American actress, model, and occasional singer Jessica Claire Biel

Jessica Claire Biel is an American actress, model, and occasional singer. Biel is known for her television role as Mary Camden in the long-running family-drama series 7th Heaven. She has also appeared in several Hollywood films, including Summer Catch, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Illusionist, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and The A-Team.



Jessica Claire Biel was born in Ely, Minnesota. Her mother, Kimberly is a homemaker and spiritual healer. Her father, Jonathan Biel, worked for GE and was also an entrepreneur and business consultant. She is of German, French, English, and Choctaw ancestry and has a younger brother, Justin, born in 1985. Biel's family moved frequently during her childhood, living in Texas, Connecticut, and Woodstock, Illinois, before finally settling in Boulder, Colorado. While growing up, Biel played soccer and also trained as a gymnast. She is also an avid snowboarder. From 2000 to 2002, she attended Tufts University.



Biel initially trained to be a vocalist, and from age nine appeared in several musical productions in her hometown, playing lead roles in productions such as Annie, The Sound of Music, and Beauty and the Beast.



At twelve, Biel attended The International Modeling and Talent Association conference in Los Angeles where she was discovered and signed by a talent agency. She began modeling for print advertisements, and appeared in commercials for products such as Dulux Paint and Pringles.



Biel also played the character Regrettal, a lead role in a low-budget musical short titled It's a Digital World, but the film was never released. At fourteen, after auditioning for several television pilots, Biel was cast as Mary Camden, the oldest daughter in the family drama 7th Heaven. The show ran 11 seasons, making it the longest-running family drama in U.S. television history.



Biel landed her first feature film role as Peter Fonda's granddaughter in the critically acclaimed drama Ulee's Gold, released in 1997. Her performance earned her a Young Artist Award. In spring 1998, during a break from filming 7th Heaven, Biel starred in I'll Be Home for Christmas, playing the love interest of Jonathan Taylor Thomas.



In 2000, during the fourth season of 7th Heaven, Biel commented that she had grown tired of playing the wholesome preacher's kid, and blamed the show for giving her a squeaky-clean image, causing her to lose out on a role in American Beauty (the part went to Thora Birch). In a last-ditch attempt to be released from her contract, she posed semi-nude for the cover of Gear magazine. The shoot sparked considerable controversy as Biel was still under eighteen at the time.





Fans and producers of 7th Heaven were outraged, and the latter brought legal action against Gear magazine. 7th Heaven producer Aaron Spelling made it clear that Biel would be staying with the show for the remainder of her contract, although Biel appeared in minimal episodes in season five, due to her character attending college out of state. She has stated that she regrets the Gear shoot but considers it a learning experience.



In 2001, Biel played the love interest of Freddie Prinze, Jr. in the baseball-themed movie Summer Catch. The next year she starred as promiscuous college student Lara in the ensemble movie The Rules of Attraction, an adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel.

American television host and actress "Kelly Ripa"

Kelly Maria Ripa Consuelos is an American television host and actress. Since February 2001, she has served as the co-host of Live with Regis and Kelly, along with Regis Philbin. Earlier in her career, Ripa played Hayley Vaughan Santos for 12 years on the soap opera All My Children; she also played Faith Fairfield on Hope & Faith. Both are television series on ABC. Kelly Ripa was born in Stratford, New Jersey, the daughter of Esther, a homemaker, and Joseph Ripa, a labor union president and bus driver. Ripa's father has been the County Clerk for Camden County, New Jersey since June 2009. Ripa went to Berlin Community School in Berlin, New Jersey, later attending Eastern High School in Voorhees Township, New Jersey. She performed in high school plays and was discovered while performing in a play during her senior year of high school, The Ugly Duckling (play). Ripa acted in local theater and was a featured regular on USA Network's Dance Party USA – an afternoon teen music program.



Born     Kelly Maria Ripa

October 2, 1970 (age 40)

Stratford, New Jersey

Occupation     Actress

Television personality

Talk show host

Years active     1986–present

Spouse     Mark Consuelos (1996–present; 3 children)



Ripa's first television exposure came when she appeared as a regular dancer first in local Philadelphia dance party show, Dancin' On Air. Later she appeared on a nationally syndicated dance show, Dance Party USA before she acquired her first major acting role in 1990 as goth teen turned suffering heroine Hayley Vaughan on the soap opera All My Children. While there, the character would become a popular fixture.



Later, Ripa was selected to work alongside Regis Philbin for the long-running talk show Live with Regis and Kelly, replacing Kathie Lee Gifford. Ripa was on double duty, but the following year in 2002, Ripa left All My Children. A few months before Ripa hosted Live, she appeared on a celebrity version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and walked away with $250,000 for charity.



In September 2003, she was back on double duty when she co-starred (with Faith Ford) on Hope & Faith, a situation comedy. She portrayed Faith Fairfield, a former soap star whose character is killed off and who moves in with (and subsequently wreaks havoc on) her sister Hope's family. Hope & Faith survived for three seasons before a ratings decline led to its cancellation.



In June 2004, Ripa agreed to continue as Live co-host for at least five more years, at a salary that the tabloid television show Extra reported was $8 million/year. In October 2006, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos, also an actor, were partnering with producers from Hope & Faith on a sitcom for The CW Television Network that would be loosely based on the couple's experiences as soap opera actors.



In April 2007, Ripa hosted the 2007 TV Land Awards. In May 2007, Ripa stated that she most likely is done with acting for the time being.



In 2009, Ripa appeared on the PBS children's series Electric Company in the role of Wednesday Jones, a private investigator.



On April 2, 2009, the TLC network announced they picked up two shows coming out of Kelly Ripa and her husband, Mark Consuelos's production company Milojo Productions. They will executive produce Mom Inc. and Eat, Drink and Be Married. Ripa will star in Mom, Inc. as the host. On October 16, 2009, Ripa and Consuelos returned to the show All My Children for two episodes for All My Children's 40th anniversary on January 4 and 5, 2010.



In 1995, Ripa met Mark Consuelos, her co-star on All My Children. The two eloped on May 1, 1996. The couple have three children: Michael Joseph Consuelos (born June 2, 1997), Lola Grace Consuelos (born June 16, 2001) and Joaquin Antonio Consuelos (born February 24, 2003).

Kelly Ripa on Jimmy Kimmel Live PART 1

American television personality and glamour model Kendra Wilkinson

Kendra Leigh Baskett professionally known by her maiden name, is an American television personality and glamour model. She is widely known for being one of Hugh Hefner's three girlfriends and for her role on the E! reality television series The Girls Next Door, on which her life in the Playboy Mansion was documented. Although not a Playboy Playmate, she has appeared in three nude pictorials with her Girls Next Door costars and fellow Hefner girlfriends Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt. Her own reality series, Kendra, debuted in June 2009.

Born     Kendra Leigh Wilkinson

June 12, 1985 (age 25)

San Diego, California, U.S.

