's 2008 Video Game Awards in December 2008.

On October 1, 2005, she announced at Wizard World Boston that shooting had begun for Nobel Son in which she would star with Alan Rickman, Danny DeVito, Bill Pullman, and Peter Boyle. The movie was released at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Another project is On Broadway, an independent movie filmed in her native Boston. The movie is receiving great reviews and a few of them highlight Dushku's performance. It is shown in independent film festivals and has won six awards.

Variety announced on August 2, 2006 that Dushku would co-star with Macaulay Culkin in Sex and Breakfast, a dark comedy written and directed by Miles Brandman. A reviewer described Dushku as "charming" and giving the character "an edge." The movie was released in Los Angeles on November 30, 2007 and on DVD on January 22, 2008. She starred in Open Graves, a 2008 horror-thriller about a satanic game co-starring Mike Vogel. She played the main character in The Thacker Case and The Alphabet Killer, both thrillers based on real-life events, one of them directed by Rob Schmidt with whom she had worked on Wrong Turn. Both movies were released in 2008. The Alphabet Killer contains Dushku's first topless scene. The film earned mixed reviews, but reviewers praised Dushku's performance, commenting "Eliza Dushku commands the screen but cannot reconcile the script's conflicted and increasingly idiotic agendas." She appeared in Bottle Shock, a drama about Napa valley wine. The film was directed by Randall Miller, who helmed Nobel Son.

On August 26, 2007, Dushku signed a development deal with Fox Broadcasting and 20th Century Fox. Under the pact, the network and the studio would develop projects tailor-made for the actress. They approached her with existing pitches and scripts.

Consequently, it was announced on October 31 that Dushku had lured Joss Whedon, of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, back to TV, as they agreed to create a show called Dollhouse. Dushku produced the show and played the main character, 'Echo', which aired on Fox during the 2008–09 TV Season. One TV reviewer said Dushku "does wonderful things to a tank top, but her grasp of this vague, personality-changing character is a bit of a muddle." In an interview, Dushku talked about how Dollhouse, and how her reconnection with Whedon came about:

    I invited Joss Whedon to lunch after I did the business deal with Fox. We'd had a cool relationship in the past and I so wanted to do something else, and I wanted to get back into a television show. I had him on the brain for sure but I hadn't called him yet, but I sort of took a leap of faith and set things up with Fox and then called Joss. We went to a four-hour lunch where I just sort of used my womanly wiles. No, we've become such good friends, kind of like brother and sister and kind of like he was my watcher, my handler from when I first moved out to L.A. when I was 17 and I was a little bit of a wild child. He's watched me and helped me and taught me over the years. I told him how bad I wanted and needed him back and he accepted and here we are.

Dushku described Whedon as "my favorite genius ... favorite friend ... big brother ... and the only person out here I've ever wholeheartedly trusted, because he's never let me down." Dollhouse was renewed for a second season. The producers cited their confidence in the strength of Joss Whedon's fan base and high DVR numbers as their reasons for keeping the show. FOX cancelled Dollhouse on November 11, 2009. The show officially wrapped filming on the second and final season on December 16, 2009.

Dushku was the voice actor for contract killer "Rubi Malone" in the action video game Wet. Dushku secured exclusive rights to make "The Perfect Moment", a film based on the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and enlisted the help of Ondi Timoner.

Dushku provides her voice for Noah's Ark: The New Beginning and will appear in the film Locked In set for release in 2010.

Dushku guest-starred in CBS' comedy The Big Bang Theory in the fall of 2010 which aired on November 4, 2010.

In 2011, Dushku featured alongside Jayson Floyd in "One Shot", a short action clip on YouTube directed by and starring Freddie Wong, which was released on May 13, 2011. Dushku will have a lead role in an online animated "motion comic" series, titled Torchwood: Web of Lies, based on Starz' upcoming Torchwood: Miracle Day.

In August 2011, Dushku visited Albania to film a documentary on her father's country of origin with a crew from the Travel Channel and Lonely Planet.

INNER LIFE:


Dushku resides in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California.Dushku is the CEO of her production company, Boston Diva Productions.In 2006, she visited her father's family in Albania after an invitation from the Prime Minister of Albania, Sali Berisha. She visited Kosovo and got an Albanian Eagle tattoo on the back of her neck.Dushku began dating former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Rick Fox in October 2009, and in August 2010 the couple confirmed that they are living together.

While on her second visit to Albania in 2011, she applied for Albanian citizenship and obtained the Albanian passport and ID Card. She became an honorary citizen of Tirana, and was given the honorary title of Tirana Ambassador of Culture and Tourism in the World by Tirana mayor Lulzim Basha. Additionally, she was given honorary citizen status in her father's home town of Korce, Albania.

She serves on the board of directors of the THARCE-Gulu organization (The Trauma Healing and Reflection Center in Gulu), an organization dedicated to helping the survivors of war (including former child soldiers) in Northern Uganda).

