Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Hollywood Actress - Amanda seyfried
Hollywood Actress - Amanda seyfried 1
Born on Dec. 3, 1985, Amanda Louise Seyfried grew up in Allentown, PA, and was raised by her father, Jack, a pharmacist, and her mother, Ann, an occupational therapist. When she was 11 years old, she began modeling and took singing lessons until she was 17, all of which helped prepare her for a career in the arts. While a teenage model, Seyfried appeared on the covers of three books by Francine Pascal - My Mother Was Never a Kid, Love & Betrayal & Hold the Mayo and My First Love and Other Disasters - author of the popular Sweet Valley High series. Seyfried started acting while attending William Allen High School, which led to her role in 2000 as Lucinda Marie on "As the World Turns" (CBS, 1956- ), followed by a recurring appearance from 2002-03 as Joni Stafford on "All My Children" (ABC, 1970- ).Hollywood Actress - Amanda seyfried 2
Wide-eyed actress Amanda Seyfried is best known to audiences for her hilarious performance as slow-witted but popular Karen Smith in the 2004 film Mean_Girls. The former child model had graduated from high school the year before, though throughout her secondary education Seyfried had been acting on the popular soaps As the World Turns and All_My_Children, and by the time Mean_Girls producers cast her for her big break, she was an experienced performer. She followed up the film's success with a role on the popular series Veronica_Mars, playing the title character's murdered best friend in a series of "Laura Palmer-esque" flashbacks. She also took a role on the popular and controversial series Big_Love before signing on to star in the big-screen adaptation of the popular Broadway play +Mamma Mia!, a musical about a bride-to-be searching for her real father, set to the tunes of the popular Swedish disco group ABBA. Cammila Albertson, RoviHollywood Actress - Amanda seyfried 3
All American actress Amanda Seyfried is about to undergo a massive image change after signing on to play famed porn legend Linda Lovelace in an upcoming bio-pic... and she is more than a little nervous!Hollywood Actress - Amanda seyfried 4
Amanda Seyfried signed on to star as the adult actress turned anti-porn activist after Kate Hudson pulled out, and has admitted that the risque role will be a major challenge for her as an actress.Hollywood Actress - Amanda seyfried 5
In an interview with ABC News she said, "It's going to be really hard and kind of terrifying at the same time. I do have some liberties there but I am playing someone that existed in history and had quite an established reputation for something very extreme."Hollywood Actress - Amanda seyfried 6
She went on to add, "She was such a different person than what we expect. It's a good story to tell, and I'm really, really excited about it."Hollywood Actress - Amanda seyfried 7
She got famous from “Mean Girls.” Now, Amanda Seyfried’s ready for a very adult role: Playing porn star Linda Lovelace in an upcoming bio-pic.Hollywood Actress - Amanda seyfried 8
With talent, looks and charm, actress Amanda Seyfried delivered several scene-stealing performances in hit teen comedies, edgy independents and compelling television series before landing her breakthrough role as the rebellious daughter of a polygamist family on "Big Love" (HBO, 2006- ). Seyfried first gained notice as a ditsy member of a group of high school "Mean Girls" (2004), which led into a more mature performance in the adult drama, "Nine Lives" (2005). While her career was on an upswing thanks to "Big Love," Seyfried became a bona fide star following a leading turn in the smash hit feature "Mamma Mia!" (2008), a musical adaptation of the Broadway musical inspired by pop group ABBA. From there, she carried the adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' "Dear John" (2010) while taking risks with Atom Egoyan's erotic thriller "Cloe" (2010), both of which proved to be smart choices that kept audiences guessing what she would do next while foretelling more promising work to come.Hollywood Actress - Amanda seyfried 9
Amanda Seyfried channeled the 1920's as she attended a party in New York earlier this week.The Mean Girls actress showed her glamorous side as she partied with other guests in her vintage style dress.Amanda was in The Big Apple to unveil the Clé de Peau Beauté’s Spring 2012 Collection.Monday, November 21, 2011
Style Hollywood Actress - Kate Hudson
Style Hollywood Actress - Kate Hudson 1
Kate Hudson - A favorite female lead in romantic comedies for her outgoing comedic personality and sunny charisma, Kate Hudson avoided the dual dangers of a Hollywood upbringing and famous parents; instead earning her own success on the big screen. At the beginning of the new century, Hudson was Tinseltown's reigning nouveau hippie chick, a sensibility likely passed down from flower power mom Goldie Hawn and further established by her Oscar-nominated role as a 1970s rock 'n' roll groupie in "Almost Famous" (2000), as well as real-life marriage to the Black Crowes' rocker Chris Robinson. Hudson went on to enjoy her biggest box office success with comedies including "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" (2003), "You, Me, and Dupree" (2006), and "Bride Wars" (2009), but also showed an intriguing range with the thriller "The Skeleton Key" (2005), the musical "Nine" (2009) and the grueling drama "The Killer Inside Me" (2010). Hudson definitely seemed to be her mother's daughter: gifted with comedic genius, but also with the potential - and intelligence - to impress in any role, no matter the genre.Style Hollywood Actress - Kate Hudson 2