Spouse(s)     Hank Baskett (2009-present)

Height     5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)

Weight     130 lb (59 kg)

Eye color     Blue

Hair color     Blonde



Kendra Wilkinson is of Irish, Ukrainian, and English descent. She is the elder of two children; her younger brother is Colin. Her mother, Patti, was originally from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and had been a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles. Her father, Eric, was raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and Ocean City, New Jersey, before moving to San Diego, California at age 15. He received a degree in biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and went on to found several biotechnology companies before retiring at the age of 48. Patti and Eric married on November 5, 1983. They divorced on March 25, 1994, when Kendra was eight. Her grandmother Gloria Wilkinson died in December 2004. Kendra Wilkinson was born in San Diego and raised in its middle class community Clairemont. She played softball for six years with the Clairemont Bobby Sox. She attended Clairemont High School, graduating in 2003. When she left high school she began working as a glamour model, and also briefly worked as a dental assistant.



Wilkinson met Hugh Hefner at his 78th birthday party in April 2004, where she was hired to be one of the "painted girls" (women who are nude except for painted-on accessories). Hefner had apparently seen her picture, shot by photographer Kim Riley, on a fax machine at the Playboy Mansion and wanted to know who she was. Shortly after they met, Hefner asked Wilkinson to be one of his girlfriends, and he moved her into the Playboy Mansion along with her dogs Rascal (a Pembroke Welsh Corgi) and Martini (a Jack Russell Terrier).



She was featured on the E! reality television series The Girls Next Door, which followed the lives of Hefner's then-girlfriends: Wilkinson, Holly Madison, and Bridget Marquardt. She moved out of the Playboy Mansion in 2009 after meeting her future husband, Hank Baskett, and filmed her own spin-off reality show for E! called Kendra. The first season was about her living on her own and planning her wedding.



On August 13, 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported that Wilkinson was Olive Garden's "Biggest Celebrity Fan." Wilkinson has described Olive Garden's cuisine as "my soul food." The newspaper emphasized that her repeated enthusiastic public endorsements of the family restaurant were genuine, personal and were not tied to any payment from Olive Garden. In fact, the company was reported as viewing Wilkinson's endorsements with "mixed feelings," and something on which it was reluctant to comment since the restaurant emphasizes its family-friendly nature.



On March 17, 2010, Wilkinson's E! True Hollywood Story premiered on E! Entertainment Television. During the hour-long episode, she discussed her rocky road to stardom.



On September 22, 2008, the International Business Times reported that Wilkinson was engaged to Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Hank Baskett. Wilkinson initially denied this, but she later admitted she was in a relationship with Baskett on October 7, 2008 in an interview with Chelsea Handler on Chelsea Lately. On November 6, 2008, E! Online announced Wilkinson and Baskett were engaged, after he proposed the previous Saturday at the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.



Wilkinson married Baskett on June 27, 2009, at the Playboy Mansion. Although it was initially announced that Hugh Hefner would give the bride away, Kendra's brother Colin walked her down the aisle. Wilkinson's family was in attendance, as well as former Girls Next Door stars Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt. Us Weekly paid the couple $120,000 for the wedding pictures. On the wedding episode of Kendra, Kendra and Hank said that Kendra would be taking Hank's last name.



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American actress and singer Hayden Panettiere

Hayden Leslie Panettiere is an American actress and singer. She came to professional prominence at the age of 10 with her portrayal of Sheryl Yoast in Disney's Remember the Titans, although for five years before that, Panettiere had held roles in two soap operas. She portrayed Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live (1994–1997), and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light (1996–2000). Panettiere reached a wider audience with her starring role as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes.



Mini Biodata

Born     Hayden Leslie Panettiere

August 21, 1989 (age 21)

Palisades, New York, United States

Occupation     Actress, singer, model

Years active     1994–present





Panettiere was born in and partly raised in Palisades, Rockland County, New York, the daughter of Lesley R. Vogel, a former soap opera actress, and Alan L. "Skip" Panettiere, a fire department lieutenant. Panettiere is of Italian descent, her surname meaning "baker" in Italian. She has one younger brother, fellow actor Jansen Panettiere. Although Panettiere attended South Orangetown Middle School in New York, she was educated at home from the 9th grade through high school. For now, Panettiere is postponing higher education in favor of an acting career.



Singing

Panettiere was nominated for a Grammy in 1999 for A Bug's Life Read-Along (2000). In 2004, she recorded a song entitled "My Hero Is You" with a video for the Disney Channel film she starred in, Tiger Cruise. The next year she recorded a song entitled "I Fly" for the Disney film Ice Princess in which she also co-starred. She recorded a song for the Hollywood Records compilation Girl Next (2006) and another song entitled "Go to Girl" for Girl Next 2 (2007). Also in 2007, She also recorded a cover for "Cruella De Vil" for DisneyMania 5, "Try" for the Bridge to Terabithia soundtrack and a ballad called "I Still Believe" for Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.







Panettiere's first single, "Wake Up Call", was digitally released on August 5, 2008. A clothing brand named Candie's announced that it was premiering an ad campaign for the single in late July. Similarly, Candie's would also provide additional promotion for the single with a television advertisement and a music video.



Activism

In 2007, Panettiere became an official supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC.

On October 31, 2007, Panettiere joined with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to try to disrupt the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. She was involved in a confrontation between Japanese fishermen and five other surfers from Australia and the United States (including former Home and Away star Isabel Lucas) of the group. The confrontation lasted more than 10 minutes before the surfers were forced to return to the beach, after which they left the country. Parts of the confrontation can be seen on the award-winning Sundance Film Festival documentary film, The Cove. The fishermen consider the condemnation as an attack on their culture.



Panettiere told E! News that an arrest warrant has been issued in Japan for her interference in the dolphin hunt, but her claim was later dismissed by the Japanese Fisheries Agency. In November 2007, she was awarded the "Compassion in Action Award" from the animal rights group PETA for her efforts to stop the dolphin hunt in Japan. She is also a vegetarian.



On January 28, 2008, Panettiere handed a letter of protest to the Norwegian ambassador in the United States arguing that Norway should stop its hunt for whales. She also delivered a letter to the Japanese ambassador calling for the end of Japan's hunting of whales. At a 2007 Greenpeace event in Anchorage, Alaska, Panettiere defended aboriginal whaling, saying that there is a difference between commercial whaling and the whaling practiced by aboriginal tribes in the United States.



In May 2008, Panettiere was involved in an eBay auction to benefit SaveTheWhalesAgain.com. The auction included tickets to a fundraising dinner hosted at the Hollywood restaurant Beso, owned by Eva Longoria, and a whale watching tour, with Panettiere, off the coast of Santa Barbara. The same month, during an interview with Teen Vogue, Hayden explained how her fame gives her a platform for her activism: "The show [Heroes] put me in a place to speak for things that I'm passionate about."







