Showing posts with label hollywood actress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hollywood actress. Show all posts

Thursday, 16 June 2011

Penelope Cruz

BIOGRAPHY FOR PENELOPE CRUZ

Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born Apr. 28, 1974 (37 years ago)), better known as Penélope Cruz, is a Spanish actress. She gathered critical acclaim as a young actress for movies such as Jamón, Jamón, La Niña de tus ojos, and Belle époque. She has also starred in several American movies such as Blow, Vanilla Sky, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She is perhaps best known for her work with acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, in Volver and Todo sobre mi madre. Cruz has been awarded three Goyas, two European movie Awards, and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes movie Festival. In 2009 (2 years ago), she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Goya, and a BAFTA for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She is Spain's first female Oscar winner and also becomes the sixth Hispanic person to win an Oscar after José Ferrer, Rita Moreno and Benicio Del Toro (Puerto Rico), Anthony Quinn (Mexico), plus fellow Spaniard Javier Bardem.













EARLY YEARS

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. As a toddler, she was already a compulsive performer, re-enacting TV commercials for her family's amusement. Initially, Cruz decided to focus on dance. After studying classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory, she continued her training under a series of prominent dancers. She received three years of Spanish Ballet training with Ángela Garrido. She also had jazz dance training with Raúl Caballero and studied at Cristina Rota (mother of Juan Diego Botto) school in Madrid. At 15, however, she followed another calling after beating more than 300 other girls at a talent agency audition.



CAREER

Cruz first achieved fame when she appeared in the video for "La fuerza del destino" for the Spanish synthpop group Mecano. She later started a relationship with Nacho Cano, a member of the group. A TV presenter for the teen-oriented program La Quinta Marcha, she also had early exposure in Série Rose, an erotic French TV serial. In one episode she played the role of a blind prostitute and in another played a young noblewoman pretending to be a young nobleman in a comedy of errors. She also directed Nacho Cano's video of "El waltz de los locos", in 1994 (17 years ago).



Cruz's first major movies were Jamón, jamón and Belle Époque, a movie which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film. In 1997 (14 years ago), she starred as Sofía Pangia, alongside Eduardo Noriega, in Abre los ojos, directed by Alejandro Amenábar, while in 1999 (12 years ago) she appeared in Pedro Almodóvar's Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother), which also won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film. In 2000 (11 years ago) she appeared with Matt Damon (4 walls) in All the Pretty Horses.



For Cruz, the early 2000 (11 years ago) were a period of mediocre reviews and mixed commercial success. In late 2001 (10 years ago), she appeared in the movie Vanilla Sky, the Hollywood remake of Abre los ojos. Returning to Europe, in 2004 (7 years ago), Cruz learned Italian (she already spoke Spanish, French, and English) to star in the movie Don't Move. She earned critical praise for her role and earned the coveted David di Donatello award, the Italian equivalent of the Oscar.



In 2006 (5 years ago), she co-starred with her best friend, Salma Hayek (21 walls), in the movie Bandidas. That same year, Cruz received highly favourable reviews for her performance in Pedro Almodóvar's Volver. She shared a Best Actress award at the Cannes movie Festival with five of her co-stars, and was nominated for the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild Award, the BAFTA Award, and the Academy Award for Best Actress in a leading role. The latter of these nominations made her the first Spanish actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.



In May 2007 (4 years ago), it was announced that Penélope and her sister Mónica would be designing a 25-piece collection for the Barcelona-based fashion chain Mango. On Jul. 7, 2007 (4 years ago), Cruz presented at Live Earth. In late 2007 (4 years ago), she starred in the Jaume de Laiguana-directed video for her brother's first single, named "Cosas que contar", along with her friend Mía Maestro and her sister Mónica. Cruz had previously shown a keen interest in fashion and is a model for L'Oréal and its "Telescopic" mascara.



In 2008 (3 years ago), Cruz appeared with Sir Ben Kingsley in fellow Spaniard Isabel Coixet's movie Elegy, earning her critical praise for an English-speaking role. The movie was based on the Philip Roth story The Dying Animal. She was nominated for a Golden Satellite award for her performance.



In 2008 (3 years ago), she starred in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona as María Elena, Javier Bardem's mentally unstable ex-wife. Her performance received wide critical praise. For the role, Cruz received her second Academy Award Nomination, and later won for Best Supporting Actress, making her only the second Spanish actor to win an Academy Award, a year after her boyfriend, Javier Bardem, won for No Country for Old Men. She became the first Spanish actress to win an Academy Award, and one of the only actors besides Robert De Niro (6 walls) and Ingrid Bergman to win the Oscar for a role speaking two different languages. Besides the Oscar, Cruz won the BAFTA, the Independent Spirit Award, the National Board of Review Award, and the New York movie Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She also earned Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for her role.



Cruz again collaborated with Pedro Almodóvar in his movie Los Abrazos Rotos, which is slated to be released in the U.S. in Nov. 2009 (2 years ago). She will also be featured in the movie version of the musical Nine along with other Oscar winners Sophia Loren, Judi Dench, Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman (24 walls) and Marion Cotillard.



PERSONAL LIFE

Cruz has a younger brother, Eduardo, a singer, and a younger sister, Mónica.



Cruz claims to be a vegetarian since 2000 (11 years ago). She speaks four languages: Spanish, Italian, French and English. Cruz has also donated a considerable amount of money and time to charity; in 1997 (14 years ago) she volunteered in Uganda for two months.



Cruz was raised as a Roman Catholic, but the religion she feels closest to is Buddhism. After appearing in Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise (12 walls), they had a three-year relationship which ended in Jan. 2004 (7 years ago). During that time, she and Cruise were seen visiting several Church of Scientology locations in Hollywood, and there was published speculation that Cruise had convinced Cruz to join the church.



After filming Sahara in Feb. 2005 (6 years ago), she began dating actor Matthew McConaughey. In May 2006 (5 years ago), they released a joint statement to People, saying that they "have decided to take time off as a couple." Later that year they announced that they were "no longer intimate and separating was the best thing to do at this time". She has been dating actor Javier Bardem since 2007; the two appeared together in Jamón, Jamón, Live Flesh and 2008's Vicky Cristina Barcelona.



In Apr. 2007 (4 years ago) Cruz, who was single at the time, stated that she would like to have children one day and she feels the need to adopt. "Of course I want to have kids," Cruz, told the Spanish edition of Marie Claire in its Apr. issue. "I want to have my own kids, but also adopt. For a while I've had the feeling that my life won't be complete if I don't adopt".



FILMOGRAPHY

Jamón, jamón

Belle Époque

For Love, Only for Love

The Greek Labyrinth

The Rebel

Alegre ma non troppo

Todo es mentira

Entre rojas

El Efecto mariposa

La Celestina

Brujas

Más que amor, frenesí

Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health

Open Your Eyes

Live Flesh

Hjørne af paradis, Et

The Girl of Your Dreams

"The Hi-Lo Country"

Don Juan

All About My Mother

All the Pretty Horses

Woman on Top

Blow

Don't Tempt Me

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Vanilla Sky

Waking up in Reno

Fanfan la tulipe

Gothika

Head in the Clouds

Don't Move

Noel

Sahara

Chromophobia

Bandidas

Volver

The Good Night

Manolete

Elegy

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

G-Force

Broken Embraces

Nine



AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

Imagen Foundation Awards

MTV Movie Awards

NAACP image (wallpaper) Awards

Ondas Awards

Peñíscola Comedy movie Festival





Source: en.wikipedia.org

Tuesday, 14 June 2011

Alicia Silverstone



FACTS ABOUT ALICIA SILVERSTONE


















Date of Birth:04 October 1976
Birthplace:San Francisco, California
Age:33
First Name:Alicia
Last Name:Silverstone
Build:Average
Height:5' 5" (165 cm)
Eye Color:Green
Hair Color:Blonde
Star Sign:Libra
Claim to Fame:Clueless
Occupation:Actress
Religion:Jewish
Occupation Category:Actress
Nationality:American
Alternative Names:Queen Slice, Alicia Silverstone Jarecki
















BIOGRAPHY FOR ALICIA SILVERSTONE

Alicia Silverstone (born Oct. 4, 1976 (35 years ago)) is an American actress and former fashion model. She first came to widespread attention in music videos for Aerosmith, and is best known for her roles in Hollywood movies such as Clueless (1995, 16 years ago) and her portrayal of Batgirl in Batman & Robin (1997, 14 years ago).



