January Jones

BIOGRAPHY FOR JANUARY JONES

January Kristen Jones (born Jan. 5, 1978 (33 years ago)) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Betty Draper on Mad Men and for her role as Cadence Flaherty in American Wedding.

CAREER

She currently appears in the AMC original TV drama series Mad Men as young suburban housewife and mother Betty Draper. She is also well known for her role as Cadence Flaherty in American Wedding (2003, 8 years ago), from the American Pie comedy movie series.



She had the lead female role in the movie Love's Enduring Promise as a pioneer family's oldest child. Her character fell in love with a mysterious man who saved her father's life.



Jones has had supporting roles in Anger Management (2003, 8 years ago), Love Actually, and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. In 2005 (6 years ago) she appeared as a U.S. border guard's frustrated wife in the movie The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones. In We Are Marshall (2006, 5 years ago), she played the role of Carol Dawson, wife of football coach William "Red" Dawson.



She appeared in the Season 18 Law & Order episode "Quit Claim", playing a con artist who matches wits with Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter, in which she is the lone surviving suspect connected to a real estate scam involving organized crime.



She also appeared in The Boat That Rocked, a British movie about offshore pirate radio in the 1960s, renamed Pirate Radio for North American release in 2009 (2 years ago).



Jones was ranked #82 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2002 (9 years ago). She appeared on the cover of "The Hot Issue" of British GQ magazine in May 2009 (2 years ago).



On Nov. 14, 2009 (2 years ago), Jones hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live which featured the musical guest Black Eyed Peas.



In 2010 (last year) she is slated to star alongside Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger (25 walls) in the thriller movie Unknown White Male, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.



PERSONAL LIFE

Jones was born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She is named after Jan. Wayne, a character in Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough. She graduated from Edison Middle School and Roosevelt High School in Sioux Falls. She is currently dating Saturday Night Live's Jason Sudeikis.



FILMOGRAPHY

1999 (12 years ago): Sorority as Number One

1999 (12 years ago): It's the Rage as Janice Taylor

1999 (12 years ago): Get Real as Jane Cohen (1 episode)

2001 (10 years ago): The Glass House as Girl

2001 (10 years ago): Bandits as Claire/Pink Boots

2002 (9 years ago): In My Life as Diane St. Croix

2002 (9 years ago): Taboo as Elizabeth

2002 (9 years ago): Full Frontal as Tracy

2003 (8 years ago): Anger Management as Gina

2003 (8 years ago): American Wedding as Cadence Flaherty

2004 (7 years ago): Love Actually as Jeannie, American Angel

2004 (7 years ago): Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights as Eve

2004 (7 years ago): Love's Enduring Promise as Missie Davis

2005 (6 years ago): Huff as Marissa Wells (2 episodes)

2005 (6 years ago): The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada as Lou Ann Norton

2006 (5 years ago): Swedish Auto as Darla

2006 (5 years ago): We Are Marshall as Carole Dawson

2007 - present: Mad Men as Betty Draper

2008 (3 years ago): Law & Order as Kim Brody (1 episode)

2009 (2 years ago): The Boat That Rocked as Elenore

2009 (2 years ago): Saturday Night Live as Herself/Host

2010 (last year): The Hungry Rabbit Jumps as Laura Gerard (post-production)

2011 (this year): Unknown White Male as Elizabeth Harris (post-production)





Source: en.wikipedia.org

Kristian Bell

FACTS ABOUT KRISTEN BELL

Date of Birth:	18 July 1980
Birthplace:	Huntington Wood, Michigan
Age:	29
First Name:	Kristen
Middle Name:	Anne
Last Name:	Bell
Build:	Slim
Height:	5' 1" (155 cm)
Eye Color:	Blue
Hair Color:	Blonde
Star Sign:	Cancer
Claim to Fame:	Veronica Mars
Occupation:	Actress
Occupation Category:	Actress
Nationality:	American
Alternative Names:	K-Bell, Annie, KB, Veronica Mars

BIOGRAPHY FOR KRISTEN BELL

Kristen Anne Bell (born Jul. 18, 1980 (31 years ago)) is an American actress. Although her first movie role was an uncredited appearance in Polish Wedding, Bell previously acted in stage and musical productions. In 2001 (10 years ago), she made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. After re-locating to Los Angeles, Bell landed various TV guest appearances and small movie parts, before she gained fame as the title role on the critically acclaimed TV series, Veronica Mars from sep. 2004 (7 years ago) to May 2007 (4 years ago). 