MEGAN FOX

 INTRO:

Megan Denise Fox (born May 16, 1986) is an American actress and model. She began her acting career in 2001 with several minor television and film roles, and played a regular role on the Hope & Faith television show. In 2004, she launched her film career with a role in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. In 2007, she was cast as Mikaela Banes, the love interest of Shia LaBeouf's character, in the blockbuster film Transformers, which became her breakout role. Fox reprised her role in the 2009 sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Later in 2009, she starred as the titular lead character in the film Jennifer's Body.

Fox is considered a sex symbol and frequently appears on men's magazine "Hot" lists, including Maxim and FHM.

 EARLY LIFE:

Fox is of Irish, French and Native American ancestry, and was born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to Darlene and Franklin Fox. She was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Catholic school for 12 years. Fox's parents divorced when she was young and she and her sister were raised by her mother and her stepfather, Tony Tonachio. She said that the two were "very strict" and that she was not allowed to have a boyfriend or invite friends to her house. She lived with her mother until she made enough money to support herself.

Fox began her training in drama and dance at age five, in Kingston, Tennessee. She attended a dance class at the community center there and was involved in Kingston Elementary School's chorus and the Kingston Clippers swim team. At 10 years of age, after moving to St. Petersburg, Florida, Fox continued her training. When she was 13 years old, Fox began modeling after winning several awards at the 1999 American Modeling and Talent Convention in Hilton Head, South Carolina. At age 17, she tested out of school via correspondence in order to move to Los Angeles.

Fox has spoken extensively of her time in education; that in middle school she was bullied and picked on and she ate lunch in the bathroom to avoid being "pelted with ketchup packets". She said that the problem was not her looks, but that she had "always gotten along better with boys" and that "rubbed some people the wrong way". Fox also said of high school that she was never popular and that "everyone hated me, and I was a total outcast, my friends were always guys, I have a very aggressive personality, and girls didn’t like me for that. I’ve had only one great girlfriend my whole life". In the same interview, she mentions that she hated school and has never been "a big believer in formal education" and that "the education I was getting seemed irrelevant. So, I was sort of checked out on that part of it".

 

 CAREER:

At 16, Fox made her acting debut in the 2001 film Holiday in the Sun, as spoiled heiress Brianna Wallace and rival of Alex Stewart (Ashley Olsen), which was released direct-to-DVD on November 20, 2001. In the next several years she guest-starred on What I Like About You and Two and a Half Men, as well as being an uncredited extra in Bad Boys II (2003). In 2004, she made her film debut in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen co-starring opposite Lindsay Lohan, playing the supporting role of Carla Santini, a rival of Lola (Lohan). Fox was also cast in a regular role on the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith, in which she portrayed Sydney Shanowski, replacing Nicole Paggi. Fox appeared in seasons 2 to 3, until the show was cancelled in 2006.

In 2007, Fox won the lead female role of Mikaela Banes in the 2007 live-action film Transformers, based on the toy and cartoon saga of the same name. Fox played the love interest of Shia LaBeouf's character Sam Witwicky. Fox was nominated for an MTV Movie Award in the category of "Breakthrough Performance", and was also nominated for three Teen Choice Awards. Fox had signed on for two more Transformers sequels. In June 2007, Fox was cast in a minor role in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, starring alongside Jeff Bridges, Simon Pegg and Kirsten Dunst. She portrayed Sophie Maes, a love interest of Sydney Young (Simon Pegg). The film premiered on October 3, 2008, but was considered a box-office failure.

Fox reprised her role as Mikaela Banes in the Transformer sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. There was some controversy surrounding Fox's appearance while filming the sequel of Transformers when Michael Bay, the film's director, ordered the actress to gain 10 pounds. The film was released worldwide on June 24, 2009. Fox was to star in the third installment, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, but was not included because of her statements comparing working under director Bay to working for Hitler . Co-star Shia LaBeouf said, "Criticism is one thing. Then there's public name-calling, which turns into high-school bashing. Which you can't do." Bay similarly amended his previous statements of support of Fox, and told GQ in June that Fox was fired on orders of executive producer Stephen Spielberg.

In between Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon, Fox had her first lead role playing the title character in Jennifer's Body, written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody. She played Jennifer Check, a mean-girl cheerleader possessed by a demon who begins to feed off the boys in a Minnesota farming town. The film was released on September 18, 2009, and co-stars Amanda Seyfried and Adam Brody.

In April 2009, Fox began filming Jonah Hex, in which she portrayed Leila, a gun-wielding beauty and Jonah Hex's (Josh Brolin) love interest. The film was released on June 18, 2010 and co-starred Will Arnett; Despite receiving top billing, Fox has described her role in the film as being a cameo. Jonah Hex was universally panned by critics and was a box office bomb in the U.S., having its international distribution cancelled after its poor performance. The film was named the "worst picture of the year by the Houston Film Critics Society. Fox next starred alongside Mickey Rourke in Passion Play. The film received such bad reviews after its screening at the Toronto Film festival that its plans for a conventional theatrical distribution were withheld for a direct-to-video release with only two screens briefly showing the film to fulfill contractual obligations. Mickey Rourke remarked that Passion Play was "terrible. Another terrible movie."