In October 2008, Panettiere delved into the presidential election, releasing a public service announcement through the website Funny or Die. In this video Panettiere mocked Republican candidate John McCain for his age and temper. She subsequently made clear her intention to vote for Barack Obama, and urged other young people to vote.



Panettiere also appeared in a public service announcement with DC Shadow Senator Paul Strauss endorsing voting rights for the District of Columbia.



Panettiere is a teen ambassador for the Candie's Foundation, whose mission is to fight teen pregnancy. On May 6, 2009, she participated in a town hall meeting in New York City alongside Bristol Palin and Chicago Cubs pitcher Matt Garza on the issue of teen pregnancy.

Personal life Natalie Hershlag is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship

Natalie Hershlag is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon. During the 1990s, Portman had major roles in films including Beautiful Girls and Anywhere but Here, before being cast for the role as Padmé Amidala  in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.  In 1999, she enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology while she was working on the Star Wars films.  She completed her bachelor's degree in 2003.



Born     Natalie Hershlag

June 9, 1981 (1981-06-09) (age 29)

Jerusalem, Israel

Education     Bachelor's degree

Alma mater     Harvard University

Occupation     Actress

Years active     1994–present

Partner     Benjamin Millepied

(2010–present)



Portman was born in Jerusalem, Israel.  She is the only child of Shelley, an American homemaker who works as Portman's agent, and Avner Hershlag, an Israeli citizen who is a fertility specialist and gynecologist. Portman's maternal ancestors were Jewish immigrants to the United States, from Austria and Russia (her mother's family had changed their surname from "Edelstein" to "Stevens").  Her paternal ancestors were Jews who moved to Israel from Poland and Romania. Her paternal grandfather, whose parents died at Auschwitz, was an economics professor in Israel, and her Romanian-born great-grandmother was a spy for British Intelligence  during World War II.



Portman's parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University, where her mother was selling tickets. They corresponded after her father returned to Israel, and were married when her mother visited a few years later. In 1984, when Portman was three years old, the family moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training. Portman, a dual citizen of the United States and Israel, has said that although she "really love[s] the States... my heart's in Jerusalem. That's where I feel at home."



Personal life

In the May 2002 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 American folk  singer Devendra Banhart,  which ended in September 2008.  She met ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied in early 2009, on the set of her film Black Swan, for which Millepied acted as choreographer.  By at least New Year's Eve 2009, the two had begun dating.  On December 27, 2010, a Portman representative told the press that Portman and Millepied are engaged and expecting a child,  due in the summer of 2011.

On the concept of the afterlife, Portman has said, "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."

Best Supporting Actress Kate Garry Hudson

Following in the footsteps of her Oscar-winning mom, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson was Oscar-nominated for her role in Almost Famous and has enjoyed enough subsequent success in films like The Skeleton Key and You, Me, and Dupree to dispel any suggestions that she's only a one-hit wonder. While her biggest hits have appealed primarily to the female demographic (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days isn't the manliest of movies), Kate Hudson's perky nature and ample cuteness make her consistently watchable. Now with the help of Daniel Day-Lewis and Nicole Kidman, she's poised to break out again and return to almost-Oscar form.



Kate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Almost Famous. She then starred in the hit film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003) which gained her wider fame. She has since established herself in Hollywood after starring in several productions including Raising Helen (2004), The Skeleton Key (2005), You, Me and Dupree (2006), Fool's Gold (2008) and Bride Wars (2009).



Born     Kate Garry Hudson

April 19, 1979 (age 32)

Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Occupation     Actress

Years active     1996–present

Spouse     Chris Robinson (m. 2000–2007)

Partner     Matthew Bellamy (2010-present)

Parents     Bill Hudson, Goldie Hawn

Relatives     Oliver Hudson (brother)



Hudson was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Academy Award-winning actress Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson, an actor, comedian, and musician. Her parents divorced eighteen months after her birth; she and her brother, actor Oliver Hudson, were raised in Colorado by her mother and her mother's long-time boyfriend, actor Kurt Russell.

Hudson has stated that her biological father "doesn't know me from a hole in the wall", and that she considers Russell to be her father. Her biological father has indicated that he has made several efforts to connect with Kate and Oliver, but neither has reciprocated.



Hudson has described her mother as "the woman that I've learned the most from, and who I look up to, who has conducted her life in a way that I can look up to". She has four half-siblings: Emily and Zachary Hudson, from her biological father's subsequent marriage to actress Cindy Williams; Lalania Hudson, from his relationship with another woman; and Wyatt, from her mother's relationship with Kurt Russell.



Hudson is of English, Italian, and Hungarian Jewish descent, and was raised in her maternal grandmother's Jewish religion; her family also practiced Buddhism. She graduated from Crossroads, a college preparatory school in Santa Monica, in 1997. She was accepted to New York University, but chose to pursue an acting career instead of an undergraduate degree.



Hudson's breakthrough was as Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous (2000), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture. She had previously appeared in the lesser-known films Gossip, a teenage drama, and 200 Cigarettes, a New Year's-set comedy with a large cast of actors. Regarding her early career and success, Hudson has noted that she is a "hard worker", and did not want to be associated with her well-known parents, wishing to avoid the perception that she "rode on somebody's coattails".



In 2002, she starred in the remake of the historical romance The Four Feathers, a film which was not well-received by critics or audiences. Her next film, the romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, was a box office success, grossing over $100 million after its February 2003 release. Hudson subsequently appeared in several romantic comedies, including Alex and Emma and Raising Helen; the films met with varying degrees of success.



Hudson headlined a thriller called The Skeleton Key in 2005. The film, which had a production budget of $43 million, enjoyed box office success, grossing over $91.9 million worldwide ($47.9 million in North America). Her later film, a comedy titled You, Me and Dupree and co-starring Owen Wilson and Matt Dillon, grossed $21.5 million on its opening weekend of July 14, 2006.



In 2007, Hudson directed the short film Cutlass, one of Glamour magazine's "Reel Moments" based on readers' personal essays. Cutlass co-stars Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Virginia Madsen, Chevy Chase and Kristen Stewart.



In 2008, she appeared in Fool's Gold, a romantic comedy released on February 8, and her second film to co-star Matthew McConaughey. She had been certified in scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef for the movie's underwater scenes. Also the same year, she appeared in another romantic comedy, My Best Friend's Girl, which was released in September.



Hudson next appeared in the musical film Nine, alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench. The film, directed by Rob Marshall, was released in December 2009. Hudson was critically acclaimed for her unknown dancing skills, showcased in a stylish 60's inspired original piece called "Cinema Italiano", which was written specifically for the film and for Hudson's character.



She recently starred in the film adaptation of Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me. The film premiered on January 24, 2010 at the Sundance Film Festival.