During her time on Veronica Mars, Bell reprised her role as Mary Lane in the movie version of Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, a stage production she had taken part in. She also portrayed the lead role in Pulse, a remake of a J-Horror film. In 2007 (4 years ago), she joined the cast of Heroes playing the character Elle Bishop, and Gossip Girl as the offscreen titular narrator. Additionally, she played the title character in the comedy movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Bell has received a Satellite Award and Saturn Award, and has been nominated several times for TV Critics Association Awards and Teen Choice Awards. 

EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY

Bell was born and raised in Huntington Woods, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. She is the daughter of Tom Bell, a TV news director, and Lorelei "Lori" Bell, a registered nurse. Bell is of Polish and Scottish descent. Her parents divorced when she was two years old, and she has two half sisters, Sara and Jody, from her father's second marriage. Bell has a lazy eye which affects her right eye. She inherited it from her mother, who had it corrected as a child. Bell claims that if she does not get enough sleep, it furthers the ailment. She nicknames her right eye "Wonky". 





At the age of four, Bell claimed she did not like her first name and opted to change it to "Smurfette" after the character in the The Smurfs. However, her mother convinced Bell to go by her middle name of Anne instead; she used the name Annie until high school. She attended Burton Elementary school in Huntington Woods where she studied singing and tap dancing. 





Just before her freshman year of high school, Bell's parents decided to pull her from the public school system. She then attended Shrine Catholic High School in nearby Royal Oak, where she took part in the drama and music club. During her time at the school, she won the starring role in the school's 1997 (14 years ago) production of The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy Gale and also appeared in productions of Fiddler on the Roof (1995, 16 years ago), Lady Be Good (1996, 15 years ago), and Li'l Abner (1998, 13 years ago). In 1998 (13 years ago), the year she graduated, Bell was named the yearbook's "Best Looking Girl" by senior class vote. 





When Bell was 17, her best friend Jenny DeRita, whom she met at age 11 during a Detroit community theater production, was killed in an automobile accident. Bell said that it was "both the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me....Once you learn not to take people for granted, you live a lot happier life." 





Shortly after her high school graduation, Bell moved to New York and attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, majoring in musical theater. In 2001 (10 years ago), during her senior year at New York University, Bell left a few credits shy of graduating to take a role in the Broadway musical version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. 





PERSONAL LIFE





Bell signing in Jan. 2005 (6 years ago) at San Francisco's Metreon.At age 11, Bell became a vegetarian. In an interview with PETA, Bell stated, "I have always been an animal lover. I had a hard time disassociating the animals I cuddled with — dogs and cats, for example — from the animals on my plate, and I never really cared for the taste of meat. I always loved my Brussel sprouts!" During her time in Michigan, Bell fostered animals from Michigan Humane Society and she now supports the San Diego-based Helen Woodward Animal Center. Bell often attends fund raisers for the ASPCA and other non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting animals. She owns a Welsh Corgi-Chow Chow mix named Lola, a Welsh Corgi-Chihuahua mix named Shakey, and a black Labrador Retriever named Sadie, who was 11 years old when she was rescued from Hurricane Katrina and adopted by Bell in 2005 (6 years ago). She and many of those who worked on Veronica Mars, including friend Ryan Hansen, are involved with the charity organization Invisible Children Inc. The goal of the organization is to create awareness regarding the plight of Northern Ugandans who are caught in the midst of a civil war between the government and Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army. Bell has shown her support for the Writers Guild of America in the writer's strike, appearing in the picket lines in dec. 2007 (4 years ago) stating, "the writers are just looking for some fairness." 





Bell has also done a public service announcement for Do Something's great Healthy Living Campaign. 





In 2007 (4 years ago), Bell ended a five-year relationship with former fiancé Kevin Mann, and went on to date actor Dax Shepard. She told Complex magazine that dating "makes me want to vomit. And not out of grossness — OK, a little bit out of grossness, but just nerves." Bell explains, "I’ve always been a serial monogamist." 





As she is a Detroit native, she is also an avid fan of the Detroit Red Wings hockey team.