EARLY YEARS

Silverstone was born in San Francisco, California, the daughter of Deirdre "Didi" (née Radford), a Scottish-born former Pan Am flight attendant, and Monty Silverstone, an English-born real-estate investor and part-time actor. Silverstone was raised in a "traditional Jewish household"; her father, a native of east London, is Jewish, and her mother converted to Conservative Judaism before marriage. Silverstone is the youngest of three children and also has a half-sister, London-based rock singer Kezi Silverstone, and a half-brother, David Silverstone, both from her father's previous marriage. Silverstone attended Crocker Middle School and then San Mateo High School, but did not complete her high school studies. When she was six-years-old, she began modeling and was subsequently cast in TV commercials, the first being for Domino's Pizza. She acquired some early modeling and advertising work and was eventually cast as "dream girl" Jessica on the episode Road Test of The Wonder Years.



CAREER

Silverstone has won several awards for her movie performances including MTV Movie Awards, National Board of Review, and Young Artist Awards. She has been nominated for an Emmy award and a Golden Globe Award. During her career, she turned down several key roles in films, including Dede Truitt in The Opposite of Sex, Juliet Capulet in Romeo + Juliet and a role in Scream 3. She was also considered for roles in Scream 2, Bewitched, Little Women and Heartbreakers. She turned down the role of Valerie Malone on Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1994; Tiffani Thiessen was cast instead.



1990s

Silverstone won a leading part in the 1993 (18 years ago) movie The Crush, playing a teenaged girl who sets out to ruin an older man after he spurns her affections; she won two awards at the 1994 (17 years ago) MTV Movie Awards for the role—Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Villain. Silverstone became legally emancipated at the age of 15 in order to work the hours required for the shooting schedule of the film. Also in 1993 (18 years ago), Silverstone auditioned for the lead role of Angela Chase in the ABC TV series My So-Called Life, but Claire Danes was chosen for the role instead. Alicia made some TV movies in her early career including Torch Song, Cool and the Crazy and Scattered Dreams.





After seeing her in The Crush, Marty Callner decided Silverstone would be perfect for a role in a music video he was directing for the band Aerosmith, called "Cryin'"; she was subsequently cast in two more videos,"Amazing" and "Crazy". These were hugely successful for both the band and Silverstone, making her a household name (and also gaining her the nickname, "the Aerosmith chick"). They also got her noticed by filmmaker Amy Heckerling, who, after seeing them, decided to cast her in Clueless.



Clueless became a sleeper hit and critical darling during the summer of 1995 (16 years ago). Silverstone's performance was well received, and she was branded the spokeswoman for an emerging young generation. As a result, she signed a deal with Columbia-TriStar worth $10 million. As part of the package, she got a three-year first-look deal for her own production company, First Kiss Productions. Silverstone also won "Best Female Performance" and "Most Desirable Female" at the 1996 (15 years ago) MTV Movie Awards for her performance in the film. In the same year, Silverstone starred in the erotic thriller The Babysitter, movie adaptation of the novel by Dean Koontz, Hideaway and the French drama about Americans New World.



Silverstone's next role was as Batgirl in Batman & Robin, and while it was not a critical success, the movie grossed $238,207,122 worldwide, and was thus a moderate financial success. Silverstone's turn as Batgirl was not well received, and won her a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. She suffered further bad press for allegedly striking a pedestrian with her vehicle in a crosswalk. In addition to Batman & Robin, Silverstone also starred alongside Benicio del Toro and Christopher Walken in 1997's dark comedy Excess Baggage, which was the first movie to be released by her production company. In the film, Silverstone played a rich brat who fakes her own kidnapping in order to get her father's attention. While not as reviled as Batman & Robin, the movie was not as critically or commercially successful as Clueless.



Silverstone ended the 1990 (21 years ago) with the Saturn Award-nominated romance/comedy movie Blast from the Past which also stars Brendan Fraser, Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek. In 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90's she was ranked #5. Topsocialite.com listed her as the 3rd Sexiest woman of the 90s.



2000s

In 2000 (11 years ago), Silverstone appeared in Kenneth Branagh's movie adaptation of the Shakespeare play Love's Labour's Lost, in which she was required to sing and dance. In 2001(10 years ago), Silverstone provided the voice of Sharon Spitz, the lead character in the Canadian animated TV Braceface. During this time she also made the movies Global Heresy and Scorched. After removing herself from the public eye for a few years, she resurfaced in the short-lived 2003 (8 years ago) NBC TV show Miss Match, which was cancelled after 11 episodes. Silverstone later acknowledged that she hates the trappings of fame, stating that "Fame is not anything I wish on anyone. You start acting because you love it. Then success arrives, and suddenly you're on show".



After the cancellation of Miss Match in 2003 (8 years ago), Silverstone did a pilot with FOX called Queen B, in which she would have played a former high school prom queen named Beatrice (Bea) who has discovered that the real world is nothing like high school. It was not picked up for production. In 2005 (6 years ago), she co-starred with Queen Latifah in Beauty Shop, a spin-off of the BarberShop films, as one of the stylists in the beauty shop. In the same year, she played a reporter alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar (29 walls) and Freddie Prinze Jr. in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, which was successful at box office, and the direct-to-video movie Silence Becomes You.



In 2006 (5 years ago), Silverstone starred in another pilot for ABC called Pink Collar, in which she would have worked in a law firm. Like Queen B, this pilot was not picked up for syndication. That year she also starred alongside Ewan McGregor, Mickey Rourke and Sophie Okonedo in the film, Stormbreaker, and starred in the Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-TV movie Candles on Bay Street based on the book by Cathie Pelletier. She also filmed a pilot for ABC alongside Megan Mullally called Bad Mother's Handbook. She made a cameo appearance in 2008 (3 years ago) comedy movie Tropic Thunder.



Silverstone wrote a diet book entitled The Kind Diet; it "explores the connection between what we put in our bodies and what we’re doing to the planet, and how choosing the right foods in the kitchen can help you feeling lighter, sexier, and more alive." From Feb. 10 to Mar. 15 2009(2 years ago), she will star in the world premiere of Daniel Sullivan's Time Stands Still at the Geffern Playhouse LA, alongside Anna Gunn, Robin Thomas and David Harbour. The play focuses around a longtime couple and journalistic team who return to New York from an extended stint in the war-torn Middle East. Her performance was described as "a formidable stage presence who creates sparks whenever she performs" Silverstone will reprise her role for the New York premiere of the play on Broadway, alongside Laura Linney. It will premiere on Jan. 28th 2010 (last year) and will be directed by Daniel Sullivan.



Silverstone is filming Elektra Luxx, along with Timothy Olyphant and Carla Gugino. The movie is a sequel to Women In Trouble, where Gugino plays a porn star whose life is turned upside down when she discovered she is pregnant. The movie will be directed by Sebastian Gutierrez and a third installment is planned tentatively titled Women In Ecstasy. She also starred in Rob Thomas' 2009 (2 years ago) music video for his single "Her Diamonds".



PERSONAL LIFE

Silverstone has dated famous people including Benicio del Toro, Stephen Dorff, Leonardo DiCaprio (7 walls), Bryan Mashard, Mozie Chabbouth and Adam Sandler. In a Jan. 2000 (11 years ago) interview with FHM, she denied that she dated Kenneth Branagh.



Silverstone married her longtime boyfriend, rock musician Christopher Jarecki (lead singer of group S.T.U.N.), in a beachfront ceremony at Lake Tahoe, on Jun. 11, 2005 (6 years ago). After meeting outside a movie theater in 1997 (14 years ago), the couple dated for eight years prior to their marriage. They got engaged about a year before their marriage and Jarecki presented Silverstone with an engagement ring that had belonged to his grandmother. Her wedding dress was designed by Monique Lhuillier.



Silverstone and Jarecki live in an eco-friendly Los Angeles house complete with solar panels and an organic vegetable garden. She bought the house, shared with a "menagerie of rescued dogs," in 1996 (15 years ago). She also graced the cover of 944 magazine, promoting vegetarianism. She also teamed up with EcoTools to market a natural line of beauty products and bags made of natural hemp and recycled material.