Kate Hudson - The daughter of Academy Award-winning actress and producer Goldie Hawn and comedian-musician Bill Hudson, Kate Hudson was born on April 19, 1979. Hawn and Hudson broke up when their daughter was only 18 months old, so Hudson grew up considering Hawn's subsequent boyfriend Kurt Russell her dad, whom Hawn started dating in 1983 during their first movie together, "Swing Shift." She spent her childhood as the only sister in a boisterous household that included older brother Oliver, Russell's son Boston from a previous marriage, and Russell's and Hawn's son, Wyatt.Style Hollywood Actress - Kate Hudson 3
Kate Hudson - Hudson was a big personality and a natural performer from the start, with dance lessons beginning at age three and training with the Santa Monica Playhouse by age 10. She also spent a great deal of time on film and TV sets with her parents, but down-to-earth Hawn and Russell maintained a solid foundation for their kids, one that valued family ties and personal responsibility and did not indulge in Hollywood excess. But it was obvious that the charismatic Hudson had a flamboyant flair for entertaining, so they certainly did not discourage her, enrolling her at the Crossroads Performing Arts high school in Santa Monica and encouraging her to spend a summer training with the renowned Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts.Style Hollywood Actress - Kate Hudson 4
Kate Hudson - In 1996, Hudson landed her first few TV appearances; most notably on an episode of "Party of Five" (Fox, 1994-2000), but declined an offer for a feature film debut in "Escape from L.A." (1996), so as to avoid any accusations of riding the coattails of the film's star, "Pa" Kurt Russell. The following year, she was accepted to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts but had a change of heart and decided to jump right into the professional arena, where she quickly landed several feature roles. Her first was "Ricochet River" (lensed 1997), a drama set in a Pacific Northwest logging town co-starring Jason James Richter. In "200 Cigarettes" (1999), Hudson was cast as a clumsy young woman on a New Year's Eve date from hell among an ensemble cast including up-and-comers like Christina Ricci and Ben and Casey Affleck. Morgan J. Freeman's charming "Desert Blue" followed, with Hudson as a young actress driving across the California desert with her father (John Heard) and ending up in a small town full of interesting characters. Hudson's screen radiance and palatable talent more than ensured a bright future for the young actress.Style Hollywood Actress - Kate Hudson 5
Kate Hudson - But Hudson undoubtedly made her biggest impression on Hollywood in 2000. She read the script of Cameron Crowe's 1970s coming-of-age rock chronicle, "Almost Famous" and was determined to land a role in the film, attracted by the music and fashion of her favorite decade, as well as recognizing that it would be a significant acting challenge that would prove she could take her career to the next level. In this tale of an aspiring music journalist on the road with a rising rock band and its troupe of female "band-aides," Hudson initially landed the smaller role of the rebellious runaway sister of lead character William (Patrick Fugate). Thankfully for her, Sarah Polley had to drop out of her role as head band-aid Penny Lane and Hudson tirelessly worked to convince Crowe that she could carry one of the film's three leads. He relented, and Hudson delivered a pitch-perfect performance, imbuing Penny Lane's flamboyant, life-of-the-party facade with heart-breaking (and heartbroken) vulnerability and insecurity just beneath the surface.Style Hollywood Actress - Kate Hudson 6
Kate Hudson - The 20-year-old was floored to receive an Oscar nomination, feeling that she had officially joined the ranks of her show business family. Later that year, art imitated life when Hudson met Chris Robinson, singer for the blues/rock group, The Black Crowes, and the two began a whirlwind romance. Hudson moved into Robinson's New York apartment soon after, and the pair were married on New Year's Eve of 2000. Upon her mother's advice, she took a year off to enjoy her new marriage. The following year, she and Hawn, Russell, and brother Oliver teamed up to form their own production company, Cosmic Entertainment.Style Hollywood Actress - Kate Hudson 7