Hudson married Chris Robinson, the frontman for The Black Crowes, on December 31, 2000 in Aspen, Colorado. The couple lived in a house that was once owned by director James Whale and traveled together during Hudson's film shoots or Robinson's music tours. In 2004, Hudson gave birth to son Ryder Russell Robinson. On August 14, 2006, Hudson's publicist announced that Hudson and Robinson had separated. On November 18, 2006, Robinson filed divorce papers, citing "irreconcilable differences". The divorce was finalized on October 22, 2007. In May 2009, Hudson began dating New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. She was seen many times during the 2009 World Series in the crowd. The two had split by December 14, 2009.



In spring 2010 Hudson began dating Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy. In January 2011, it was announced Hudson and Bellamy were expecting a child. In February, 2011, Hudson bought a house in London, England. A Daily Mail source reported that she plans to live in London with her partner six months a year. On April 27, 2011 on The Today Show she said that she and Matthew Bellamy got engaged the prior week.



Hudson has also said that she does not enjoy seeing herself on screen, specifying that she "gets cold... shakes and... sweats" when watching her performances for the first time.



In July 2006, Hudson sued the British version of the National Enquirer after it reported she had an eating disorder, describing her as "painfully thin". Hudson said the tabloid's statements were "a blatant lie" and she was concerned about the impact the false report could have on impressionable young women. The newspaper apologized and compensated her.

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Golden Globe nominated British actress Nicollette Sheridan

Nicollette Sheridan is a Golden Globe nominated British actress and has appeared on soap operas, movies and television. She is best known for her roles as Edie Britt on Desperate Housewives.

Sheridan was born in Worthing, West Sussex, England, the daughter of actress Sally Sheridan. She attended school at Millfield in Somerset. In 1972, her mother was working alongside Greek-American actor Telly Savalas on the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The couple started an affair, and after completion of shooting Savalas moved the entire family to the United States. Her mother gave birth to a son, Nicholas Savalas on February 24, 1973. Nicollette speaks Greek, and considers Savalas her stepfather, although the couple never married. The couple separated in 1977 after Savalas started an affair with Julie Hovland after he started filming Kojak in New York city, and the family split their time between the United States and England depending on where their mother was working.



Sheridan made her debut in the US primetime soap opera Paper Dolls in 1984, but her breakthrough came in 1986, when she joined the cast of the CBS primetime soap Knots Landing as "Paige Matheson". She started out in a recurring role, but was a series regular by the 1988-89 season. For her performance in the role, she won the 1990 Soap Opera Digest Award for "Outstanding Lead Actress: Prime Time" and the 1991 Soap Opera Digest Award for "Outstanding Heroine: Prime Time". The same year, she was named one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People". After the series ended in 1993, she appeared in several made-for-TV movies and the films Spy Hard and Beverly Hills Ninja and auditioned for the role of Grace Adler on Will & Grace (on which she would later guest-star).

In 2004, Sheridan's role as Edie Britt in ABC's Desperate Housewives brought her renewed media attention. She was nominated for a 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and was named #48 on Maxim's 2006 List. She was named 2004's "worst dressed" by Mr. Blackwell. She commented that: "I'd rather be number one on the worst-dressed list than number two on the best." Blackwell had earlier (TV Guide, July 22, 1989) praised her fashion sense: "daring ... with her panache, she brings it off without a hitch. For the adventurer in all of us, she's the one to watch".



Toward the close of the fourth season of Desperate Housewives, conflicting reports circulated regarding Sheridan's future in her role. While Hollywood.com reported in April that series creator Marc Cherry had said Sheridan would depart at the end of the season, another source stated that Sheridan was confident she would return for the series' fifth season. By May 4, Entertainment Weekly reported that Sheridan would likely make several appearances in the upcoming season, but not necessarily as a regular cast member.



Sheridan reprised her regular role as Edie in Season 5 of Desperate Housewives, still a series regular, now married to McDonough's character.



In February 2009, Sheridan announced her departure from Desperate Housewives. Her exit episode aired in April 2009 when Edie Britt was killed off in the series.



Nicollette Sheridan was set to star in an upcoming CBS comedy series as a mother who does battle with her British ex-husband in order to get her teenage daughter to stardom, but the new series did not make the cut when the new CBS Fall schedule was released.



Nicollette is currently filming a Hallmark Channel movie, Honeymoon for One, in Ireland. She is playing a character named Eve Parker.



Sheridan, a Golden Globe nominee who played sexy Realtor Edie Britt, claims that Cherry directed his abuse at other cast and crew members, even at star Teri Hatcher after she went above his head to ABC executives.



From 1979 to 1985, Sheridan dated singer and actor Leif Garrett. Two decades later, Garrett credited Sheridan for helping him at the start of his career, and said of her "She's a special person in my life."



Sheridan was married to actor Harry Hamlin from 1991 to 1993.



She began seeing Swedish personal trainer Nicklas Söderblom in 2004 and became engaged to him on New Year's Eve 2004; the pair called off the engagement in October 2005.

After their break-up, Sheridan returned to ex-boyfriend Michael Bolton, whom she had originally met in 1991. Bolton proposed on holiday in the Bahamas in March 2006. Sheridan was quoted as saying: "It's much sweeter the second time around." In 2006, Sheridan and Bolton sang a duet, "The Second Time Around", for the album Bolton Swings Sinatra. In March 2008, Sheridan posed naked for a London Fog charity ad which also featured Bolton. Sheridan and Bolton broke off the engagement later that year. She dated professional skater Dorien Walker.



"I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies," Cherry told Sheridan, according to the lawsuit.

American rapper, singer, dancer, and songwriter Lisa Lopes

Lisa Nicole Lopes better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper, singer, dancer, and songwriter, best known as a member of the R&B girl group TLC.



Lopes was often vocal about her personal life and difficult past. She readily admitted that she had come from an abusive, alcoholic background and struggled with alcohol problems herself. These problems became headline news in 1994, when she set fire to Andre Rison's tennis shoes in a bathtub, which ultimately spread to the mansion they shared, destroying it. Lopes claimed that Rison had beaten her after a night out, and she set fire to his shoes to get back at him.



Lopes, who was sentenced to five years probation and therapy at a halfway house, was never able to shake the incident from her reputation. Her relationship with Rison continued to make headlines, with rumors of an imminent wedding, later debunked by People magazine. Lopes revealed on the Last Days of Left Eye documentary that her meeting with a struggling mother in rehab left a big impression on her. Lopes ended up unofficially adopting her daughter, Snow, who appeared in the video for her single, "The Block Party".



Adding to Lopes' flamboyant attitude, she had several large tattoos. Most prominent was a large eagle on her left arm, which she said represented freedom. Later, she added the number "80" around the eagle, which was Rison's NFL number. She also had a tattoo of a moon with a face on her foot in reference to Rison's nickname, Bad Moon. On her upper right arm was a large tattoo of the name Parron, for her late stepbrother, arching over a large tattoo of a pierced heart. Her smallest tattoo was on her left ear and consisted of an arrow pointing to her left over the symbol of an eye, a reference to her nickname.