In early April 2009, Fox signed on to star as the lead female role in the upcoming 2011 film The Crossing, about a young couple who get caught up in a drug trafficking scheme during their vacation to Mexico. In March 2009, Variety reported that Fox was set to star as the lead role of Aspen Matthews in the film adaption of the comic books Fathom which she will also co-produce with Brian Austin Green. Fox appeared with Dominic Monaghan in the music video for Eminem and Rihanna's single "Love the Way You Lie".

INNER LIFE:

Fox has been involved with actor Brian Austin Green since 2004, having first met on the set of Hope & Faith when she was 18 and he was 30. In 2006, they became engaged, and then broke it off in February 2009. Some time later in 2009, Fox was targeted by a group of fashion-motivated criminals known as "The Bling Ring", who robbed Green's home because she was living with him. Fox and Green were engaged again in June 2010, and on June 24, 2010, the two wed in a private ceremony at the Four Seasons Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Fox is a fan of comic books, anime, and video games, and her favorite artist is Michael Turner, whose Fathom comic she describes as a longtime obsession. She has two dogs, including a Pomeranian named after Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious. She has stated that she supports the legalization of marijuana, openly admitting to smoking it, and saying that she does not consider it a drug and would be first in line to buy a pack of joints. Additionally, Fox has expressed a distrust of "all boys-slash-men" in general, as well as women in the industry. "I especially don’t trust girls in this industry, because it’s incredibly competitive, and I’m just not interested," she stated.

In September 2008, Fox alluded to being bisexual in an interview with GQ magazine. She said that, when she was 18 years old, she fell in love with and sought to establish a relationship with a female stripper. She used this experience to illustrate her belief that "all humans are born with the ability to be attracted to both sexes" and additionally showed interest in Olivia Wilde. In May 2009, she confirmed her bisexuality. In the June 2009 issue of ELLE, however, she stated that she somewhat distorted the events of her relationship with the stripper, saying she has given certain male writers "an amped-up version" of her past. "They’re boys; they’re easily toyed with," she said. "I tell stories and have them eating out of my hand. Not all of it is true. In fact, most of it is bullshit." Fox said, "I never said she was my girlfriend! I just said that I loved her, and I did love her. The real story is more sobering. It’s not a sexy, fun-time, fantasy story. But that’s not the story you tell GQ."

 Fox developed a fear of flying at the age of 20 and revealed that she listens to Britney Spears songs while flying to overcome the fear. She also has brachydactyly ("shortness of the fingers and toes"), and has additionally been open about her insecurities and self-harming, acknowledging that she has low self-esteem:

... I don't want to elaborate. I would never call myself a cutter. Girls go through different phases when they're growing up, when they're miserable and do different things, whether it's an eating disorder or they dabble in cutting. I'm really insecure about everything. I see what I look like, but there are things that I like and things that I dislike. My hair is good. The color of my eyes is good, obviously. I'm too short. But overall, I'm not super excited about the whole thing. I never think I'm worthy of anything... I have a sick feeling of being mocked all the time. I have a lot of self-loathing. Self-loathing doesn't keep me from being happy. But that doesn't mean I don't struggle. I am very vulnerable. But I can be aggressive, hurtful, domineering and selfish, too. I'm emotionally unpredictable and all over the place. I'm a control freak.

She has also expressed remorse for having most of her tattoos, saying on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on Febuary 27,2012 that she has "eight or nine I havn't counted them". She in also in the process of removing the Marilyn Monro on her right forearm as of March 2012.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN-THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

Storyline:

This swash-buckling tale follows the quest of Captain Jack Sparrow, a savvy pirate, and Will Turner, a resourceful blacksmith, as they search for Elizabeth Swann. Elizabeth, the daughter of the governor and the love of Will's life, has been kidnapped by the feared Captain Barbossa. Little do they know, but the fierce and clever Barbossa has been cursed. He, along with his large crew, are under an ancient curse, doomed for eternity to neither live, nor die. That is, unless a blood sacrifice is made.

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PENELOPE CRUZ

 INTRO:

Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born April 28, 1974) is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón (1992), to critical acclaim. Her subsequent roles in the 1990s and 2000s included Open Your Eyes (1997), The Hi-Lo Country (1999), The Girl of Your Dreams (2000) and Woman on Top (2000). Cruz achieved recognition for her lead roles in Vanilla Sky and Blow. Both films were released in 2001 and were commercially successful worldwide.