Source: en.wikipedia.org

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

Scarlett Johanson

FACTS ABOUT SCARLETT JOHANSSON

Date of Birth:	22 November 1984
Birthplace:	New York City, New York
Age:	25
First Name:	Scarlett
Last Name:	Johansson
Build:	Average
Height:	5' 3?" (162 cm)
Eye Color:	Green
Hair Color:	Dyed Blonde
Star Sign:	Scorpio
Claim to Fame:	Ghost World, Lost in Translation
Occupation:	Actress
Occupation Category:	Actress
Nationality:	American
Alternative Names:	Scarlett Johanssen, ScarJo, Scarlett Johannson

BIOGRAPHY FOR SCARLETT JOHANSSON

Scarlett Johansson (born Nov. 22, 1984 (27 years ago)) is an American actress and singer. Johansson made her movie debut in the 1994 (17 years ago) movie North and was subsequently nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female for her performance in 1996's Manny & Lo. Johansson rose to fame with her role in 1998's The Horse Whisperer and subsequently gained critical acclaim for her breakout performance in Ghost World in 2001 (10 years ago), for which she won the Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress. 

She made the transition to adult roles with her critically acclaimed performance in Sofia Coppola's movie Lost in Translation opposite Bill Murray, for which she won a BAFTA Award, and Girl with a Pearl Earring, the latter two earning her Golden Globe Award nominations in 2003 (8 years ago). A role in A Love Song for Bobby Long earned her a third nomination for Golden Globe for Best Actress. Following an appearance in The Island, Johansson again garnered critical acclaim and a fourth Golden Globe nomination, for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Woody Allen's Match Point. She followed that with another Allen film, Scoop, with Hugh Jackman. A role in Brian de Palma's movie noir The Black Dahlia was followed by a second role opposite Hugh Jackman in The Prestige, also starring Christian Bale. 





Following a 2007 (4 years ago) appearance in the critical flop The Nanny Diaries, Johansson's career experience a resurgence of critical reception with the 2008 (3 years ago) movies The Other Boleyn Girl (4 walls) opposite Natalie Portman (15 walls) and Eric Bana and the in Allen directed film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, with Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz (11 walls). She received positive reviews for her appearance in He's Just Not That into You (2009, 2 years ago) and will appear as villainess Black Widow in Iron Man (18 walls) 2 with Robert Downey Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson. 





On May 20, 2008 (3 years ago), Johansson debuted as a vocalist on her first album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, which included cover versions of Tom Waits songs. An upcoming album, Break Up, with Peter Yorn is scheduled for release in September, 2009 (2 years ago). 





EARLY YEARS

Johansson was born in New York City. Her father, Karsten Johansson, is a Danish-born architect, and her paternal grandfather, Ejner Johansson, was a screenwriter and director. Her mother, Melanie Sloan, a producer, comes from an Ashkenazi Jewish family from the Bronx. Johansson's parents met in Denmark, where her mother lived with Johansson's maternal grandmother, Dorothy, a former bookkeeper and schoolteacher. Johansson has an older sister, Vanessa, who is an actress; an older brother, Adrian; a twin brother, Hunter (whose only film, Manny & Lo, starred Scarlett); and a half-brother, Christian, from her father's re-marriage. 





Johansson grew up in a household with "little money", with a mother who was a "film buff". She and brother Hunter attended P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village in elementary school. Johansson began her theater training by attending and graduating from Professional Children's School in Manhattan in 2002 (9 years ago). 





CAREER

Acting career

Early roles 

Johansson began acting during childhood, after her mother began taking her to auditions. She made her movie debut at age nine as John Ritter's daughter in the 1994 (17 years ago) fantasy comedy North. Following minor roles in the 1995 (16 years ago) movie Just Cause, as the daughter of Sean Connery (5 walls) and Kate Capshaw, and If Lucy Fell in 1996 (15 years ago), she landed the role of Amanda in the Lisa Krueger-helmed movie Manny & Lo. Her performance garnered a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female, and positive reviews, one noting that the movie "grows on you, largely because of the charm of... Scarlett Johansson", while San Francisco Chronicle critic Mick LaSalle praised her "peaceful aura", predicting that "if she can get through puberty with that aura undisturbed, she could become an important actress." 