Kate Hudson - Now a proven leading actress, Hudson wanted to choose her next film carefully. She was offered the role of Mary Jane Watson in "Spiderman" (2002) but did not feel ready for a sure-fire blockbuster actioner, opting instead for a remake of the Victorian classic "The Four Feathers." In the film, she starred as the fiancée of a conflicted British soldier played by Heath Ledger. The film did moderately well at the box office but failed to excite critics. In 2003, Hudson co-starred in the first of a string of very successful romantic comedies, "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" (2003). The film centered on an advice columnist (Hudson) and ad exec (Matthew McConaughey) who meet amidst differing romantic quests and experience every rom-com manner of miscommunications. The pair's playful chemistry won over audiences (though not critics) to the tune of over $100 million in box office haul. Later the same year, Hudson was paired with Luke Wilson in the Rob Reiner romantic comedy "Alex and Emma." Playing an opinionated stenographer helping a blocked writer finish his book, Hudson further explored her comedic side by playing a trio of fictional characters in the planned novel - each inspired by Wilson's growing attraction to her character. Again, Hudson provided much needed spark to an otherwise listless exercise.Style Hollywood Actress - Kate Hudson 8
Kate Hudson - Shifting gears, Hudson took a co-starring role in the sophisticated Merchant-Ivory production of "Le Divorce" (2003), an adaptation of Diane Johnson's bestselling novel. Returning to more naturalistic acting, Hudson excelled in her portrayal of a naive American girl who visits her depressed, divorcing sister (Naomi Watts) in Paris and becomes swept up in an affair with a charming, if caddish, older married man. Hudson's three 2003 films affirmed her star power at first, though interest began to wane slightly as they were released only months apart and threatened to overexpose the new audience favorite.Style Hollywood Actress - Kate Hudson 9
Kate Hudson - Hudson began 2004 with news of the birth of her and Robinson's son, Ryder. Adding to her busy schedule, that spring she appeared in director Garry Marshall's "Raising Helen" (2004), where she ironically appeared as a self-involved career woman who finds herself unprepared to become the adoptive mom of her late sister's children. Though familiar and formulaic, the film allowed Hudson to show off some her most endearing on-screen attributes, as her character unfolded into a more grounded, loving person. Kate spent the remainder of the year keeping her own family together, bringing Ryder on the road with his dad's rock band, before returning home for the launch of Cosmic Entertainment's feature debut, "Two for the Money" starring Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey.Sunday, November 20, 2011
Celebrities Model - Alessandra Ambrosio
Celebrities Model - Alessandra Ambrosio 1
When Ambrosio was 12 years old, she enrolled in modeling classes then, began modeling for Dilson Stein at age 15. Winning Brazil's Elite Model Look started her modeling career. Her first big modeling job was the cover of the Brazilian Elle magazine. Elite passed along some of her Polaroids to Guess which led her to do the Millennium Guess? campaign along with her friend and fellow Brazilian supermodel Ana Beatriz Barros. She has since been in huge demand, working with big-name brands and appearing in well famous international magazine covers.Celebrities Model - Alessandra Ambrosio 2
Ambrosio has made several television appearances, notably a cameo as herself on HBO's Entourage along with Izabel Goulart; The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn; Late Night with Conan O’Brien; as guest judge on Project Runway season 2: Team Lingerie and The Tyra Banks Show where she was a guest twice. She appeared alongside TV personality, Regis Philbin in a worldwide commercial for Hummer H2. In 2006, she had a cameo on the box-office hit movie, Casino Royale appearing briefly as tennis girl.Celebrities Model - Alessandra Ambrosio 3
In 2004, Ambrosio launched her line of swimwear called Alessandra Ambrosio by Sais, a division of Rosa Cha and is continuing to expand into other areas of licensing.Celebrities Model - Alessandra Ambrosio 4
Her best known collaboration is with American lingerie brand Victoria's Secret. She appeared on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show for the first time in 2000, and continues to be a participant in the subsequent shows. Her most notable walk down the runway was in 2005 wearing lingerie made entirely out of candy. In 2004, she was selected as the first spokesmodel for Victoria's Secret PINK line. She is currently a contract 'Angel' and spokesmodel for Victoria's Secret. Her 'Angel' status has brought her to the public's attention being cited by the popular media as one of the world's sexiest women. She was chosen as one of People magazine's annual 100 Most Beautiful People in the World, in May 2007 along with fellow 'Angels' Ambrosio is among the world's top-earning models.Celebrities Model - Alessandra Ambrosio 5