In the 2000s she has appeared in films from a wide range of genres, including the comedy Waking Up in Reno (2002), the thriller Gothika (2003), the Christmas movie Noel (2004), the action adventure Sahara (2005), the animated G-Force and the musical drama Nine. Her most notable films to date are Volver (2006), for which she earned Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), for which she received an Academy Award. She was the first Spanish actress in history to receive an Academy Award and the first Spanish actress to receive a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Cruz has modeled for companies such as Mango, Ralph Lauren and L'Oréal. Penélope and her younger sister Mónica Cruz have designed items for Mango. She has donated both her time and money to charities. Cruz has volunteered in Uganda and India, where she spent one week working for Mother Teresa; she donated her salary from The Hi-Lo Country to help fund the late nun's mission.

 EARLY LIFE:

Penélope Cruz Sánchez was born in Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain, the daughter of Encarna Sánchez, a hairdresser and personal manager, and Eduardo Cruz, a retailer and auto mechanic. She was raised Roman Catholic. Throughout her childhood, Cruz lived in Alcobendas, a working-class town, although she spent "a lot" of time at her grandmother's apartment. Cruz is the oldest of three siblings; she has a younger brother, Eduardo, who is a singer, and a younger sister, Mónica, who is an actress. She has said that she had a happy childhood, and Charlie Rose of 60 Minutes described Cruz's childhood as a "simple life. In a foreshadowing way, Cruz remembers when she was four years old, "playing with some friends and being aware that I was acting as I was playing with them—I would think of a character and pretend to be someone else.

Initially, Cruz had no ambition to be an actress and focused on dance, having studied classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory. She received three years of Spanish ballet training and four years of theater at Cristina Rota's New York school. She commented that "I used to take my toenails—they would die from dancing—so I would just take the whole toenail and throw it away, and not feel anything," however, ballet instilled in her discipline that would be important in her future acting career. She became a fan of movies at age 10 or 11. With no movie theaters nearby, her first relationship with cinema was watching movies on Betamax. Her father bought this "[Betamax] machine", of which Cruz recalls that it was very rare to own one in her neighborhood at the time.

When Cruz was a teenager, she began having an interest in acting after seeing the film Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. She began doing casting calls for an agent, but was rejected multiple times because the agent felt that she was too young. Cruz commented on the experience that "I was very extroverted as a kid. [...] I was studying when I was in high school at night, I was in ballet and I was doing castings. I looked for an agent and she sent me away three times because I was a little girl but I kept coming back. I'm still with her after all these years." In 1989, at the age of 15, Cruz won an audition at a talent agency over more than 300 other girls. In 1999, Katrina Bayonas, Cruz's agent, commented, "She was absolutely magic [at the audition]. It was obvious there was something very impressive about this kid. [...] She was very green, but there was a presence. There was just something coming from within."

INNER LIFE:


Cruz is friends with Pedro Almodovar, whom she has known for almost two decades and with whom she has worked on films. Cruz is known to friends as Pe. Cruz owns a clothing store in Madrid and designed jewelry and handbags with her younger sister for a company in Japan.

Cruz had a three-year relationship with Tom Cruise after they appeared together in Vanilla Sky. It ended in January 2004. In April 2003, she filed a lawsuit against the Australian magazine New Idea for defamation over an article about her relationship with Cruise. Her lawyers claimed that "the proceedings state that the article contains a number of false and defamatory statements concerning Ms. Cruz" and she is seeking "substantial damages and is confident that legal proceedings will vindicate her reputation.

Cruz dated actor Matthew McConaughey from February 2005 to June 2006. In April 2007, Cruz told the Spanish edition of Marie Claire said she would like to adopt children.
Cruz began dating co-star Javier Bardem in 2007. They married in early July 2010 in a private ceremony at a friend's home in the Bahamas. Cruz gave birth to her first child, a son named Leo, on January 22, 2011 at the Cedars Sinai Hospital.

MONICA BELLUCCI

 INTRO:

Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and fashion model.Bellucci was born in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy as the only child of Luigi Bellucci.

MODELLING:

Monica Bellucci began modeling at age 13 by posing for a local photo enthusiast.Portrait of Bellucci taken in 2008.
In 1988, Bellucci moved to one of Europe's fashion centers, Milan, where she signed with Elite Model Management. By 1989, she was becoming prominent as a fashion model in Paris and across the Atlantic, in New York City. She posed for Dolce & Gabbana and French Elle, among others. In that year, Bellucci made the transition to acting and began taking acting classes. The February 2001 Esquire's feature on Desire featured Bellucci on the cover and in an article on the five senses. In 2003, she was featured in Maxim. Men's Health also named her one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time", ranking her at No. 21. AskMen named her the number one most desirable woman in 2002. Bellucci's modelling career is managed by Elite+ in New York City. She is considered an Italian sex symbol From 2006 to 2010 she was also the face of Dior's Rouge lipstick and Hypnotic Poison perfume. Bellucci is signed to D'management group in Milan and also to Storm Model Management in London.

In 2004, while pregnant with her daughter Deva, Bellucci posed nude for the Italian Vanity Fair Magazine in protest against Italian laws that prevent the use of donor sperm. She posed pregnant and semi-nude again for the magazine's April 2010 issue. 