Lopes started the Lisa Lopes Foundation, Inc. The charitable group is dedicated to providing neglected and abandoned youth with the resources necessary to increase their quality of life. Her spiritual motto is the one that she used for her foundation: "Energy never dies...It just transforms." Her foundation went into various underdeveloped villages and gave away brand new clothes to needy children and their families in June 2004. In 1998, Lopes created the UNI Studios for the purpose of recording solo projects. Lopes's family opened the studio to the public. So far her brother Ronald Lopes is the general manager of the studio. Lisa had a dream of letting new artists being able to record music at a low price in a high-end studio at her house. Lisa's family continues to operate it and fill it with new equipment, destined to be a favourite for recording artists.

English actress and model Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson is an English actress and model who rose to prominence playing Hermione Granger, one of three starring roles 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 2010, she starred in seven Harry Potter films alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint; she will return for the final installment: the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 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.

Born     Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson

15 April 1990 (age 21)

Paris, France

Occupation     Actress, model

Years active     2001 – present

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 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."





Watson's extended family has grown, as her divorced parents each have new partners. Her father has a son, and identical twin girls. Her mother's partner has two sons who "regularly stay with her". Watson's full brother, Alexander, has appeared as an extra in two Harry Potter films, and her half-sisters were cast as the young Pauline Fossil in the BBC's Ballet Shoes adaptation.

After moving to Oxford with her mother and brother, Watson attended The Dragon School, an independent preparatory school, until June 2003 and then moved to Headington School, an independent school for girls, also in Oxford. While on film sets, Watson and her peers were tutored for up to five hours a day; despite the focus on filming she maintained high academic standards. In June 2006, Watson took GCSE examinations in 10 subjects, achieving eight A* and two A grades; she was a target of friendly ribbing on the Harry Potter set because of her straight-A exam results. She received A grades in her 2008 A level examinations in English Literature, Geography and Art, and in her 2007 AS (advanced subsidiary) level in History of Art.

Pop singer Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11. Lohan gained further fame between 2003 and 2005 with leading roles in the films Freaky Friday, Mean Girls and Herbie: Fully Loaded, subsequently appearing in independent films including Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion and Emilio Estevez's Bobby.

Her career was interrupted in 2007 as two driving under the influence (DUI) incidents and three visits to rehabilitation facilities led to the loss of several movie deals. Resuming her career, she guest starred in the TV series Ugly Betty in 2008, starred in the 2009 comedy Labor Pains, and appeared in Robert Rodriguez's Machete in 2010. 

Lohan launched a second career in pop music in 2004 with the album Speak and followed up with A Little More Personal (Raw) in 2005. She has attracted significant publicity, particularly surrounding her personal life.





Born     July 2, 1986 (age 24)

New York City, New York, U.S.

Genres     Pop rock

Occupations     Actress, singer, fashion designer, model





Lohan was born on July 2, 1986, in New York City and grew up in Merrick and Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island, New York. She is the eldest child of Donata "Dina" and Michael Lohan. Lindsay has three younger siblings, all of whom have been models or actors: Michael Jr. (who appeared with Lindsay in The Parent Trap), Aliana ("Ali"), and Dakota ("Cody"), the youngest Lohan child. Lohan is of Irish and Italian heritage and was raised as a Catholic. Her maternal family were "well known Irish Catholic stalwarts" and her great-grandfather, John L. Sullivan, was a co-founder of the Pro-life Party in Long Island. Lohan attended Cold Spring Harbor High School, where she did well in science and mathematics until grade 11 when she started homeschooling.



Lohan's parents have a turbulent history. They married in 1985, separated when she was three, and later reunited. They separated again in 2005 and finalized their divorce in 2007. Her father, Michael, is a former Wall Street trader and businessman who inherited his father's pasta business and has been in trouble with the law on several occasions, while her mother, Dina, is a former singer and dancer.

Film actress and former fashion model Amy Lysle

Born     Amy Lysle Smart

March 26, 1976 (age 35)

Topanga, California, U.S.

Occupation     Actress

Amy Lysle Smart is an American television and film actress and former fashion model.



Smart was born in Topanga, California, the daughter of Judy, a museum worker, and John Smart, a salesman. Inspired by her friend Vinessa Shaw, Smart studied ballet for ten years and enrolled in acting classes when she was sixteen, but she began her career as a fashion model, working in Italy, France, Mexico and Tahiti (award-winning spots for Club Med directed by Bruno Aveillan).

Smart's first film role was in director Martin Kunert's film Campfire Tales, followed by a small role as Queenie in the 1996 rendition of John Updike's short story, "A&P". She had a minor role in the 1997 film Starship Troopers as the co-pilot for (and friend of) Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards). She had a starring role in the mini-series titled The 70s, playing a young woman from Ohio.



In 1999, Smart played the girlfriend of a popular football player (played by James Van Der Beek) in the film Varsity Blues.



Smart appeared in the series Felicity, as a girlfriend of Scott Foley's character.



Other films include Road Trip (2000) and The Butterfly Effect (2004). She has been paired twice as a couple with Breckin Meyer, in both Road Trip and Rat Race.



In 2002, she was ranked #27 in Stuff magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" and in 2004, she was nominated for "Best Kiss" at the MTV Movie Awards for her role in Starsky & Hutch.



In 2005, Smart co-starred with Ryan Reynolds in the romantic comedy film Just Friends, which had a total domestic box office gross of $32,619,761 and a total worldwide box office of $50,817,598.

Smart also had a small role in the American sitcom Scrubs, playing Jamie Moyer (aka Tasty Coma Wife), one of main character J.D.'s love interests.



In 2005, Smart starred as Sarah in a British independent film called The Best Man. Seth Green was her co-star.

Smart was a speaker for the Heal the Bay organization; she has also worked with the Humane Society and the Environmental Media Association, and was named one of Organic Style magazine's "Women with Organic Style" of 2004.

Smart dated actor Branden Williams, for more than a decade. After dating Carter Oosterhouse from HGTV for a short time, the couple became engaged on April 21, 2011.







Her former roommate and best friend Ali Larter appeared alongside Smart in the film Varsity Blues and modeled with her in Milan.

Golden Globe nomination Kelly McGillis

Kelly McGillis

Born     Kelly Ann McGillis

July 9, 1957 (age 53)

Newport Beach, California, U.S.

Occupation     actress

Years active     1983–present

Spouse     Boyd Black (1979–1981)

Fred Tillman (1989–2002)

Partner     Melanie Leis (2010–present)

American actress whose movies include Witness, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, Top Gun, and The Accused.



Personal life:



McGillis was born in Newport Beach, California, the daughter of Joan, a homemaker, and Donald McGillis, a general practitioner of medicine. She married Boyd Black in 1979, divorcing in 1981. She married Fred Tillman in 1989, and they had two daughters: Kelsey and Sonora. The couple divorced in 2002.



In 1982, McGillis was assaulted and raped in her own home. This experience encouraged the actress to pursue her film role as the lawyer who supports Jodie Foster's character in The Accused.