Political convictions

Silverstone is noted for being an animal welfare and environmental activist. She became a vegan in 1998 (13 years ago) after attending an animal rights meeting. "I realized that I was the problem," she told InStyle Home, in spring 2007 (4 years ago). "I was an animal lover who was eating animals." In 2004 (7 years ago), Silverstone was voted, "Sexiest Female Vegetarian," by PETA. In 2007 (4 years ago), Silverstone appeared nude in a print advertisement and 30-second commercial for PETA championing vegetarianism; the TV spot was subsequently pulled from the Houston, Texas, market by Comcast Cable. Silverstone has set up a sanctuary for rescued pets in Los Angeles. She has revealed she struggled with childhood vegetarianism stating "There were times when I would get selfish and eat meat - at eight years old it's hard to stick to your guns - and so through the years I was always starting and stopping trying to be a vegetarian."



Federal campaign contribution records also reveal that Silverstone contributed US$500 to Dennis Kucinich's 2004 (7 years ago) Presidential campaign.



On May 23, 2007 (4 years ago), Silverstone was a guest on ABC's The View. Moments before she entered, hosts Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck had a heated argument regarding the Iraq war. The video segment shows Silverstone entering and walking past Hasselbeck to greet the other hosts. Though the interview continued normally and featured easy conversation between Silverstone and Hasselbeck, Access Hollywood deemed the act a deliberate snub. Hasselbeck later revealed, on an episode of The View which aired sep. 19, 2007 (4 years ago), that Silverstone called and apologized for the incident. Hasselbeck said that Silverstone never meant to be rude, but was simply nervous when she walked on the stage and believed that incident was wrongly perceived by the media.



Silverstone supported Barack Obama's presidential candidacy.



In 2009 (2 years ago), she appeared in "The Gaythering Storm," a Funny or Die spoof internet video parodying anti-same-sex marriage commercial "The Gathering Storm." She also appeared in "My Mother's Red Hat" with Alanis Morissette parodying indie movies.



FILMOGRAPHY

  • 1993 The Crush

  • 1995 Le Nouveau monde

  • 1995 Hideaway

  • 1995 Clueless

  • 1995 The Babysitter

  • 1996 True Crime

  • 1997 Batman & Robin

  • 1997 Excess Baggage

  • 1998 Junket Whore

  • 1999 Blast from the Past

  • 2000 Love's Labour's Lost

  • 2002 Global Heresy

  • 2003 Scorched

  • 2004 Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

  • 2005 Beauty Shop

  • 2005 Silence Becomes You

  • 2006 Stormbreaker

  • 2010 Elektra Luxx



TV-SHOWS (SERIES)

  • 1992 The Wonder Years

  • 1993 Torch Song

  • 1993 Scattered Dreams

  • 1994 Cool and the Crazy

  • 1998 Wildlife Vet

  • 2001-2005 Braceface

  • 2003-2005 Miss Match

  • 2005 Queen B

  • 2006 Pink Collar

  • 2006 Candles on Bay Street

  • 2007 The Singles Table

  • 2008 Bad Mother's Handbook



THEATRE

  • 1993 Carol's Eve

  • 2002 The Graduate

  • 2006 Boston Marriage

  • 2007 Speed-the-Plow

  • 2008 Time Stands Still



AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

  • American Comedy Awards

  • Blockbuster Entertainment Award

  • Daytime Emmy Awards

  • Genesis Awards

  • Golden Globe Awards

  • Kids' Choice Awards

  • MTV Movie Awards

  • National Board of Review

  • Golden Raspberry Awards

  • Satellite Awards

  • Young Artist Awards





Source: en.wikipedia.org

Monday, 13 June 2011

Mila Jovovich

FACTS ABOUT MILLA JOVOVICH

















Date of Birth:17 December 1975
Birthplace:Kiev, Ukraine
Age:34
First Name:Milla
Last Name:Jovovich
Build:Slim
Height:5' 8" (173 cm)
Eye Color:Blue
Hair Color:Brown - Light
Star Sign:Sagittarius
Claim to Fame:Dazed and Confused
Occupation:Actress, Model and singer
Religion:Christian
Occupation Category:Actress
Nationality:Ukrainian




BIOGRAPHY FOR MILLA JOVOVICH
Milla Jovovich (born Militza Nataša Jovović dec. 17, 1975 (36 years ago)) is a Ukrainian-born, American model, actress, musician, and fashion designer. Over her career, she has appeared in a number of science fiction and action themed films, for which music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt". 


Jovovich began modeling at eleven, when Richard Avedon featured her in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the World" advertisements, and she continued her career with other notable campaigns for L'Oréal cosmetics, Banana Republic, Christian Dior, Donna Karan and Versace. In 1988 (23 years ago), she had her first professional acting role in the TV movie The Night Train to Kathmandu, and later that year she appeared in her first feature film, Two Moon Junction. Following more small TV appearances like Married with Children "Fair Exchange" (1989, 22 years ago) and movie roles, she gained notoriety with the romance movie Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991, 20 years ago), the sequel to The Blue Lagoon. Jovovich then acted alongside Bruce Willis (5 walls) in the science fiction movie The Fifth Element (1997, 14 years ago), and later played the title role in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999, 12 years ago). In 2002 (9 years ago), she starred in the video game adaptation, Resident Evil, which has gone on to spawn two sequels: Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004, 7 years ago) and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007, 4 years ago). 


In addition to her modeling and acting career, Jovovich released a critically acclaimed musical album, The Divine Comedy in 1994 (17 years ago). She continues to release demos for other songs on her official website and contributes to movie soundtracks as well; Jovovich has yet to release another album. In 2003 (8 years ago), she and model Carmen Hawk created the clothing line Jovovich-Hawk, which ceased operations in early 2008 (3 years ago). In its season three prior to its demise, the pieces could be found at Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Harvey Nichols, and over 50 stores around the world. Jovovich also has her own production company, Creature Entertainment. 


EARLY YEARS
Jovovich was born in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, the daughter of Bogdan Bogdanovich Jovović, a Serbian pediatrician, and Galina Loginova, a Soviet stage actress of ethnic Russian descent. 


Jovovich's paternal family's estate was at Metohija in Zlopek near Peć in southern Serbia. Her paternal great-grandfather, Bogić Camić Jovović, was a flag-bearer of the Montenegrin/Serbian Vasojevići clan and an officer in the guard of the King Nicholas I of Montenegro; his wife's name was Milica, after whom Milla got her name. Her paternal grandfather, Bogdan Jovović, was a commander in the Priština military area, and later investigated finances in the military areas of Skopje and Sarajevo, where he uncovered massive gold embezzlement. He was punished for refusing to convict a friend of the crime. Later, the government briefly imprisoned him in Goli Otok for refusing to testify. When he feared that he could be arrested again, he escaped to Albania and later moved to Kiev. A different version of the story claims that he was the one who took the gold. Milla's father, Bogich, later joined Bodgan in Kiev, where he and his sister graduated in medicine. In 2000 (11 years ago), her grandfather, Bogdan Jovović, died in Kiev. 


In 1981 (30 years ago), when Jovovich was five years old, her family left the Soviet Union for political reasons and moved to London. They subsequently lived in Sacramento, California before settling in Los Angeles, California seven months later; Jovovich's parents divorced soon after. 


In 1988 (23 years ago), as a result of her father's relationship with a woman from Argentina, Jovovich's half-brother Marco Jovovich, was born. Jovovich's mother attempted to support the family with acting jobs, but found little success, and eventually resorted to cleaning houses to earn money. Both her father and mother provided house cleaning services for director Brian de Palma. Jovovich's father was incarcerated for most of her childhood for participating in an illegal operation concerning medical insurance; he was given a 20-year sentence in 1994 (17 years ago), but was released in 1999 (12 years ago) after serving five years in an American prison. Jovovich has stated that "Prison was good for him. He's become a much better person. It gave him a chance to stop and think." 