ACTING:
Bellucci's film career began in the early 1990s. She played some minor roles in La Riffa (1991) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). In 1996 she was nominated for a César Award for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Lisa in L'Appartement and strengthened her position as an actress. She became known and popular with worldwide audiences, following her roles in Malèna (2000), Brotherhood of the Wolf, and Irréversible (2002). She has since played in many films from Europe and Hollywood like Tears of the Sun (2003), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Passion of the Christ (2004), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Le Deuxième souffle (2007), Don't Look Back (2009), and The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010).

She was supposed to be seen portraying Indian politician Sonia Gandhi in the biopic Sonia, originally planned for release in 2007, but it has been shelved.

Bellucci dubbed her own voice for the French and Italian releases of the film Shoot 'Em Up (2007). She also voiced Kaileena in the video game Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and the French voice of Cappy for the French version of the 2005 animated film Robots.

INNER LIFE:

Bellucci is married to French actor Vincent Cassel, with whom she has appeared in several films. They have two daughters, Deva (born 2004) and Léonie (born 2010).

In the documentary movie The Big Question, about the film The Passion of the Christ, she stated: "I am an agnostic, even though I respect and am interested in all religions. If there's something I believe in, it's a mysterious energy; the one that fills the oceans during tides, the one that unites nature and beings."

CHLOE SEVIGNY

 INTRO:

Chloë Stevens Sevigny (born 18 November 1974) is an American film actress, fashion designer and former model, born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Sevigny gained reputation for her eclectic fashion sense and developed a broad career in the fashion industry in the mid 1990s, both for modelling and for her work at New York's Sassy magazine, which labelled her the new "it girl" at the time, garnering her attention within New York's fashion scene.

Chloë Sevigny made her film debut with a leading role in the highly controversial film Kids (1995), written by Harmony Korine, which led to an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance. A long line of roles in generally well received independent and often avant-garde films throughout the decade established Sevigny's reputation as an indie film queen.It was not until 1999 that Sevigny gained serious critical and commercial recognition for her first mainstream role in the critically lauded Boys Don't Cry, for which she received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

Sevigny has continued acting in mostly independent art house films, such as American Psycho (2000), Party Monster (2003), The Brown Bunny (2003) and Dogville (2003). In 2006, Sevigny gained a leading role in the HBO television series Big Love, for which she received a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in 2010. Additionally, Sevigny has two Off-Broadway theatre credits, and has starred in several music videos. She has also designed several wardrobe collections, most recently with Manhattan's Opening Ceremony boutique.

EARLY LIFE:

Chloë Stevens Sevigny was born in Springfield, Massachusetts and raised in Darien, Connecticut by her mother, Janine —who is a Polish American—and father, H. David Sevigny, an accountant turned interior painter of French Canadian heritage. Sevigny's father died of cancer in 1996. She has an older brother, Paul, who is now a New York disc jockey. Sevigny often spent summers attending theatre camp, with leading roles in plays run by the YMCA; she had always aspired to be an actress despite her interest waxing and waning over the years. Sevigny would often play dress up as a child with trunks of clothing her mother would buy for her at local secondhand shops describing it as "instinctual" for her. She was raised in a Roman Catholic household, and attended Darien High School. While in high school, she often babysat actor Topher Grace and his younger sister. Despite Darien's high-class, wealthy reputation, Sevigny's parents kept a "frugal" household, and she worked as a teenager sweeping the tennis courts of a country club her family could not afford to join.

During her teenager years, Sevigny became something of a rebel: "I was very well-mannered, and my mother was very strict. But I did hang out at the Mobil station and smoke cigarettes." She also began referring to her hometown as "Aryan Darien," attempting to break free of the high class, Ivy League-reputation of the community. Between her junior and senior year of high school, Sevigny even shaved her head and sold her hair to a Broadway wigmaker. She openly admitted to experimenting with drugs as a teenager, especially hallucinogens, but said she was never a "good drug user"; despite this, she was sent to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings by her parents after indulging in marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs. In 2007, she told The Times, "I had a great family life – I would never want it to look as if it reflected on them. I think I was very bored, and I did just love taking hallucinogens ... But I often feel it's because I experimented when I was younger that I have no interest as an adult. I know a lot of adults who didn't, and it's much more dangerous when you start experimenting [with drugs] as an adult." She often described herself as a "loner" and a "depressed teenager." Her only extracurricular activity was occasionally skateboarding with her older brother, and she spent most of her free time in her bedroom: "Mostly I sewed. I had nothing better to do, so I made my own clothes".