After appearing in minor roles in Fall in 1997 (14 years ago) and Home Alone 3, Johansson garnered widespread attention for her performance in the 1998 (13 years ago) movie The Horse Whisperer, directed by Robert Redford. She received a nomination for the Chicago movie Critics Association Award for Most Promising Newcomer for the film. In 1999 (12 years ago), she appeared in both My Brother the Pig and the neo-noir Coen brothers movie The Man Who Wasn't There, as well as a very brief appearance in the Mandy Moore (45 walls) video for her single "Candy", Although the movie was not a box office success, she received praise for her breakout role in the critically acclaimed 2001 (10 years ago) film, Ghost World. Credited with "sensitivity and talent [that] belie her age", Johansson went on to win the Chlotrudis, and Toronto movie Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for the Online movie Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress. 





Transition to adult roles 

Johansson marked her transition to adult roles in a pair of 2003 (8 years ago) films. In the much heralded Sofia Coppola movie Lost in Translation, she played the abandoned young wife Charlotte opposite Bill Murray. In praising the work of Johansson and Murray, movie critic Roger Ebert described the movie as "sweet and sad at the same time as it is sardonic and funny". Of her performance, also described as exuding an "embracing, restful serenity", the New York Times said, "At 18, the actress gets away with playing a 25-year-old woman by using her husky voice to test the level of acidity in the air... Ms. Johansson is not nearly as accomplished a performer as Mr. Murray, but Ms. Coppola gets around this by using Charlotte's simplicity and curiosity as keys to her character". Johansson won the BAFTA Award and the Boston Society of movie Critics Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for the role. She received nominations from a number of movie critic organizations, incluing the Broadcast movie Critics Association, the Chicago movie Critics Association, the Phoenix movie Critics Society and the Chlotrudis Awards. 





Johansson found equal praise for her role as Griet in Peter Webber's Girl with a Pearl Earring. Noting that "audiences feel as if they are spying on a moment of artistic inspiration when painter Vermeer creates the title work", USA Today praised her, suggesting that she "is having a banner year that Oscar voters should recognize." In his review for the New Yorker, Anthony Lane said "what keeps Webber’s movie alive is the tenseness of the setup... and, above all, the presence of Johansson. She is often wordless and close to plain onscreen, but wait for the ardor with which she can summon a closeup and bloom under its gaze; this is her film, not Vermeer’s, all the way." Owen Gleiberman, for Entertainment Weekly, praised her "nearly silent performance", observing that "the interplay on her face of fear, ignorance, curiosity, and sex is intensely dramatic." The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the British Academy of movie and TV Arts agreed, nominating her for the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She was also nominated by the London movie Critics' Circle, the Phoenix movie Critics Society and the British Independent movie Awards for Best Actress. 





Johansson was invited to join the Academy of Motion picture (wallpaper) Arts and Sciences in Jun. 2004 (7 years ago). In the same year, she voiced a role in The Spongebob Squarepants Movie and appeared in an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan titled A Good Woman, opposite Helen Hunt and Tom Wilkinson. A Good Woman was both a box office and a critical failure. The film, which only received a limited U.S. release, was criticized as a "misbegotten Hollywood-minded screen adaptation" with "an excruciating divide between the film's British actors (led by Tom Wilkinson and Stephen Campbell Moore), who are comfortable delivering Wilde's aphorisms... and its American marquee names, Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson, [who have] little connection to the English language as spoken in the high Wildean style." She also appeared in the critically panned teen heist movie The Perfect Score and in a supporting role opposite Topher Grace and Dennis Quaid in the better received In Good Company. Her performance in the dark Southern drama, A Love Song for Bobby Long, earned her a third Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination. Johansson was involved for a short time with the movie Mission: Impossible III, but was not officially cast because of scheduling conflicts, although a falling out with the film's star, Tom Cruise (12 walls), had been both widely reported and publicly denied. She was replaced by Keri Russell. 