Jovovich attended public schools shortly after arriving in the United States, and learned fluent English in three months. During school, many of the students had teased her because she had immigrated from the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Jovovich said, "I was called a Commie and a Russian spy. I was never, ever, ever accepted into the crowd." At age 12 in seventh grade, Jovovich left school to focus on her growing career. As a young teenager, she claimed to be rebellious, engaging in drug use, shopping mall vandalism, and credit-card fraud. 


CAREER
Acting career 
At the age of nine, she began going to modeling auditions, and was signed by Prima modeling agency. At eleven, Jovovich was noticed by the photographer Richard Avedon. Avedon was head of marketing at Revlon at the time, and chose Jovovich to appear with models Alexa Singer and Sandra Zatezalo in Revlon's "Most Unforgettable Women in the World" advertisements. In 1987 (24 years ago), photographers Gene Lemuel and Peter Duke took polaroids of the twelve year old Jovovich, and Lemuel later showed the photographs to Herb Ritts. Impressed, Ritts re-shot the polaroids for the Oct. 1987 (24 years ago) cover of the Italian fashion magazine Lei; this was the first of her many cover shoots. In 1988 (23 years ago), she made her first professional model contract. Jovovich was among other models who gained controversy for becoming involved in the industry at a young age. 


Later Jovovich made it to the cover of The Face, which led to new contracts and covers of Vogue and Cosmopolitan. Since then, she has graced over one hundred magazine covers, including Seventeen, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar and In Style. Her modeling career has included various campaigns for Banana Republic, Christian Dior, Damiani, Donna Karan, Gap, Versace, Calvin Klein, DKNY, Coach, Giorgio Armani, H&M, and Revlon. Since 1998 (13 years ago), Jovovich has been a "international spokesmodel" for L'Oreal cosmetics. She also had a minor cameo in Bret Easton Ellis's novel Glamorama, a satire of society's obsession with celebrities and beauty. 


In an article published in 2002 (9 years ago), she was said to be Miuccia Prada's muse and in an article published in 2003 (8 years ago), Harpers & Queen magazine claimed Jovovich was Gianni Versace's "favourite supermodel". In 2004 (7 years ago), Jovovich topped Forbes magazine's "Richest Supermodels of the World" list, earning a reported $10.5 million. In 2006 (5 years ago), Jovovich was picked up by Spanish clothing line Mango as their new spokesmodel and is currently featured in their ad campaigns; she can also be seen in ads for Etro. She has noted that "Modeling was never a priority" and it instead enables her "to be selective about the creative decisions [she] makes". 


Music career 
Jovovich had begun working on a music album as early as 1988 (23 years ago), when she was signed by SBK Records after the company heard a demo she recorded. In Aug. 1990 (21 years ago), she asserted in an interview that the then-forthcoming album would be "a mix between Kate Bush, Sinéad O'Connor, This Mortal Coil and the Cocteau Twins". After it was initially presented by SBK strictly as a pop album, Jovovich protested, insisting on using her personal poetry for lyrics and recording her own instrumental material. Jovovich had written the songs when she was fifteen, with the exception of a Ukrainian folk song, "In a Glade", that she covered. In Apr. 1994 (17 years ago), billed under her first name, she released The Divine Comedy, a title that was a reference to the epic poem by Dante Alighieri of the same name. Jovovich had chosen the title after seeing Russian artist Alexis Steele's proposed cover artwork sketch for the then untitled album. Jovovich found that the sketch had "all the struggle that I'm singing about. It IS the divine comedy". The Divine Comedy was well received by critics, and featured pop-infused traditional Ukrainian folk songs that led to comparisons with musicians Tori Amos and Kate Bush. John McAlley of Rolling Stone called the album "remarkable", "strikingly mature and rich in invention" and as featuring "angst-laced poetry with vivid melodies and arrangements that find a common spirit in synth pop, European folk and psychedelic dream rock". Jovovich released the track "Gentleman Who Fell", with an accompanying music video, as the sole single from the album. The music video was originally directed by Lisa Bonet and featured Harry Dean Stanton, but Jovovich was unsatisfied with the results and decided to movie another version. The second version of "Gentleman Who Fell", a homage to Maya Deren's short movie Meshes of the Afternoon (1943, 68 years ago), was subsequently played on MTV. Jovovich toured the United States during most of 1994 (17 years ago) to promote the album, opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket and Crash Test Dummies, as well as playing smaller acoustic sets. Jovovich had opted to perform in smaller and more intimate settings, turning down a musical appearance on Saturday Night Live. Milla has also been collaborating musically with longtime friend and musician Chris Brenner, who co-wrote with her on the Divine Comedy Album and who was the musical coordinator for the supporting tour. She and Brenner met in 1993 (18 years ago) and have been working creatively on different ventures ever since. Following The Divine Comedy, she expressed interest in releasing a second album, having had ten songs ready for a future recording that was intended for a Summer 1996 (15 years ago) release. However, Jovovich has yet to release a second album. 


In May 1999 (12 years ago), Jovovich along with Chris Brenner formed an experimental band called Plastic Has Memory, in which she wrote the songs, sang and played electric guitar. The band was "[m]uch heavier and darker than the vaguely Ukrainian folk-sounding elements of her first album" and had a similar sound to a grunge and trip hop Portishead. Plastic Has Memory played about a dozen shows in Los Angeles and New York City for a potential Virgin Records album release, one of which Mick Jagger had attended. Though Plastic Has Memory was featured on Hollywood Goes Wild, a benefit celebrity compilation album, the group never formally released a record and is no longer together. 


Jovovich has contributed tracks to several of her movie soundtracks, including The Million Dollar Hotel (2000, 11 years ago) and Dummy (2002, 9 years ago), and has also provided songs for movie soundtracks in which she has not acted such as Underworld (2003, 8 years ago) produced by musician Danny Lohner who was the bass player in Nine Inch Nails for many years. In 2001 (10 years ago), Jovovich was one of many celebrities whose vocals were featured in a cover of "We are Family" to raise money for the American Red Cross. She has appeared as guest vocalist on the song "Former Lover" on Deepak Chopra's album, A Gift of Love II: Oceans of Ecstasy (2002, 9 years ago) and Legion of Boom (2004, 7 years ago) by The Crystal Method. 


Since 2003 (8 years ago), Jovovich has worked with musician Maynard James Keenan, of Tool and A Perfect Circle, on his Industrial side project Puscifer, contributing vocals to the track "REV 22:20", which was featured on various movie soundtracks in its original or a remixed form. As of January, 2009 (2 years ago), she can be heard collaborating with Maynard and Danny Lohner on the Puscifer track called, "The Mission." https://store.puscifer.com/frameset.html. She also performed the song at the first live Puscifer performance on Feb. 13th, 2009 (2 years ago) in Las Vegas Nevada. Danny Lohner, and longtime music collaborator Chris Brenner currently continue to record and perform with Jovovich who has made several highly praised appearances in recent years. 


Jovovich continues to write songs which she refers to as "demos", and which are provided for free in mp3 format on her official website. She provides license to freely download and remix the tracks, but reserves the right to sell and issue them. 


PERSONAL LIFE
Jovovich currently resides in homes in Los Angeles and New York with her husband, movie writer and director Paul W. S. Anderson, whom she married on 22 Aug. 2009 (2 years ago). The two met while working on Resident Evil, which Anderson wrote and directed, and in which Jovovich starred. Anderson proposed to Jovovich in 2003 (8 years ago), but the two separated for a period of time before becoming a couple again. The couple have stated that they "would love to get married, but maybe after the baby." On Nov. 3, 2007 (4 years ago), Jovovich gave birth to her and Anderson's first child, a daughter, Ever Gabo Anderson. The child was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, one day before Jovovich's due date of Nov. 4. Ever, a male Scottish name, was given to reflect Anderson's Scottish heritage, while the middle name of Gabo (pronounced "Gabeau") was a combination of Jovovich's parents' names — the first two letters of mother Galina and the first two letters of father Bogie's. Wim Wenders, who directed Jovovich's movie The Million Dollar Hotel, is the baby's godfather. Jovovich has stated that she would like to have three children, saying through means of adoption as well. She has two miniature Maltese dogs, Bubble and Madness, and a Giant Schnauzer named Oliver Cromwell. 