At age 18, Sevigny relocated from her Connecticut hometown to an apartment in Brooklyn. There, in 1993, she was spotted on an East Village street by a fashion editor of Sassy magazine, who was so impressed by Sevigny's style that she asked her to intern at the magazine. When recounting the event, Sevigny was reluctant about it: "The woman at Sassy just liked the hat I was wearing," she said. She later modelled in the magazine as well as for X-girl, the fashion label of Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. During that time, author Jay McInerney spotted her around New York City and wrote a seven-page article about her for The New Yorker in which he dubbed her the new "it-girl. She subsequently appeared on the album cover of Gigolo Aunts' 1994 recording Flippin' Out and the EP Full-On Bloom, as well as having a part in a Lemonheads music video.

INNER LIFE:

Sevigny owns an apartment in the East Village, Manhattan, which she purchased for $1.2 million in 2006. Her father died when she was in her early 20s, and Sevigny stated in a 2006 interview that she came from a "close-knit" family, that she speaks to her mother every day, and that her brother lives three blocks away from her apartment. Sevigny also suffers from scoliosis, which was diagnosed when she was a child, though she never received any surgical treatment. She has stated that she practices yoga for relief from the condition.
Sevigny is a practising Roman Catholic, although she admits she rebelled against religion as a teenager. She said she began attending church services again after playing a Satan-worshipping teenage murderer in a 1998 Off Broadway production of Hazelwood Junior High: "I got really disturbed. I started having nightmares and thinking horrible things".

Sevigny has pursued various relationships with high-profile men throughout her life, though in 2006 she stated to the New York Post Gossip column: "I've questioned issues of gender and sexuality since I was a teenager, and I did some experimenting." In a later interview, she stated that she "wouldn't call herself bisexual", and that she could never see herself in a relationship with a woman. Nonetheless, Sevigny has garnered a gay fanbase throughout her career. Following her relationship with Harmony Korine (which ended in the late 1990s), Sevigny dated British musician Jarvis Cocker, and later Matt McAuley, a member of the noise-rock band A.R.E. Weapons. Sevigny and McAuley ended their relationship in late 2007, after being together for nearly eight years. 

 
In a 2009 interview, Sevigny reflected on her career, and said she was content with the level of stardom she had maintained: "When I was in my early 20s, I went out with a British pop star, Jarvis Cocker; of course, pop stars have much more celebrity, I think, than actors even. They’re really hunted by their fans much more. I remember driving around these remote towns in Wales and kids running after us in the street. I was like, 'This is horrible!' And I saw the effect it had on him, and that’s when I decided I never wanted to be a celebrity at that level, and I think that’s why I’ve chosen to do the work that I do and just kind of work with directors that I love and try and do work that means something to me.

EMMA WATSON

INTRO:

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and model.

Watson rose to prominence playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series. Watson was cast as Hermione at the age of nine, having previously acted only in school plays. From 2001 to 2011, she starred in all eight Harry Potter films alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint. Watson's work on the Harry Potter series has earned her several awards and more than £10 million. She made her modelling debut for Burberry's Autumn/Winter campaign in 2009.

In 2007, Watson announced her involvement in two productions: the television adaptation of the novel Ballet Shoes and an animated film, The Tale of Despereaux. Ballet Shoes was broadcast on 26 December 2007 to an audience of 5.2 million, and The Tale of Despereaux, based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo, was released in 2008 and grossed over US $86 million in worldwide sales.

EARLY LIFE:

Emma Watson was born in Paris to Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson, both British lawyers. Watson has one French grandmother, and lived in Paris until the age of five. Following her parents' divorce, she moved with her mother and younger brother to Oxfordshire.
From the age of six, Watson had wanted to become an actress, and for a number of years she trained at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts, a part-time theatre school where she studied singing, dancing and acting. By the age of ten, she had performed in various Stagecoach productions and school plays, including Arthur: The Young Years and The Happy Prince, but she had never acted professionally before the Harry Potter series. "I had no idea of the scale of the film series," she stated in a 2007 interview with Parade; "If I had I would have been completely overwhelmed."

MODELLING:

In 2008, the British press reported that Watson was to replace Keira Knightley as the face of the fashion house Chanel, but this was denied by both parties. In June 2009, following several months of rumours, Watson confirmed that she would be partnering with Burberry as the face of their Autumn/Winter 2009 campaign, for which she received an estimated six-figure fee. She also appeared in Burberry's 2010 Spring/Summer campaign alongside her brother Alex, musicians George Craig and Matt Gilmour, and model Max Hurd. In February 2011, Watson was awarded the Style Icon award from British Elle by Dame Vivienne Westwood. Watson continued her involvement in fashion advertising when she announced she had been chosen as the face of Lancôme in March 2011.

In September 2009, Watson announced her involvement with People Tree, a Fair Trade fashion brand. Watson worked as a creative advisor for People Tree to create a spring line of clothing, which was released in February 2010; the range featured styles inspired by southern France and London. The collection, described by The Times as "very clever" despite their "quiet hope that [she] would become tangled at the first hemp-woven hurdle", was widely publicised in magazines such as Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and People. Watson, who was not paid for the collaboration, admitted that competition for the range was minimal, but argued that "Fashion is a great way to empower people and give them skills; rather than give cash to charity you can help people by buying the clothes they make and supporting things they take pride in"; adding, "I think young people like me are becoming increasingly aware of the humanitarian issues surrounding fast fashion and want to make good choices but there aren't many options out there." Watson continued her involvement with People Tree, resulting in the release of a 2010 Autumn/Winter collection.