A lithe brunette with a signature navel piercing, Alessandra Ambrosio was one of the many Brazilian models to hit it big internationally in the late 1990s. Alessandra Ambrosio began taking modeling classes at age 14, was a finalist in the Elite Look of the Year competition in 1996, and went from there to advertisements for Guess clothing (the same line which helped launch the careers of Anna Nicole Smith and Laetitia Casta). She became one of the Victoria's Secret lingerie "angels" and has also appeared in ads for Revlon, Giorgio Armani and many other companies. Alessandra Ambrosio made a very brief appearance as "Tennis Girl" in the 2007 James Bond film Casino Royale (starring Daniel Craig).Celebrities Model - Alessandra Ambrosio 6
Using her sexiness as the ideal promotional tool, Alessandra Ambrosio hit up the launch party for the June issue of Wallpaper ''Born in Brazil'' in New York City on Friday night (May 14).Celebrities Model - Alessandra Ambrosio 7
Ambrosio was born in Erechim, Brazil, a small town in the south.As an early teen, she enrolled in a modeling class and subsequently was entered in the Elite modeling agency's 1996 Look of the Year competition. Though she did not win, she was offered an Elite contract one year after.Celebrities Model - Alessandra Ambrosio 8
In related news, Miss Ambrosio was among the elite catwalk cuties to rank in the top ten highest earning models.Celebrities Model - Alessandra Ambrosio 9
Alessandra Ambrosio was part of the deluge of Brazilian models that emerged after Gisele Bi¼ndchen opened the floodgates. One of the star models of that group, of which fellow Victoria's Secret/Guess? Model (and best friend) Ana Beatriz Barros is a member, the 5'10", light brown-haired Ambrosio accumulated quite a career in the late 1990's into the next century.Friday, November 18, 2011
Style Hollywood Actress - Emily blunt
Style Hollywood Actress - Emily blunt 1
Emily blunt - In 2006, British actress Emily Blunt was a virtual unknown on American movie screens when she managed to steal every scene from veteran thespians Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci in the hit comedy, "The Devil Wears Prada." Her over-the-top performance as Streep's high-strung assistant catapulted her into the international spotlight, steering her career away from prior British period television pieces and towards memorable supporting roles in "The Jane Austen Book Club" (2007) and the Steve Carell comedy, "Dan in Real Life" (2007). The breadth of Blunt's versatility coupled with her love of unusual, unhinged characters was solidified with starring roles as a crime scene cleaner in "Sunshine Cleaning" (2009) and as Queen Victoria in "Young Victoria" (2009), after which international filmmakers raced to book this fearless new face with impeccable comic timing.Style Hollywood Actress - Emily blunt 2
Emily blunt - Born on Feb. 23, 1983 in London, England, Emily Blunt was one of four children to her father, Oliver, a barrister, and her mother, Joanna, a teacher who once enjoyed an acting career on stage and television before having a family. While growing up, Blunt excelled at singing, playing cello and horseback riding, but had not considered following in her mother's acting footsteps because she, herself, struggled with a stutter. Blunt eventually overcame the hurdle with speech therapy, which included learning to adopt different accents and voices. Unbeknownst to her at the time, the vocal exercises were her introduction to character interpretation.Style Hollywood Actress - Emily blunt 3
Emily blunt - When she was 16, Blunt attended the performing arts school, Hurtwood House, and with only six months of training behind her, was promptly cast alongside some of the most respected actors in the business, making her stage debut opposite Dame Judi Dench in Sir Peter Hall's production of "The Royal Family" (2001). Hailed by critics for her performance, she was named "Best Newcomer" by The Evening Standard. She followed up by playing Juliet in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" at the Chichester Festival in 2002.Style Hollywood Actress - Emily blunt 4
Emily blunt - Blunt made her foray into television with the U.K. series "Boudica" (2003), playing warrior queen Alex Kingston's daughter. The series was later broadcast on PBS in the United States. More television roles in period dramas followed, including playing Catherine Howard - fifth wife of Henry VIII - opposite Ray Winstone in "Henry VIII" (2003, Granada Television), and a spoiled socialite who meets an unpleasant fate in the Agatha Christie thriller, "Death on the Nile" (A&E, 2004). She made a big impression shortly thereafter in the independent feature "My Summer of Love" (2004), in which she was a manipulative young woman who becomes involved with a former prison inmate (Paddy Considine). The BAFTA-winning film shone the spotlight brightly onto Blunt, leading to the inevitable shift toward more substantial roles in larger productions.Style Hollywood Actress - Emily blunt 5
Emily blunt - She played a vestal virgin with psychic abilities in the overripe historical miniseries "Empire" (ABC, 2005), and gained more positive reviews when she starred opposite Susan Sarandon and Sam Neill in the Australian film, "Irresistible" (2005), in which she played a young woman whom Sarandon believes is attempting to seduce her husband.Style Hollywood Actress - Emily blunt 6