Prior to her relationship with Anderson, Jovovich married on-screen boyfriend Shawn Andrews in 1992 (19 years ago) while filming Dazed and Confused together. Andrews was 21, while Jovovich was 16; the marriage was annulled by her mother two months later. Shortly after the annulment, Jovovich moved to Europe with her friend and musician Chris Brenner where she met and then lived with her new boyfriend, Jamiroquai ex-bassist Stuart Zender, in London from May 1994 (17 years ago) to Oct 1995 (16 years ago). From 1995 (16 years ago) to 1997 (14 years ago), she was serious with noted photographer Mario Sorrenti. In Las Vegas, she married The Fifth Element director Luc Besson in 1998 (13 years ago) where they went skydiving directly after the ceremony; they divorced in 1999 (12 years ago). Between 1998 (13 years ago) and 2001 (10 years ago), she befriended the young poet and musician, Anno Birkin, and were each other's inspiration behind many of their compositions. Jovovich became involved with Birkin romantically just before his death in a car accident in late 2001 (10 years ago). Jovovich also dated Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, for seven months in 2000 (11 years ago). 


In 2006 (5 years ago), Jovovich mentioned her interest in publishing her private diaries as an autobiography. She had kept a diary since childhood, writing about the locations she has traveled and "all the mad things that [she's] done". Jovovich has stated that she views publication as a way to "get it all into a book—like an autobiography", and it would have a "diary feel to it". However, she also commented that she was "…not sure how interested anyone would be in publishing it, or reading it, for that matter." 


In addition to being a smoker, Jovovich has advocated the legalization of cannabis, and appeared in a spread and on the cover for High Times. In an article published in 1994 (17 years ago), she admitted that her only vices were cigarettes and cannabis. She practices yoga and meditates often in attempts to live a healthy lifestyle; although not affiliating with a certain religion, she prays and considers herself a "spiritual person". She avoids junk foods and prefers to cook for herself. She practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in addition to other varieties of martial arts. Jovovich also enjoys playing the guitar, writing in a diary, and writing poems and lyrics for songs. 


Jovovich is multilingual—she can speak English, French, her native Russian, and Serbian. 


She is a "big fan" of New Scientist and Scientific American magazines. 


FILMOGRAPHY
1988 (23 years ago): Two Moon Junction
1991 (20 years ago): Return to the Blue Lagoon
1992 (19 years ago): Kuffs
1992 (19 years ago): Chaplin
1993 (18 years ago): Dazed and Confused
1997 (14 years ago): The Fifth Element
1998 (13 years ago): He Got Game
1999 (12 years ago): The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
2000 (11 years ago): The Claim
2001 (10 years ago): The Million Dollar Hotel
2001 (10 years ago): Zoolander
2002 (9 years ago): Resident Evil
2002 (9 years ago): You Stupid Man
2003 (8 years ago): Dummy
2003 (8 years ago): No Good Deed
2004 (7 years ago): Resident Evil: Apocalypse
2005 (6 years ago): Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula
2006 (5 years ago): Ultraviolet
2007 (4 years ago):.45
2007 (4 years ago): Resident Evil: Extinction
2008 (3 years ago): The Palermo Shooting
2009 (2 years ago): A Perfect Getaway (7 walls)
2009 (2 years ago): The Fourth Kind
2009 (2 years ago): Azazel
2009 (2 years ago): Stone
2010 (last year): Resident Evil: Afterlife


TV-SHOWS (SERIES)
1988 (23 years ago): The Night Train to Kathmandu
1988 (23 years ago): Paradise
1989 (22 years ago): Married... with Children
1990 (21 years ago): Parker Lewis Can't Lose


DISCOGRAPHY
The Divine Comedy
The People tree Sessions




Source: en.wikipedia.org






Natalie Portman



FACTS ABOUT NATALIE PORTMAN


















Date of Birth:09 June 1981
Birthplace:Jerusalem, Israel.
Age:29
First Name:Natalie
Last Name:Portman
Build:Slim
Height:5' 3" (160 cm)
Eye Color:Brown - Light
Hair Color:Brown - Dark
Star Sign:Gemini
Claim to Fame:Queen Amidala on Star Wars
Occupation:Actress
Religion:Other
Occupation Category:Actress
Nationality:American
Alternative Names:Nat
















BIOGRAPHY FOR NATALIE PORTMAN
Natalie Portman (Hebrew: נטלי פורטמן‎; born Natalie Hershlag Jun. 9, 1981 (30 years ago)) is an Israeli American actress. Her first role came in the 1994 (17 years ago) independent movie Léon (known in the United States as The Professional). She achieved wider fame after playing Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Portman, who has said "I'd rather be smart than a movie star," completed a bachelor's degree in psychology at Harvard College while she was working on the Star Wars films. 


In 2001 (10 years ago), Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull (5 walls), alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. In 2005 (6 years ago), Portman received a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actress in the drama Closer. In May 2008 (3 years ago), she served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes movie Festival jury. Portman's directorial debut, Eve, opened the 65th Venice International movie Festival's shorts competition in 2008 (3 years ago). 


EARLY YEARS
Portman was born Natalie Hershlag (Hebrew: נטלי הרשלג‎) in Jerusalem, Israel. Her father, Avner Hershlag, is an Israeli doctor specializing in fertility and reproduction (reproductive endocrinology). Her mother, Shelley Stevens, is an American homemaker who now works as her agent. Portman's maternal ancestors were Jews from Austria and Russia and her paternal ancestors were Jews who immigrated to Israel from Poland and Romania. Her paternal grandfather's parents died in Auschwitz and her Romanian-born great-grandmother was a spy for the British during World War II. 


Portman's parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University where her mother was selling tickets. Her father returned to Israel, and the two corresponded and were married when her mother visited Israel a few years later. In 1984 (27 years ago), when Portman was three years old, the family moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training. The family first lived in Washington, D.C., where Portman attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, but relocated to Connecticut in 1988 (23 years ago), and then settled permanently in Long Island, New York, in 1990 (21 years ago). Portman has said that although she "really loves the States... my heart's in Jerusalem. That's where I feel at home." She is an only child and very close to her parents, who are often seen with her at her movie premieres. 


CAREER
Early work 
Portman started dancing lessons at age 4 and she performed in local troupes. At the age of 10, a Revlon agent asked her to become a child model, but she turned down the offer, to focus on acting. In a magazine interview, Portman said that she was "...different from the other kids. I was more ambitious, I knew what I liked and what I wanted, and I worked very hard. I was a very serious kid." Portman spent her school holidays attending theater camps. When she was ten, she auditioned for Ruthless!, a play about a girl who is prepared to commit murder to get the lead in a school play, and she was chosen as the understudy for Laura Bell Bundy. In 1994 (17 years ago), she auditioned for the role of a child who befriends a middle-aged hitman in Luc Besson's movie Léon (aka The Professional). Soon after getting the part, she took her grandmother's maiden name "Portman" as her stage name, in the interest of privacy; in the director's cut of the movie on DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) she is credited as Natalie Hershlag. Léon opened on Nov. 18, 1994 (17 years ago), marking her feature movie debut at age 13. That same year she appeared in the short movie Developing, which aired on TV. 


1995–1999 
During the mid-1990s, Portman had roles in the movies Heat, Everyone Says I Love You, and Mars Attacks!, as well as a major role in Beautiful Girls. She was also the first choice to play Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, but producers felt her age wasn't suitable. In 1997 (14 years ago), Portman played the role of Anne Frank in a Broadway adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank. She initially turned down the lead role in the movie Anywhere but Here, after learning it would involve a sex scene, but director Wayne Wang and actress Susan Sarandon demanded a rewrite of the script; Portman was shown a new draft, and she joined the project. The movie opened in late 1999 (12 years ago), and she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Ann August. Critic Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon called Portman "astonishing" and said that "[u]nlike any number of actresses her age, she's neither too maudlin nor too plucky." In the late 1990s, Portman was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The first part, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, opened in early 1999 (12 years ago). She then signed on to play the lead role of a persevering teenaged mother in Where the Heart Is. 