PERSONAL LIFE:

After moving to Oxford with her mother and brother, Watson attended The Dragon School until June 2003 and then moved to Headington School, also in Oxford. While on film sets, Watson and her peers were tutored for up to five hours a day. In June 2006, Watson took GCSE examinations in 10 subjects, achieving eight A* and two A grades.

After leaving school, Watson took a gap year to film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows beginning in February 2009, but said she "definitely want[ed] to go to university". The Providence Journal reported that Watson had confirmed that she had chosen Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island. In March 2011, after 18 months at the university, Watson announced that she was deferring her course for "a semester or two", to give her more time to participate in the advertising buildup for the release of the second Deathly Hallows film, and other projects. It has since been announced that Watson will be continuing her studies in autumn, reportedly on an exchange programme to Worcester College, Oxford, and that she will complete her final year at Brown University.

EVA MENDES

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KEIRA KNIGHTLEY

INTRO:

Keira Christina Knightley (born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham. From 2003, her appearances in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series took her to much greater prominence, but her work in Pride and Prejudice is what took her to true stardom.

Knightley has appeared in several Hollywood films and earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. Two years later she again was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, as well as the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Atonement.

In 2008, Forbes claimed Knightley to be the second highest paid actress in Hollywood, having reportedly earned $32 million in 2007, making her the only non-American on the list of highest paid actresses.

EARLY LIFE:

Knightley was born in Teddington, London, England, the daughter of Sharman MacDonald, an award-winning playwright, and Will Knightley, a theatre and television actor. Her father is English and her Scottish mother is of half Welsh ancestry. She has an elder brother, Caleb. Knightley, born Kiera, switched her name to Keira to make it easier for international audiences to pronounce.

Knightley lived in Richmond, attending Stanley Junior School, Teddington School and Esher College.[citation needed] She was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of six, but nevertheless was successful in school and was thus permitted to acquire a talent agent and pursue an acting career. She requested an agent as early as the age of three and got one when she turned six, from her mother as a reward for studying hard. Knightley has noted that she was "single-minded about acting" during her childhood. She performed in a number of local amateur productions, including After Juliet (written by her mother) and United States (written by her then drama teacher, Ian McShane, no relation to the actor of the same name). She focused on art, history, and English literature while at Esher, but left after a year to focus on her acting and she also turned down her spot at the London Academy of Music and Drama.

CAREER:

After getting an agent at 6, she did work mostly on commercials and small TV roles. Her first role was "Little Girl" in Royal Celebration, a 1993 TV movie. A year later, she had a small role in the movie A Village Affair. She later starred in 1995's Innocent Lies and 1998's Coming Home. She was a princess in the 1996 movie The Treasure Seekers. Later in 1999, she appeared as Rose in Oliver Twist.

Keira Knightley appeared in several television films in the mid to late 1990s—as well as ITV1's The Bill[15]—before being cast as Sabé, Padmé Amidala's decoy, in the 1999 science fiction blockbuster Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Sabé's dialogue was dubbed over with Natalie Portman's voice. This was to hide the fact that the handmaiden Padmé (played by Natalie Portman) was actually disclosed as the real Queen Amidala at the end of the film. Knightley was cast in the role due to her close resemblance to Portman; even the two actresses' mothers had difficulty telling their daughters apart when the girls were in full makeup.

Knightley's first starring role followed in 2001, when she played the daughter of Robin Hood in the made-for-television Walt Disney Productions feature, Princess of Thieves. She trained for several weeks in archery, sword fighting, and horse riding. During this time, Knightley also appeared in The Hole, a thriller that received a direct-to-video release in the United States. She appeared in a miniseries adaptation of Doctor Zhivago which first aired in 2002 to mixed reviews but high ratings.[citation needed] In the same year, she also was in the movie Pure, in which she portrays a pregnant teenager who is a heroin addict and had a child taken by social services. Knightley's breakthrough role was in the football-themed film, Bend It Like Beckham, which was a success in its August 2002 UK release, grossing $18 million, and in its March 2003 U.S. release, grossing $32 million.

After Bend It Like Beckham's UK release raised her profile, she was cast in the big budget action film, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (along with Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp) which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and opened in July 2003 to positive reviews and high box office grosses, becoming one of the biggest hits of summer 2003 and cementing Knightley as the new "It" girl.

Knightley had a role in the British romantic comedy Love Actually, which opened in November 2003, which co-starred her childhood idol Emma Thompson. Her next film, King Arthur, opened in July 2004 to negative reviews, however in preparation for the role she took boxing, fighting, archery, and horseback-riding lessons for four days a week for three months. In the same month, Knightley was voted by readers of Hello! magazine as the film industry's most promising teen star. Additionally, TIME magazine noted in a 2004 feature that Knightley seemed dedicated to developing herself as a serious actress rather than a film star.