2005 - 2007 

In Jul. 2005 (6 years ago), Johansson starred with Ewan McGregor in Michael Bay's science fiction film, The Island, in dual roles as Sarah Jordan and her clone, Jordan Two Delta. The movie was a domestic box office bomb and received mixed critical reviews. In contrast, her role as Nola, the American actress with whom Chris (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) is obsessed, in the Woody Allen-directed drama Match Point was well-received. The New York Times said "Ms. Johansson and Mr. Rhys-Meyers manage some of the best acting seen in a Woody Allen movie in a long time, escaping the archness and emotional disconnection that his writing often imposes." Mick LaSalle, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, said that Johansson "is a powerhouse from the word go", with a performance that "borders on astonishing." Johansson received her fourth Golden Globe nomination, and one from the Chicago movie Critics Association, for Best Supporting Actress. 





In another collaboration with Allen, Johansson was cast opposite Hugh Jackman and Allen in the 2006 (5 years ago) feature Scoop. While the movie enjoyed a modest worldwide box office success, it received mixed reviews by critics. The New York Times called the movie "not especially funny yet oddly appealing" and called parallels to The Thin Man, saying that while "Johansson is certainly no Myrna Loy", her "performance is all over the place... but finally works for a movie that is itself all over the place. Mr. Allen seems happy to just watch her strut her stuff, and after a while so are we." New York Magazine said that "Johansson doesn’t have the natural buoyancy to play a screwball Nancy Drew" but "she’s smart enough to know what’s needed (a young Diane Keaton), and manages to rouse herself", while USA Today criticized "her delivery of Allenesque one-liners" as "clunky", and "sometimes, she seems in over her head playing opposite Allen." The same year, she appeared in Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia, a movie noir shot in Los Angeles and Bulgaria. Johansson later said that she was a De Palma fan and had wanted to work with him on the film, even though she thought that she was "physically wrong" for the part. Her reviews were mixed. CNN.com noted that Johansson "takes to the pulpy period atmosphere as if it were oxygen," whereas the Kalamazoo Gazette referred to Johansson as "miscast." 





Johansson next appeared in the Christopher Nolan thriller The Prestige (2006, 5 years ago) in a supporting role, again opposite Hugh Jackman as well as Christian Bale. Nolan, who described Johansson as possessing an "ambiguity... a shielded quality", said that he was "very keen" for her to play the role. Johansson said that she "loved working with [Nolan]", he was "incredibly focused and driven and involved, and really involved in the performance in every aspect." The movie was both a critical and a worldwide box office success, recommended by the Los Angeles Times as "an adult, provocative piece of work." Also in 2006 (5 years ago), Johansson starred in a short movie directed by Bennett Miller and set to Bob Dylan's "When the Deal Goes Down...", released to promote Dylan's album, Modern Times. 





Johansson starred in 2007's The Nanny Diaries alongside Laura Linney. The movie performed only marginally well at the box office, and was critically panned. Johansson's reviews were mixed, with Variety saying she "essays an engaging heroine", while the The New Yorker criticized her for looking "merely confused" while "trying to give the material a plausible emotional center". In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle said "there's something painful about watching Scarlett Johansson, who looks as if she never had an indecisive moment in her life, struggle to seem ineffectual." 





2008 and beyond 

2008 brought an upturn in critical reception for Johansson's performances. She starred in The Other Boleyn Girl (4 walls) opposite Natalie Portman (15 walls) and Eric Bana, a movie which garnered mixed reviews for the movie itself. Writing for Rolling Stone, Pete Travers criticized the movie for moving "in frustrating herks and jerks", but praised Johansson and Portman, "What works is the combustible teaming of Natalie Portman (15 walls) and Scarlett Johansson, who give the Boleyn hotties a tough core of intelligence and wit, swinging the film's sixteenth-century protofeminist issues handily into this one." Variety credited the cast as "almost flawless... at the top of its game", citing "Johansson’s quieter Mary... as the pic’s emotional center, her tender love story with the conflicted monarch evoking the only genuine feelings on display." 





She filmed her third Woody Allen film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, in Spain, appearing opposite Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz (11 walls). The movie was one of Allen's most profitable films, appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best movies of 2008 (3 years ago). Overall, the movie received generally favorable reviews, and brought co-star Cruz numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Johansson was described as being "open and malleable" and "serves as a nice contrast to the [other actors]". 





Johansson played a small supporting role as femme fatale Silken Floss, an ally of Samuel L. Jackson's villian Dr. Octopus, in Frank Miller's movie noir comedy adaptation of The Spirit. The film, described as "a great-looking movie with an awkward balance of pulp noir and campy self-awareness", and "style without substance, style whirling in a senseless void" received almost universally poor reviews. 