2000–2005 
After filming Where the Heart Is, Portman moved into the dorms of Harvard University to pursue her bachelor's degree in psychology. She said in a 1999 (12 years ago) interview that, with the exception of the Star Wars prequels, she would not act for the next four years in order to concentrate on studying. During the summer break, from Jun. to sep. 2000 (11 years ago), Portman filmed Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones in Sydney, including additional production in London. In Jul. 2001 (10 years ago), Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull (5 walls), directed by Mike Nichols, playing the role of Nina alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The play opened at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. That same year, she was one of many celebrities who made cameo appearances in the comedy Zoolander. In 2002 (9 years ago), the movie opened around the world. Portman was cast in a small role in the movie Cold Mountain alongside Jude Law (4 walls) and Nicole Kidman. 


In 2004 (7 years ago), Portman appeared in the independent movies Garden State and Closer. Garden State was an official selection of the Sundance movie Festival, and won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. Her performance as Alice in Closer saw Portman win a Supporting Actress Golden Globe as well as a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. 


The final Star Wars prequel, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released on May 19, 2005 (6 years ago). The movie was the highest grossing movie of the year, and was voted Favorite Motion picture (wallpaper) at the People's Choice Awards. Also in 2005 (6 years ago), Portman filmed Free Zone and director Miloš Forman's Goya's Ghosts. Forman had not seen any of her work, but thought she looked like a Goya painting so he requested a meeting. 


2006–present 
Portman appeared on Saturday Night Live on Mar. 4, 2006 (5 years ago), hosting the show with musical guest Fall Out Boy and special guest star Dennis Haysbert. In a SNL Digital Short, she portrays herself as an angry gangsta rapper (with Andy Samberg as her Flavor Flav-esque partner in Viking garb) during a faux-interview with Chris Parnell, saying she cheated at Harvard University while high on pot and cocaine. The song, titled "Natalie's Rap", was released - alongside other sketches from the show - in 2009 (2 years ago) on Incredibad, an album by the Lonely Island. In another sketch, she portrays a student named Rebecca Hershlag (her actual surname) attending a Bar Mitzvah, and in an installment of the recurring sketch The Needlers (also known as Sally and Dan, The Couple That Should Be Divorced), plays a fertility specialist (her father's profession). 


V for Vendetta opened in early 2006 (5 years ago). Portman portrayed Evey Hammond, a young woman who is saved from the secret police by the main character, V. Portman worked with a voice coach for the role, learning to speak with an English accent, and had her head shaved. 


Portman has commented on V for Vendetta's political relevance, and mentioned that her character, who joins an underground anti-government group, is "often bad and does things that you don't like" and that "Being from Israel was a reason I wanted to do this because terrorism and violence are such a daily part of my conversations since I was little." She said the movie "doesn't make clear good or bad statements. It respects the audience enough to take away their own opinion". Both Goya's Ghosts and Free Zone received limited releases in 2006 (5 years ago). Portman starred in the children's movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which began filming in Apr. 2006 (5 years ago) and was released in Nov. 2007; she has said that she was "excited to do a kids' movie." In late 2006 (5 years ago), Portman filmed The Other Boleyn Girl (4 walls), a historical drama in which she plays Anne Boleyn; Eric Bana and Scarlett Johansson (60 walls) co-starred in the film. She was also named one of the hottest women of movie and TV by Blender Magazine. 


In 2006 (5 years ago), she filmed Wong Kar-wai's road movie My Blueberry Nights. She won acclaim for her role as gambler Leslie, because "for once she's not playing a waif or a child princess but a mature, full-bodied woman,...but she's not coasting on her looks;...She uses her appeal to simultaneously flirt with and taunt the gambler across the table". Portman voiced Bart Simpson's girlfriend Darcy in the episode "Little Big Girl" of The Simpsons' 18th season. She also appears in Paul McCartney's music video "Dance Tonight" from his 2007 (4 years ago) album Memory Almost Full, directed by Michel Gondry. Portman co-starred in the Wes Anderson short movie Hotel Chevalier, opposite Jason Schwartzman, in which she performed her first nude scene. She is scheduled to star opposite Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal (6 walls) in the drama movie Brothers, a remake of the 2004 (7 years ago) Danish movie of the same name. In May 2008 (3 years ago), Portman served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes movie Festival jury. 


Portman has been cast in the role of Jane Foster in Kenneth Branagh's upcoming Thor film. 


EDUCATION
Although she says her family was not religious, Portman attended a Jewish elementary school, the Solomon Schechter Day School of Glen Cove, New York. She graduated from a public high school, Syosset High School. Portman skipped the premiere of Star Wars: Episode I so she could study for her high school final exams. 


In Jun. 2003 (8 years ago), Portman graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor's degree in psychology. At Harvard, Portman was Alan Dershowitz's research assistant (he thanks her in The Case for Israel) in a psychology lab. While attending Harvard, she was a resident of Lowell House and wrote a letter to the Harvard Crimson in response to an anti-Israeli essay. 


Portman took graduate courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the spring of 2004 (7 years ago). In Mar. 2006 (5 years ago), she appeared as a guest lecturer at a Columbia University course in terrorism and counterterrorism, where she spoke about her movie V for Vendetta. 


In addition to being bilingual in Hebrew and English, Portman has studied French, Japanese, German, and Arabic. 


As a student, Portman co-authored two research papers that were published in professional scientific journals. Her 1998 (13 years ago) high school paper "A Simple Method To Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar" was entered in the Intel Science Talent Search. In 2002 (9 years ago), she contributed to a study on memory called "Frontal Lobe Activation During Object Permanence" during her psychology studies at Harvard. 


PERSONAL LIFE
Portman has been a vegetarian since childhood and is an advocate for animal rights. She does not eat animal products or wear fur, feathers, or leather. "All of my shoes are from Target and Stella McCartney," she has said. It has been reported that she will appear alongside actress Elissa Sursara in a PETA PSA to support the group's anti-fur campaign at some point throughout 2009 (2 years ago). In 2007 (4 years ago), Natalie Portman traveled to Rwanda with Jack Hanna, to movie a documentary titled Gorillas on the Brink. Later, at a naming ceremony, Portman named a baby gorilla Gukina, which means "to play." In 2007 (4 years ago), she launched her own brand of vegan footwear. Portman has been an advocate of environmental causes since childhood, when she joined an environmental song and dance troupe known as World Patrol Kids. She is also a member of the One Voice movement. 


Portman was involved with the 2004 (7 years ago) presidential campaign of Democratic candidate John Kerry and has supported antipoverty activities. In 2004 (7 years ago) and 2005 (6 years ago), she traveled to Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador as the Ambassador of Hope for FINCA International, an organization that promotes micro-lending to help finance women-owned businesses in poor countries. In an interview conducted backstage at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia and appearing on the PBS program Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, she discussed microfinance. Host Fareed Zakaria said that he was "generally wary of celebrities with fashionable causes", but included the segment with Portman because "she really knew her stuff." In the "Voices" segment of the Apr. 29, 2007 (4 years ago), episode of the ABC Sunday Morning Program This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Portman discussed her work with FINCA and how it can benefit women and children in Third World countries. In fall 2007 (4 years ago), Portman visited several university campuses, including Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, New York University, and Columbia, to inspire students with the power of microfinance and to encourage them to join the Village Banking Campaign to help families and communities lift themselves out of poverty. 


On the concept of the afterlife, she comments: "I don't believe in that. I believe this is it, and I believe it's the best way to live." She has said that she feels more Jewish in Israel and that she would like to raise her children in the Jewish religion: "A priority for me is definitely that I'd like to raise my kids Jewish, but the ultimate thing is to have someone who is a good person and who is a partner... I get much more Jewish in Israel." During the 2008 (3 years ago) Democratic primaries, Portman supported Senator Hillary Clinton for president, but said that she "likes Obama as well. I even like John McCain." She later campaigned for Obama during the general election. 


In the May 2002 (9 years ago) issue of Vogue, Portman called actor/musician Lukas Haas and musician Moby her close friends. After starring in the video for his song "Carmensita," she began a relationship with Venezuelan folk singer Devendra Banhart. which ended in sep. 2008 (3 years ago). 