She appeared in three films in 2005, the first of which was The Jacket, alongside Adrien Brody. She next appeared in Tony Scott's Domino, an action film based on the life of bounty hunter Domino Harvey. The film has been Knightley's greatest critical flop to date. Knightley's critics often suggested she was nothing more than a pretty face, which led the young starlet to comment to Elle magazine, "I always feel like I’m the one with everything to prove."

Pride & Prejudice rounded out 2005. Knightley loved the book since she was seven, and she with her first acting paycheck she bought a dollhouse of the hero's mansion. She said of her character, "The beauty of Elizabeth is that every woman who ever reads the book seems to recognize herself, with all her faults and imperfections. If you give an actress who is even remotely good the chance to play a fantastic character like that, they are going to revel in it." Variety wrote about her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet: "Looking every bit a star, Knightley, who's shown more spirit than acting smarts so far in her career, really steps up to the plate here, holding her own against the more classically trained Matthew Macfadyen, as well as vets like Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland, Penelope Wilton, and Judi Dench with a luminous strength that recalls a young Audrey Hepburn. More than the older Jennifer Ehle in the TV series, she catches Elizabeth's essential skittishness and youthful braggadocio, making her final conversion all the more moving." The film grossed more than $100 million worldwide, and Knightley earned a Golden Globe nomination and an Oscar nomination (the Oscar ultimately went to Reese Witherspoon). The Academy Award nomination made her the third-youngest performer ever nominated. BAFTA's decision not to nominate her drew criticism from Pride & Prejudice producer Tim Bevan.

In 2006, Knightley was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her biggest financial hit thus far, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, was released in July 2006.

Knightley starred in three major films in 2007: Silk, an adaptation of the novel by Alessandro Baricco, Atonement, a feature film adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel of the same name (co-starring James McAvoy, Vanessa Redgrave, and Brenda Blethyn), and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which was released in May 2007. For her performance in Atonement, Knightley was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the Best Dramatic Actress category for the role, as well as a BAFTA Award. Critic Richard Roeper was puzzled by both Knightley's and McAvoy's Academy Award snubs, stating "I thought McAvoy and Knightley were superb."

In 2008, Knightley appeared in The Edge of Love with Cillian Murphy as her husband, Matthew Rhys as her childhood sweetheart Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and Sienna Miller as Thomas' wife Caitlin Macnamara. She received positive reviews for her role. The film was penned by Knightley's mother, Sharman Macdonald, and directed by John Maybury. She then filmed The Duchess, based on the best-selling biography, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman, in which she played Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire; the film was released in cinemas on 5 September 2008 in the U.K.

In 2009, Knightley made her West End debut in Martin Crimp's version of Molière's comedy, The Misanthrope, at the Comedy Theatre in London alongside Damian Lewis, Tara FitzGerald, and Dominic Rowan. in December 2009. Reviews for her portrayal of Jennifer in the play were generally positive. The Daily Telegraph described her performance as revealing "both power and poignancy" and The Independent called her performance "not only strikingly convincing but, at times, rather thrilling in its satiric aplomb" The Guardian, however, noted that due to the nature of the role "one could say that she is not unduly stretched" and The Daily Mail described her as "little better than adequate" and "dull" and the Daily Express stated that "Her lack of stage experience is sometimes painfully evident." Knightley has been nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award as Best Supporting Actress as Jennifer in The Misanthrope, recognising her theatre debut. Knightley also received an Evening Standard Award nomination for the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress.

In 2010, Knightley appeared in the drama Last Night, in which she co-starred with Eva Mendes, Sam Worthington, and Guillaume Canet; it was directed by Massy Tadjedin. The same year, Knightley completed work on an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's dystopian novel, Never Let Me Go with Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan. Filming took place in Norfolk and Clevedon in Somerset. Also in 2010, she starred in London Boulevard with Colin Farrell, written by William Monahan.

Knightley's only film of 2011 was David Cronenberg's historical drama A Dangerous Method, co-starring Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, and Vincent Cassel. Based on writer Christopher Hampton's 2002 stage play The Talking Cure and set on the eve of World War I, the film depicts the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud, and Sabina Spielrein, played by Knightley, the troubled but beautiful young psychoanalyst who comes between them. The costume film premiered at the 68th Venice International Film Festival to a positive reception, while Knightley, who had almost backed out of the movie due to its explicit scenes, earned generally favorable reviews by critics, with Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com noting her "the real star of this film."

Knightley is slated to appear in The Emperor's Children with Rachel McAdams, Emma Thompson and Richard Gere. The film, a dark comedy, was written by Noah Baumbach and will be directed by Scott Cooper. In addition, she has reunited with director Joe Wright for the production of Anna Karenina (2012), in which she will star as the title character.