McGillis once owned Kelly's, a restaurant in Key West, Florida, that she and her ex-husband founded. Although the restaurant is still open, she says she is "no longer a part of that restaurant at all" since her second divorce, according to a 2006 TV interview on Good Day Sacramento.



McGillis came out as a lesbian in April 2009 during an interview with SheWired.com, an LGBT-oriented web site. She said that coming to terms with her sexual orientation has been an ongoing process since age 12, and she was long convinced that God was punishing her for being gay. In 2010, Kelly McGillis entered into a civil union at a ceremony in Collingswood, New Jersey with Melanie Leis, a Philadelphia based sales executive; she and McGillis met in 2000 when Leis was a bartender at a restaurant in Key West, Florida which McGillis owned with her second husband, Fred Tillman. The couple live in Collingswood.

McGillis works full-time with drug addicts and alcoholics at Seabrook House, a rehabilitation center in Bridgeton, New Jersey.

Former fashion model Denise Lee Richards

Denise Lee Richards is an American actress and former fashion model. She achieved success during the late 1990s in several films, including Starship Troopers, Wild Things, and The World Is Not Enough. She appeared on the reality TV show, Denise Richards: It's Complicated, which was carried by American cable channel E!.



Early life

Richards was born in Downers Grove, Illinois, the daughter of Joni, a coffee shop owner, and Irv Richards, a telephone engineer. She has one sister, Michelle, and grew up in both Mokena and Downers Grove, Illinois. She graduated in 1989 from El Camino High School in Oceanside, California. As a child, she was the "only girl on the baseball team.

Born Denise Lee Richards February 17, 1971 (age 40)

Downers Grove, Illinois, U.S.

Occupation     Actress

Years active     1990–present

Spouse     Charlie Sheen (m. 2002–2006) (divorced) 2 children



Career

In 1986, 15 year old Denise appeared in the music video "The Captain of Her Heart" by Double. She spent the majority of the 1990s appearing in lower-budget films and TV shows such as Saved by the Bell, television movies, and guest starring in episodes of several television shows such as Married with Children (1991), a 5 second walk through. Her first starring role in a wide theatrical release was Starship Troopers in 1997, which was followed by her role in the moderately successful cult film Wild Things in 1998. In 1998, she appeared in the music video for the Blues Traveler song Canadian Rose.



Personal life

In 2002, Richards married actor Charlie Sheen, with whom she appeared in Good Advice and then Scary Movie 3, in which she played his character's wife who was pinned to a tree in a car accident. They have two daughters, Sam J. Sheen (born March 9, 2004) and Lola Rose Sheen (born June 1, 2005).



In March 2005, Richards filed for a divorce from Sheen. The couple briefly reconciled and were seeking marriage counseling to mend their relationship. However, on January 4, 2006, Richards' representative announced that she was continuing with the divorce, and she later sought a restraining order against Sheen, citing his alleged death threats against her.





On April 19, 2006, Richards filed formal legal papers asking for a divorce from Sheen under the laws of the state of California. In her court filing, Richards alleged that Sheen's behavior was increasingly erratic, making their marriage impossible, and that she feared for her safety and the safety of their daughters. Richards claimed that Sheen was physically and verbally abusive and threatened to kill her or have her killed, and that despite having accidentally shot his previous fiancée, Kelly Preston, he wanted to place firearms under their coffee table to protect them. Richards claimed that Sheen had become paranoid and obsessive, citing his belief in 9/11 conspiracy theories, a belief that baby formula caused brain damage, a desire to purchase gas masks, and an "abnormal fascination" with Nicole Simpson's death. Further, Richards alleged that Sheen visited prostitutes and was addicted to gambling, prescription drugs (which he bought over the Internet), and pornography. Richards also alleged that Sheen posted a picture of his erect penis on his online profile of a "sex-search type" website and that he frequently viewed pornography featuring "very young girls," and websites "involving gay pornography also involving very young men who also did not look like adults. Based on these allegations, Richards sought and received a restraining order against Sheen.





Before she was an actress, Richards was signed by the Judith Fontaine Modeling & Talent Agency as a model.

Dual careers

Model grandmaster plans his next move to change the face of chess
Luke Blackall talks to Magnus Carlsen about his two careers
Monday, 18 April 2011

Even its staunchest defenders would struggle to describe chess as sexy, but the growing stature of Magnus Carlsen could change all that. Not only is the 20-year-old Norwegian the number two ranked chess player in the world, but he is also carving out a highly successful career in the world of fashion modelling.

Once known as the Mozart of chess, for his prodigious talent and astonishingly rapid ascent to the top of the game, today his brooding yet boyish looks and contract with the G-Star RAW fashion label mean he is just as likely to be compared to the teenage singer and heart-throb Justin Bieber as he is to the Austrian composer.

Garry Kasparov, one of the greatest players of all time and the young Norwegian's former coach, has said of him: "Before he is done, Carlsen will have changed our ancient game considerably." Ordinarily, Carlsen might visit the UK to compete at events such as the London Chess Classic, but this time he is here in his other professional capacity, as the face of the aformentioned clothing label.

Within the game, the response to his newfound celebrity has been "quite positive", he says. "There are always going to be some jokes and laughter, but I think a lot of them appreciate that it might be very positive for chess."

Carlsen's association with G-Star RAW came a couple of years ago when he was spotted playing chess on Dutch television by an executive at the fashion label. Since then he has become the face of the brand, appearing alongside actresses such as Liv Tyler and Gemma Arterton on billboards and at New York fashion week.

The modelling career came as a "surprise", having never thought of himself as a model. "It's been interesting, so different from chess," he says.

Full article here.

American actor, voice actor, model, and martial artist Taylor Daniel Lautner

Born     Taylor Daniel Lautner

February 11, 1992 (age 19)

Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.

Occupation     Actor, voice actor, model

Years active     2001–present

Taylor Daniel Lautner (born February 11, 1992) is an American actor, voice actor, model, and martial artist. As a child, Lautner took up martial arts and was ranked number one in his category by the American Sports Karate Association. Lautner soon thereafter began his acting career, appearing in bit roles in comedy series such as The Bernie Mac Show (2003) and My Wife and Kids (2004), before having voice roles in television series like What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2005) and Danny Phantom (2005). In 2005, he appeared in the film, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, and starred in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D.



Lautner got his big break when he was cast as Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga film series, beginning with the first film, Twilight (2008). Lautner returned for the following two movies, The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), and is set to appear in the last two films for the series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. Lautner has been nominated for several awards for his work in the Twilight series, including honors at the MTV Movie Awards, People's Choice Awards, and Scream Awards.



The late 2000s saw Lautner become a teen idol and rise as a sex symbol, after extensively changing his physique to keep the role of Jacob Black in further Twilight installments, and thereafter generating media attention for his good looks. In 2010, he was ranked second on Glamour's "The 50 Sexiest Men of 2010" list, and fourth on People's "Most Amazing Bodies" list, among other honors. As of 2010, Lautner was considered the highest-paid teenage actor in Hollywood.