Johansson appeared in the role of Anna, a yoga instructor, in the 2009 (2 years ago) ensemble cast of He's Just Not That Into You, with Jennifer Connelly (12 walls), Bradley Cooper, Drew Barrymore (12 walls) and Kevin Connolly. The movie was a box office success, but only average critical reception. The San Francisco Chronicle review noted that the movie "never soars, but it never flags" but lauds Johansson, saying "she has become a deft comic actress." The Los Angeles Times calls the movie an "anti-romantic romantic comedy" and cites the scenario in which Johansson appears with Jennifer Connelly (12 walls) and Bradley Cooper as having "more meat than others", making it "one of the best." The Baltimore Sun criticized the film, saying it "stumbles somewhat when it tries to get serious", but praised Johansson for "proving she doesn't need Woody Allen to be funny." 





In Mar. 2009 (2 years ago), Johansson signed on to play Black Widow in Iron Man (18 walls) 2 after a scheduling conflict forced Emily Blunt to drop out of the part. The film, slated for a May 2010 (last year) release is directed by Jon Favreau and also stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow (6 walls), Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Samuel L. Jackson and Sam Rockwell. Appearing at Comic-Con in San Diego, California on Jul. 26, 2009 (2 years ago), Johansson joked about her audition for the film, saying it consisted of "a couple of deep knee bends and lunges", but Favreau credited her with performing her own stunts: "All the fighting and wire work is her own. She worked really hard and it shows on the screen." 





Johansson has appeared in advertising campaigns for Calvin Klein, L'Oreal and Louis Vuitton. After appearing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala with Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Johansson was announced as the face of the new Dolce and Gabbana make-up collection in early 2009 (2 years ago). She made a personal appearance at the London store, Selfridges, on Jul. 31, 2009 (2 years ago), to help launch and promote the line. 





Music career

In 2005 (6 years ago), Johansson was considered for the role of Maria in Andrew Lloyd Webber's West End revival of The Sound of Music, though the role ultimately went to newcomer Connie Fisher after she won BBC's talent show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? Released on May 8, 2006 (5 years ago), Johansson sang the track "Summertime" for Unexpected Dreams – Songs from the Stars, a non-profit collection of songs recorded by Hollywood actors. She performed with The Jesus And Mary Chain for a special Coachella Reunion Show in Indio, California in Apr. 2007 (4 years ago). 









Johansson at the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Parade in Cambridge, MA in Feb. 2007In 2007 (4 years ago), she appeared as the leading lady in Justin Timberlake's music video for "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around," nominated in Aug. 2007 (4 years ago) for video of the year at the MTV Video Music Awards. The video sparked rumors of a romance between Johansson and Timberlake. 





In the summer of 2007 (4 years ago), Johansson spent about a month in Maurice, Louisiana recording an album at Dockside Studio, a rural 12-acre (49,000 m2) complex. The album, consisting of one original song and ten cover versions of Tom Waits songs, was produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio and features David Bowie, members from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Celebration. Released on May 20, 2008 (3 years ago), it was entitled Anywhere I Lay My Head. Reviews of the album were mixed to somewhat positive. Rolling Stone commented that her "voice is unremarkable and her pitch sometimes unsteady; she's a faintly goth Marilyn Monroe lost in a sonic fog." Conversely, some critics found it to be "surprisingly alluring", "a bravely eccentric selection", and "a brilliant album" with "ghostly magic". The album was named the "23rd best album of 2008" by NME and peaked at #1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and #126 on the Billboard 200 chart. Of her album, Johansson said, "I had this golden opportunity to record and thought I would do maybe an album of standards, because I’m not a songwriter. I’m a vocalist." Johansson said for her recording she "wanted to have space and [she] wanted to be in a remote place where all of us could just be ourselves and not worry about anyone trying to listen in or get in on that." Johansson said in an interview that she started listening to Tom Waits when she was 11 or 12. Of Tom Waits, Johansson said in an interview, "his melodies are so beautiful, his voice is so distinct and I had my own way of doing Tom Waits songs." In dec. 2008 (3 years ago), MTV reported Johansson plans to follow-up Anywhere I Lay My Head with an album of all original music, saying, “I don’t think I’d do covers, so it’d be a project that I have to dedicate myself to. I feel like that’s something for the future.” 