FILMOGRAPHY
Léon
Developing
Heat
Beautiful Girls
Everyone Says I Love You
Mars Attacks!
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Anywhere but Here
Where the Heart Is
Zoolander
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Cold Mountain
Garden State
Closer
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Free Zone
V for Vendetta
Paris, je t'aime
Goya's Ghosts
My Blueberry Nights
The Darjeeling Limited
Hotel Chevalier
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
The Other Boleyn Girl (4 walls)
New York, I Love You
Brothers
17 Photos of Isabel
Thor




Source: en.wikipedia.org






Tuesday, 7 June 2011

Kirsten Dunst



FACTS ABOUT KIRSTEN DUNST




















Date of Birth:30 April 1982
Birthplace:Point Pleasant, New Jersey
Age:28
First Name:Kirsten
Middle Name:Caroline
Last Name:Dunst
Maiden Name:Dunst
Build:Slim
Height:5' 5?" (166 cm)
Eye Color:Blue
Hair Color:Blonde
Star Sign:Taurus
Claim to Fame:Mary-Jane on Spider-Man
Occupation:Actress
Religion:Lutheran
Occupation Category:Actress
Nationality:American
Alternative Names:Kiki, Kristen Dunst
BIOGRAPHY FOR KIRSTEN DUNST
Kirsten Caroline Dunst (born Apr. 30, 1982 (29 years ago)) is an American actress, model, and singer. She made her movie debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short movie directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories (1989, 22 years ago). At the age of 12, Dunst gained widespread recognition playing the role of vampire Claudia in Interview with the Vampire (1994, 17 years ago). She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for this performance. That same year she appeared in Little Women, to further acclaim. 






















Dunst achieved international fame as a result of her portrayal of Mary Jane Watson in the Spider-Man trilogy. Since then her movies have included the romantic comedy Wimbledon (2004, 7 years ago), the science fiction drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, 7 years ago) and Cameron Crowe's tragicomedy Elizabethtown (2005, 6 years ago). She played the title role in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006, 5 years ago), and she starred in the comedy How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008, 3 years ago). 


In 2001 (10 years ago), Dunst made her singing debut in the movie Get Over It, in which she performed two songs. She also sang the jazz song "After You've Gone" for the end credits of the movie The Cat's Meow (2001, 10 years ago). In early 2008 (3 years ago) Dunst confirmed she was suffering from depression, checking into a treatment center before discharging herself in Mar. and resuming her career. 


EARLY YEARS
Dunst was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey to Klaus and Inez Dunst. She has a younger brother, Christian (born 1987 (24 years ago)). Her father worked as a medical services executive, and her mother was an artist and one-time gallery owner. Dunst is of German descent on her father's side, and Swedish on her mother's. 


Until the age of six Dunst lived in New Jersey, where she attended Ranney School before moving with her mother and younger brother to Los Angeles, California in 1991 (20 years ago). In 1995 (16 years ago), her mother filed for divorce. The following year Dunst began attending Notre Dame, a private Catholic high school in Los Angeles. After graduating from Notre Dame she continued the acting career that she had begun at the age of eight. As a teenager, Dunst found it difficult to deal with her rising fame, and for a period blamed her mother for pushing her into acting as a child. However, she later expressed that her mother "...always had the best intentions". When asked if she had any regrets about the way she spent her childhood, Dunst said: "Well, it's not a natural way to grow up, but it's the way I grew up and I wouldn't change it. I have my stuff to work out...I don't think anybody can sit around and say: 'My life is more screwed up than yours.' Everybody has their issues." 


CAREER
Early work
Dunst began her career when she was three years old as a child fashion model in TV commercials. She was signed with Ford Models and Elite Model Management. At the age of eight she made her movie debut in a minor role in Woody Allen's Oedipus Wrecks, a short movie that was released as one-third of the anthology New York Stories (1989, 22 years ago). Soon after, she landed a small part in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990, 21 years ago), as Tom Hanks's daughter. In 1993 (18 years ago), Dunst played Hedril in "Dark Page", the seventh episode of the seventh season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. 


Critical success
The breakthrough role in Dunst's career came in Interview with the Vampire, a 1994 (17 years ago) movie based on Anne Rice's novel, in which she played the child vampire Claudia, a surrogate daughter to Tom Cruise (12 walls) and Brad Pitt's characters in the film. The movie received generally unfavorable reviews, but many movie critics complimented Dunst's performance. Roger Ebert commented that Dunst's creation of the child vampire Claudia was one of the "creepier" aspects of the film, and mentioned her ability to convey the impression of great age inside apparent youth. Todd McCarthy in Variety noted that Dunst was "just right" for the family. The movie featured a scene in which Dunst received her first kiss from Brad pitt (15 walls), who was 18 years her senior. In an interview with Interview magazine, she revealed, while questioned about her kissing scene with Pitt, that kissing him had made her feel uncomfortable: "I thought it was gross, that Brad had cooties. I mean, I was 10." Her performance earned her the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, the Saturn Award for Best Young Actress, and her first Golden Globe Award nomination. 




Dunst during the 2005 (6 years ago) Toronto movie FestivalShe then appeared in the adaptation of the drama Little Women (1994, 17 years ago), Dunst portrayed Amy March, opposite Winona Ryder (4 walls) and Claire Danes. The movie received favorable reviews; critic Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the movie was the greatest adaptation of the novel and remarked on Dunst's performance: "The perfect contrast to take-charge Jo comes from Kirsten Dunst's scene-stealing Amy, whose vanity and twinkling mischief make so much more sense coming from an 11-year-old vixen than they did from grown-up Joan Bennett in 1933 (78 years ago). Ms Dunst, also scarily effective as the baby bloodsucker of Interview With the Vampire, is a little vamp with a big future." 


In 1995 (16 years ago), she appeared in the fantasy movie Jumanji, loosely based on Chris Van Allsburg's 1981 (30 years ago) book of the same name. The story is about a supernatural and ominous board game which makes animals and other jungle hazards appear upon each roll of the dice. She was part of an ensemble cast that included Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, and David Alan Grier. The movie grossed $100 million worldwide. That same year, and again in 2002 (9 years ago), she was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. In 1996 (15 years ago), Dunst had a recurring role in the season three of NBC's medical drama ER. She portrayed a child prostitute, Charlie Chiemingo, taken under the guidance of Dr. Doug Ross, played by George Clooney. In 1997 (14 years ago), she was the voice of Young Anastasia in the animated musical movie Anastasia. Also in 1997 (14 years ago), Dunst appeared in the political satire Wag the Dog, opposite Robert De Niro (6 walls) and Dustin Hoffman. The following year she was the voice of the title character, Kiki, a 13-year-old apprentice witch who leaves her home village to spend a year on her own, in the anime movie Kiki's Delivery Service (1998, 13 years ago). 


Dunst was offered the role of Angela in the 1999 (12 years ago) drama movie American Beauty, but turned it down because she did not want to appear in the film's suggestive sexual scenes or kiss co-star Kevin Spacey. She later explained: "When I read it, I was 15 and I don't think I was mature enough to understand the script's material." That same year, she appeared in the comedy Dick, alongside Michelle Williams. The movie is a parody retelling the events of the Watergate scandal which lead to the resignation of U.S. president Richard Nixon. 


In Sofia Coppola's independent movie The Virgin Suicides (1999, 12 years ago), Dunst played the role of troubled adolescent Lux Lisbon. The movie was screened as a special presentation at the 43rd San Francisco International movie Festival in 2000 (11 years ago). The movie received generally favorable reviews, and San Francisco Chronicle critic Peter Stack noted in his review that Dunst "beautifully balances innocence and wantonness". 


In 2000 (11 years ago), she played Torrance Shipman, the captain of a cheerleading squad in Bring It On. The movie generated mostly critical reviews, with Charles Taylor of Salon.com writing that the movie had failed to provide Dunst with as good a role as she had either in Dick or in The Virgin Suicides. However, Jessica Winter of The Village Voice complimented Dunst, stating that her performance was "as sprightly and knowingly daft as her turn in Dick. She provides the only major element of Bring It On that plays as tweaking parody rather than slick, strident, body-slam churlishness." The movie grossed $68 million worldwide. 