Early life:



Lautner was born on February 11, 1992 in Grand Rapids, Michigan to Deborah and Daniel Lautner. His mother works for a software development company, while his father is a Midwest Airlines pilot. He has one younger sister named Makena. Raised as a Roman Catholic, Lautner is of mixed German, French, and Dutch heritage, and has "distant" Native American ancestry (specifically Ottawa and Potawatomi) through his mother. Lautner grew up in Hudsonville, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids.



He took his first karate class at the age of six. A year later, he attended his national karate tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, where he met Michael Chaturantabut, the founder of "extreme martial arts". Chat invited Lautner to a camp he held at University of California, Los Angeles. Lautner trained with Chat for several years, earning his black belt by the age of eight, and winning several junior world championships. He appeared in an ISKA karate event televised on ESPN in 2003 that was later lampooned on the sports-comedy show Cheap Seats that first aired in 2006.



Chat, who once portrayed the Blue Ranger in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, suggested to Lautner that he take up acting. For a few years, the Lautners flew from Michigan to Los Angeles for auditions when his talent agency called, and returned to Grand Rapids for school sometimes the same day. Lautner balanced karate and acting with being on the football and baseball teams at his school, and taking up jazz and hip-hop dance. After that became tiring, Lautner and his family decided to move to California for a month, to try it out, before moving to Santa Clarita, California permanently in 2002.





Career

2001–07: Early career



In his first months after moving to Los Angeles, Lautner appeared in small television roles, small film roles, and ads and commercials. In 2001, Lautner first appeared in the made-for-television film, Shadow Fury. He then got a voice-over job in a commercial for Rugrats Go Wild. He then appeared in small television parts on The Bernie Mac Show, My Wife and Kids, and Summerland. Lautner then earned voice-over roles in animated series such as Danny Phantom, Duck Dodgers, and What's New, Scooby-Doo?. In 2005, he had a role as Elliot Murtaugh in the comedy film Cheaper by the Dozen 2. The same year, he earned his first breakout role, starring in the film, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D . Lautner spent three months on location in Austin, Texas, to film the movie, which was received with negative reviews from critics, and was a minor international success. However, Lautner was nominated at the 2006 Young Artist Awards for Best Performance in a Feature Film by a Leading Actor. For the film, Lautner choreographed all of his fight scenes after director Robert Rodríguez learned of his extensive martial arts training. Months later, he was cast as Eliot Murtaugh in Cheaper by the Dozen 2, which was panned by critics, being named one of the "Worst Films of the 2000s" by Rotten Tomatoes. After returning from Canada filming the latter movie, Lautner said he realized his newfound fame, from Sharkboy and Lavagirl. In 2008 he appeared in the show Love Inc. and the TV special He's a Bully, Charlie Brown. Two years Later, Lautner appeared in a lead role in the short-lived NBC drama, My Own Worst Enemy, portraying Christian Slater's son, Jack Spivey. Rolling Stone coined his early roles as either "the popular kid, jock, or bully."

2008–09: Breakthrough and The Twilight Series

In 2007, filmmakers began a search for actors to portray Jacob Black, a Native American friend of lead character Bella Swan in Twilight, the first film in the The Twilight Saga film series. In January 2008, an open casting call was held in Portland, Oregon. Lautner had not heard of the Twilight series before, but was urged by his agent to audition. At his audition, he read lines with Kristen Stewart, who had already been cast as Bella, and they acted out scenes from The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. The film was a commercial success, earning $69 million its opening weekend, and has grossed $392 million worldwide. It received mixed reviews from critics, having a "Rotten" rating with a weighted average of 5.5/10. In describing the critical consensus, it stated: "Having lost much of its bite transitioning to the big screen, Twilight will please its devoted fans, but do little for the uninitiated." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, it has an average score of 56 from the 37 reviews. At the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, Lautner was nominated for Male Breakthrough Performance, which was won by co-star Robert Pattinson.





Initially, director Chris Weitz wanted to recast the role of Jacob Black for Twilight's sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, due to the major physical changes that occur in Black between the two novels, and have an actor that would accurately portray "the new, larger Jacob Black." Black's role in the novel also increases significantly, with him falling in love with Bella and becoming a werewolf, putting the actor in a starring role. Representatives for Weitz had stated that they were make a full effort to recast the "high-profile gig," and MTV News confirmed that Weitz was looking at Michael Copon to take on the role; however, Summit Entertainment said a decision had not been made. In an attempt to keep the role, Lautner weight-trained extensively and gained approximately 30 pounds of muscle. In January 2009, Weitz and Summit Entertainment announced that Lautner would continue to play the role of Jacob in the sequel. In an interview, fellow cast member Kristen Stewart talked about Lautner's transformation saying, "He's an entirely different person physically." Stewart later said, "He gets a lot of attention because he's buff, but I think as soon as the movie comes out, people are going to realize that's not why he got the job." Co-star Robert Pattinson said after seeing Lautner's body, "I saw him and thought 'Jesus, I'm going to get fired." In an interview with The Wrap, Weitz said Lautner deserved a lot of credit for the movie's box office, stating, "If you look at the movie, it should have been the weakest in the franchise, because Robert Pattinson doesn't play as big a role."  Weitz said Lautner had to "pick up that slack, and if his character hadn't been emotionally, not just physically, appealing, the movie wouldn't have been as big a hit." The commercial performance of the film outpaced the first film, setting several box office records including the biggest midnight opening in the United States and Canada and the biggest single-day opening. The opening weekend of New Moon is the third highest opening weekend in domestic history with $142,839,137. The Twilight Saga: New Moon also has the sixth highest worldwide opening weekend with $274.9 million total. Critical reception was less favorable, with the movie getting a 4.6/10 average from Rotten Tomatoes, and a 44 on Metacritic. Lautner won Favorite Breakout Movie Actor at the 35th People's Choice Awards.



Although it began after the release of the first film, upon release of New Moon, Lautner and his co-stars Stewart and Pattinson transitioned to teen idol status, with Lautner particularly admired by teens for his new physical characteristics, becoming a sex symbol. The trio appeared on many covers and televised appearances together. In between the second and third films in the Twilight series, Lautner was a part of the ensemble cast in the movie Valentine's Day as Willy Harrinton, acting alongside his rumored girlfriend at the time, American country pop singer, Taylor Swift. The duo was nominated at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards for Best Kiss. Although it received generally negative reviews, the film grossed $213 million dollars and had the second biggest opening in the United States for a romantic comedy film. Lautner presented at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards and the 82nd Academy Awards. Lautner hosted Saturday Night Live on December 12, 2009, making him one of the youngest celebrity hosts in the show's history.