In 2009 (2 years ago), Johansson covered Jeff Buckley's "Last Goodbye" for the soundtrack of He's Just Not That Into You. Due for release on sep. 8, 2009 (2 years ago), she and singer/songwriter Pete Yorn recorded a collaborative album, Break Up, inspired by Serge Gainsbourg's duets with Brigitte Bardot. 





PERSONAL LIFE

Johansson rarely discusses her personal life with the press, saying "it's nice to have everybody not know your business." Johansson's ex-boyfriend and member of the band Steel Train, Jack Antonoff, wrote lyrics that refer to Johansson in the song "Better Love." She has been linked to many famous men, including Benicio del Toro, Jared Leto, Justin Timberlake (11 walls), and her Black Dahlia co-star Josh Hartnett, though Johansson denies she had a relationship with del Toro. Johansson and Hartnett dated for about two years until the end of 2006 (5 years ago), with Hartnett citing their busy lives as the reason for the split. 





She started dating Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds in 2007 (4 years ago), and on May 5, 2008 (3 years ago), it was reported that the two were engaged. On sep. 27, 2008 (3 years ago), Johansson and Reynolds were married at a quiet ceremony on Vancouver Island in Tofino, British Columbia. Earlier, Johansson expressed a concern about the potential conflict between the nature of human beings and the concept of monogamy. However, she has stated "contrary to popular belief... [I am] not promiscuous" and that she works "really hard" when she's in a relationship "to make it work in a monogamous way." She gets tested for HIV twice a year, and has said "it's part of being a decent human" and it is "just disgusting behavior when people don't. It's so irresponsible." 





She has criticized the media and Hollywood for promoting an image (wallpaper) that causes unhealthy diets and eating disorders among women, saying "that being ultra-thin is not sexy at all. Women shouldn't be forced to conform to unrealistic and unhealthy body images (wallpaper) that the media promote." 





Johansson is considered to be a modern sex symbol, and she regularly appears at the top of lists of the sexiest women in the world. Johansson appeared on the cover of the Mar. 2006 (5 years ago) issue of Vanity Fair in the nude alongside actress Keira Knightley (93 walls) and fashion designer Tom Ford. Maxim named Johansson #6 in their Hot 100 Issue in 2006; #3 in 2007 (4 years ago) and #2 in 2008 (3 years ago). In Nov. 2006 (5 years ago), Johansson was named "Sexiest Woman Alive" by Esquire. In Feb. 2007 (4 years ago), she was named the "Sexiest Celebrity" of the year by Playboy. During the filming of Match Point, director Woody Allen described Johansson as "sexually overwhelming", saying that he found it "very hard to be extra witty around a sexually overwhelming, beautiful young woman who is wittier than you are." 





About her religious affiliation, Johansson described herself as Jewish when she was talking about Woody Allen. "I just adore Woody," she says. "We have a lot in common. We're New Yorkers, Jewish. We have a very easygoing relationship." She celebrates a "little of both" referring to Christmas and Hanukkah. She has stated that she dislikes it when celebrities thank God or Jesus in their award acceptance speeches. 





Johansson is a Global Ambassador for the aid and development agency, Oxfam. In Mar. 2008 (3 years ago), a UK-based bidder paid £20,000 on an eBay auction to benefit Oxfam, winning a hair and makeup treatment, a pair of tickets and a chauffered trip to accompany Johansson on 20-minute date to the world premiere of He's Just Not That Into You. 





FILMOGRAPHY

North

Just Cause

Manny & Lo

If Lucy Fell

Home Alone 3

The Horse Whisperer

My Brother the Pig

The Man Who Wasn't There

Ghost World

An American Rhapsody

Eight Legged Freaks

Lost in Translation

Girl with a Pearl Earring

A Love Song for Bobby Long

A Good Woman

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

The Perfect Score

In Good Company

The Island

Match Point

Scoop

The Black Dahlia

The Prestige

The Nanny Diaries

The Other Boleyn Girl (4 walls)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

The Spirit

He's Just Not That into You

Iron Man (18 walls) 2









Source: en.wikipedia.org