The following year, Dunst had the lead in the teen comedy Get Over It (2001, 10 years ago). She later explained that one of the reason for accepting the role was that it gave her the opportunity to sing. Also in 2001 (10 years ago), Dunst depicted the late American actress Marion Davies in The Cat's Meow (2001, 10 years ago). The film, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, was described by Derek Elley of Variety as "playful and sporty", saying of Dunst that this was her best performance to date. "Believable as both a spoiled ingenue and a lover to two very different men, Dunst endows a potentially lightweight character with considerable depth and sympathy." In the Esquire review, Tom Carson called her performance "terrific". For her work, she won the Best Actress Silver Ombú category award at the 2002 (9 years ago) Mar del Plata movie Festival. 


Spider-Man and after
In the 2002 (9 years ago) superhero movie Spider-Man, the most successful movie of her career to date, Dunst played Mary Jane Watson, the best friend and love interest of the title character, played by Tobey Maguire. The movie was directed by Sam Raimi. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly remarked on Dunst's ability to "lend even the smallest line a tickle of flirtatious music." In the Los Angeles Times review, critic Kenneth Turan noted that Dunst and Maguire made a real connection on screen, concluding that their relationship involved audiences to an extent rarely seen in films. Spider-Man was a commercial and critical success. The movie grossed $114 million during its opening weekend in North America and went on to earn $822 million worldwide. 


Following the success of Spider-Man, Dunst appeared in the independent drama Levity (2003, 8 years ago), where she had a supporting role. In this same year she starred in Mona Lisa Smile (2003, 8 years ago), part of an ensemble cast that included Julia Roberts, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Julia Stiles. The movie generated mostly negative reviews, with Manohla Dargis of the Los Angeles Times describing it as "smug and reductive". She next appeared in the supporting role of Mary Svevo in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, 7 years ago), alongside Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet (8 walls), and Tom Wilkinson. The latter movie received very positive reviews, with Entertainment Weekly describing Dunst's subplot as "nifty and clever". The movie grossed $72 million worldwide. 


The success of the first Spider-Man movie led Dunst to reprise the role in the 2004 (7 years ago) sequel, Spider-Man 2. The movie was well received by critics, and it proved to be a big financial success, setting a new opening weekend box office record for North America. With revenue of $783 million worldwide, it became the second highest grossing movie in 2004 (7 years ago). Also in 2004 (7 years ago), she appeared in the romantic comedy Wimbledon, a movie in which she portrays a rising tennis player in the Wimbledon Championships opposite Paul Bettany, who plays a fading former tennis star. Reception for the movie was mixed, but many critics enjoyed Dunst's performance; Claudia Puig of USA Today reported that the chemistry between Dunst and Bettany was potent, with Dunst doing a fine job as a sassy and self-assured player. 


In 2005 (6 years ago), she appeared as flight attendant Claire Colburn alongside Orlando Bloom (7 walls), in Elizabethtown, a movie written and directed by Cameron Crowe. The movie premiered at the 2005 (6 years ago) Toronto movie Festival. Dunst revealed that working with Crowe was enjoyable, but more demanding than she had expected. The movie garnered mixed reviews, with the Chicago Tribune rating it one out of four stars and describing Dunst's portrayal of a flight attendant as "cloying". It was a box office disappointment. 


Dunst at the premiere of Spider-Man 3 (7 walls) in Stockholm, Sweden in Apr. 2007Dunst's next movie role was the title character in the 2006 (5 years ago) biographical movie Marie Antoinette. Adapted from Antonia Fraser's book Marie Antoinette: The Journey, the movie was Dunst's second with director Sofia Coppola. The movie was screened at a special presentation at the 2006 (5 years ago) Cannes movie Festival, and was reviewed favourably. International revenues were $45 million out of $60 million overall. 


In 2007 (4 years ago) she again played Mary Jane Watson, in Spider-Man 3. In contrast to the previous two films' positive reviews, Spider-Man 3 (7 walls) was met with a mixed reception by critics. Nonetheless, with a total worldwide gross of $891 million, it stands as the most successful movie in the series, and Dunst's highest grossing movie to the end of 2008 (3 years ago). Having initially signed on for three Spider-Man films, she revealed that she would do a fourth, but only if Raimi and Maguire also returned. 


In the 2008 (3 years ago) movie How to Lose Friends and Alienate People Dunst appeared alongside Simon Pegg. The movie is an adaptation of the memoir of the same name by former Vanity Fair contributing editor Toby Young. Dunst signed on to the film, later revealing that she had joined the project because Pegg was scheduled to appear in it. 


She agreed to appear in All Good Things, scheduled for release in 2009 (2 years ago), in a leading role opposite Ryan Gosling, portraying a woman from a run-down neighborhood who goes missing. She also signed to appear in Sweet Relief, also to be released in 2009 (2 years ago), as peace activist Marla Ruzicka, a US relief worker killed by a suicide bomb in Baghdad. She has expressed interest in playing the role of Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry in Michel Gondry's upcoming biographical movie about the band. Dunst will appear in a fourth Spider-Man film, set for a release in 2011 (this year). In addition, she has agreed to star opposite Emile Hirsch in Upside Down. 


Music
Dunst made her singing debut in the 2001 (10 years ago) movie Get Over It, performing two songs written by Marc Shaiman. She also lent her voice to the end credits of The Cat's Meow, singing Henry Creamer and Turner Layton's jazz standard "After You've Gone". In Spider-Man 3 (7 walls), she sings two songs as part of her role as Mary Jane Watson, one during a Broadway performance, and one as a singing waitress in a jazz club. Dunst revealed that she recorded the songs earlier and later lip-synced to it when filming began. She also appeared in the music video for Savage Garden's "I Knew I Loved You", and she sang two tracks, "This Old Machine" and "Summer Day", on Jason Schwartzman's 2007 (4 years ago) solo album Nighttiming. In an interview with The Advertiser, Dunst explained that she has no plans to follow the steps of actors such as Russell Crowe or Toni Collette's in releasing an album, saying: "Definitely not. No way. It worked when Barbra Streisand was doing it, but now it's a little cheesy, I think. It works better when singers are in movies." 


PERSONAL LIFE
As of 2009 (2 years ago) Dunst remains unmarried, and has not been identified with a long-term partner. She has reportedly been involved in short-term relationships with playwright Jeff Smeenge, actor Jake Gyllenhaal (6 walls), and musician Johnny Borrell of Razorlight. 


Dunst supported Democratic candidate John Kerry in the 2004 (7 years ago) US presidential election. Four years later, she supported Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 (3 years ago) presidential election. Dunst revealed that she supported Obama "from the beginning" of the presidential campaign. In support of this, she directed and narrated a documentary entitled Why Tuesday, explaining the United States tradition of voting on Tuesdays. Dunst explained that Tuesday is "not a holiday, and [the United States is] one of the lowest democratic countries in voter turnout". She felt it important to "influence people in a positive way" to vote on Nov. 4. 


Her charity work includes participation with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, in which she helped design and promote a necklace, for which all proceeds from sales went to the Glaser foundation. She also has helped with breast cancer awareness; in sep. 2008 (3 years ago) she participated in the Stand Up to Cancer telethon, to help raise funds to accelerate cancer research. 


Dunst has confirmed that she was treated for depression in early 2008 (3 years ago). She sought treatment at the Cirque Lodge treatment center in Utah. Dunst explained that she had been feeling low in the six months prior to her going to rehab. In late Mar. she checked out from the treatment center and began filming All Good Things. In May she went public with this information, she said, to highlight the struggle faced by so many other successful women and to dispel false rumors that had been very painful for her friends and family. 


FILMOGRAPHY
New York Stories
The Bonfire of the Vanities
High Strung
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Greedy
Interview with the Vampire
Little Women
Jumanji
Mother Night
ER
The Outer Limits
Tower of Terror
Anastasia
Gun
Wag the Dog
Fifteen and Pregnant
Kiki's Delivery Service
Small Soldiers
The Hairy Bird
The Devil's Arithmetic
The Virgin Suicides
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Dick
The Crow: Salvation
Luckytown
Bring It On
Deeply
Get Over It
Crazy/Beautiful
The Cat's Meow
Spider-Man
Levity
Kaena: The Prophecy
Mona Lisa Smile
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Spider-Man 2
Wimbledon
Elizabethtown
Marie Antoinette
Spider-Man 3 (7 walls)
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
All Good Things
A Jealous Ghost
Sweet Relief
Upside Down
Spider-Man 4
Spider-Man 5




Source: en.wikipedia.org