2010 to present: Continuing Twilight and other projects



Lautner returned for the third Twilight film, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, in 2010. Receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film surpassed its predecessor to become the highest-grossing film of the franchise and the highest-grossing romantic fantasy, werewolf and vampire movie of all time at the American and Canadian box office. It ranks as the 36th highest grossing film of all-time in the U.S. and Canada. The popularity of Lautner and his cast members continued to summit, especially via the "Team Edward vs. Team Jacob" campaign that promoted the film. Lautner's fanbase also began to expand to older audiences. Lautner won "Best Fantasy Actor" at the 2010 Scream Awards, and he is nominated for "Favorite Movie Actor" for his role in Eclipse at the 37th People's Choice Awards, and "Best Fantasy Actor" at the 2010 Scream Awards. On November 2010 The Hollywood Reporter named Lautner as one of the young male actors who are “pushing – or being pushed” into taking over Hollywood as the new “A-List”.



Lautner was initially supposed to be in two films, Moving Lights and a movie based on Max Steel, but pulled out of both films due to scheduling conflicts and better offers. One of the better offers was the lead in a movie about Stretch Armstrong and a hostage thriller, Cancun. These films and a Bourne Identity-esque spy film with Lily Collins entitled Abduction, as well as the remaining films in the Twilight series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, are anticipated to be released over a two-year period from 2011-2012.



As of 2010, Lautner was considered to be the highest-paid teen actor in Hollywood.





Image:



Publications such as GQ, Rolling Stone, and People have referred to Lautner is considered as sex symbol, with the latter publication calling the actor a future epitome of pop culture. He has been called the new young adult star that can "both woo the girls with his intensity and impress the boys with his rugged agility."[9] According to Mickey Rapkin of GQ, the use of Lautner's physique in films has been compared to Megan Fox in her work. After his massive physical change following Twilight, Lautner became a tabloid teen idol with his co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Lautner, determined to stay in the series, worked out every day and gained over 30 pounds of muscle in order to bulk up the role of Jacob Black for the remaining films in the The Twilight Saga. Michelle Lanz of MSN Wonderwall said that Lautner's change may have saved his career. Several critics credit Lautner's physical characteristics for much of the success of the Twilight series, with critic Sharon Waxman stating, "as a tabloid teen idol, he certainly deserves some credit for New Moon's $700 million worldwide gross." Lautner's abs in particular have been subject to media attention, with The Wrap stating that companies bidding for the actor in movies in 2011 would "shell out for the young actor's much-on-display though mostly untried abs." Mickey Rapkin of GQ said, "the film's marketing issues were solved when Lautner's "abdominal muscles became New Moon's main talking point, not to mention his calling card." He was named number one on Access Hollywood's "Top 5 Hollywood Abs" list.



Before the actor turned 18, his sexed-up image was often critiqued, and subject to controversy. In December 2009, Lautner appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in a wet t-shirt. Jennifer Cady of E! Online said to wait a few months when Lautner would "be of age, which will make this whole operation you got going on completely legal." In his interview with the magazine, after declining to talk about whether he was dating Taylor Swift, the magazine pressed Lautner on gay rumors, which he brushed off. Brent Hartinger, a columnist for AfterElton blasted the magazine, calling the questioning "unimaginably irresponsible," commenting that Lautner was just "a 17-year old kid" and that while the rumors were baseless and speculation from certain blogs and fans, it was disappointing that a "legitimate media outlet" would print gossip. Hartinger said the magazine reached a "new low" and did not have common decency, noting that there was not a line between "child and adult" although Lautner was in adult-like roles.



Lautner has stated that he doesn't want to be just known for his looks, as some have attributed his popularity to that and not his actual acting skill. In an interview, the actor revealed that he was originally supposed to have a baring scene in the movie Valentine's Day. He stated, "The script said we were walking into school and Willy takes off his shirt. I said, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa. Time out. He's gonna take off his shirt in the middle of school? No, no, no. The reason I took off my shirt for New Moon is because it's written in the book that way. And there's reasons behind it." Lautner later said he would not bare his chest for any role that did not call for it. In June 2010, Lautner covered GQ magazine. The actor was lampooned in conservative writer Laura Ingraham's satirical The Obama Diaries, commenting to have Lautner as a mascot for the White House Easter Egg Roll, to fit their health-conscious theme, and have Lautner don a furry bunny head and appear shirtless. In 2010, Lautner was ranked number two on Glamour's "50 Sexiest Men of 2010 " list. Men's Health ranked him at third on their list of "Top 10 Summer Bodies." Additionally in 2010, he was ranked fourth on People's "Most Amazing Bodies" list.





Personal life:



In an interview, Lautner stated that when he was younger he was bullied in school because he was an actor. He commented, "I just had to tell myself I can't let this get to me. This is what I love to do. And I'm going to continue doing it." Lautner has an intricate workout plan, which was covered by Men's Health, and has a specific diet after developing his body for The Twilight Saga: New Moon. In addition, he still practices and trains in martial arts regularly. He has stated that he is drug and alcohol free.



Lautner resides in Valencia, California with his parents and younger sister. He has lived there since he was 10 years old. In junior high, Lautner -- who was involved in karate, baseball and hip-hop dance -- won the award for "Best Smile" and played in the school's Turkey Bowl American Football game. He went to public school in Valencia until his Sophomore year of high school. The Twilight phenomenon made him too busy to attend school, so he took the California High School Proficiency Exam to graduate from high school in 2008. He has stated on the David Letterman Show that if he does not have work, he would like to go back to school. He now takes online classes at his local community college. The actor also stated that he enjoys the small-town feel in Valencia, which is a planned community of Santa Clarita, California, in Los Angeles County, where Mitchel Musso, and Ashley Tisdale also reside. Although it only cuts down on a few, Lautner has stated he prefers living in the town because it is not as paparazzi-heavy. Lautner has said that he has never thought of moving out on his own, stating, "The thing I love is that my home life hasn't changed. I still help out with the garbage. I still help out with the lawn." He owns a BMW 5 series, which have tinted windows for obscurity.



In 2009, Lautner was linked romantically to American country pop singer Taylor Swift and American actress and pop singer Selena Gomez. Between April and May 2009, Lautner was rumored to be in a relationship with Gomez after they were spotted numerous times together. By June 2009 the duo had reportedly broken up. Reportedly, Lautner and Swift began dating in October 2009 after meeting on the set of their film, Valentine's Day. The pair insinuated a relationship during separate episodes as hosts of Saturday Night Live. It was revealed that they broke up in December 2009, with sources citing lack of chemistry. Others said that the romance was overblown and not serious from the start. The song "Back to December" from Swift's third album, Speak Now, is rumored to be an apology to Lautner. The first time Swift has apologized in a song, she said it was about a person who deserved the song, further commenting, "This is about a person who was incredible to me, just perfect to me in a relationship, and I was really careless with him." Media pointed out the song had blatant references to Lautner, with Swift referring to him as tanned skinned, with a "sweet smile."