Emily blunt - Blunt returned to BBC TV in 2005 and earned a Golden Globe win for her meaty role as a teen with a troubled parental relationship in "Gideon's Daughter," again holding her own in the company of respected veteran players like Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson. Meanwhile, "The Devil Wears Prada" marked Blunt's Hollywood debut, and her turn as Emily, who alternately fears and worships Meryl Streep's steely boss while making life miserable for her new co-worker (Anne Hathaway), garnered much positive press for the film; some critics even singled her out as the best character in the movie.Style Hollywood Actress - Emily blunt 7
Emily blunt - Blunt had been working steadily for several years prior to her breakout with "Devil," but the energetic young actress soon enjoyed the luxury of having a much larger, broader range of offers to pick from. Her almost cartoonish role in "Prada" notwithstanding, she displayed a preference for character roles that were more realistic and richly layered, like the socially awkward teacher Prudie in "The Jane Austen Book Club" (2007).Style Hollywood Actress - Emily blunt 8
Emily blunt - Blunt maintained her dead-on American accent throughout the rest of 2007, with the relative newcomer again thrown into the ring with great actors like John Malkovich in "The Great Buck Howard" and Tom Hanks in "Charlie Wilson's War." In the former, she played a magician's publicist, while in the latter she gave a married man a tongue bath. She also starred in the horror film "The Chill" (2007) and had a small role in the well-received Steve Carell comedy, "Dan in Real Life" (2007). Off-screen, Blunt's romantic relationship with popular jazz vocalist Michael Bublé landed her in the gossip pages, and the actress even made a guest vocal appearance on his 2007 album, Call Me Irresponsible. However, the couple split in 2008 after three years together. Not long after, she began dating "The Office" (NBC, 2005- ) star, John Krasinski, to whom she became engaged in August 2009. The two married less than a year later in Lake Como, Italy.Style Hollywood Actress - Emily blunt 9
Emily blunt - Blunt's own career continued to blossom with several more film releases, including a starring role in "Young Victoria" (2009), a British costume drama in which she portrayed the Queen during her young romance with Prince Albert (Rupert Friend). For her work in the film, Blunt received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama. Blunt went on to co-star with Amy Adams in "Sunshine Cleaning" (2009), a comedy about a struggling family who launch a crime scene clean-up company, and played the good-hearted object of desire of a werewolf (Benecio Del Toro) in "The Wolfman" (2010). Continuing along that same vein, she was the object of affection for a love-struck assassin (Bill Nighy) in the British comedy, "Wild Target" (2010). She rounded out that year with the big budget adaptation of "Gulliver's Travels" (2010), which starred Jack Black in the role of Lemuel Gulliver.Monday, November 14, 2011
Top Hollywood Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow
Top Hollywood Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow 1
Gwyneth Paltrow - Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow distinguished herself from the pack of rising young stars in the 1990s with surprisingly mature performances in "Se7en" (1995) and "Shakespeare in Love" (1998), for which she received well-deserved critical praise. With her sharp intelligence and her fair, patrician looks, Paltrow earned comparisons to Grace Kelly as she carved out a steady niche in British period dramas like "Emma" (1996), but kept audiences guessing with occasional comedies like "Shallow Hal" (2001) and richly drawn portraits of complex women, including the fur-wearing eccentric sister in Wes Anderson's "Royal Tenenbaums" (2001). Though she excelled in films like "Proof" (2005), in which she reprised her acclaimed West End role as the troubled daughter of a late mathematics genius, Paltrow also made time for big budget studio films, including the comic book-based "Iron Man" (2008). The graceful and poised New York-bred actress also emerged as an admired style icon and portrait of the cool, modern woman who had it all, including a family with Chris Martin of Coldplay fame - but not before several high-profile relationships with the likes of Ben Affleck and Brad Pitt made her the perfect tabloid fodder. Though sometimes criticized for being a bit too urbane, particularly after she launched GOOP.com, which touted high-end products out of reach for the average person, this daughter of Hollywood nonetheless remained one of the more compelling actresses of her generation.Top Hollywood Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow 2
Gwyneth Paltrow - Gwyneth Paltrow was born in Los Angeles on Sept. 27, 1972, the daughter of TV producer Bruce Paltrow and Tony-winning stage and screen actress Blythe Danner. Her arts-loving parents moved the family to New York City when she was 11 years old, resulting in Paltrow and her younger brother Jake being towed (sometimes against their will) to downtown experimental theater productions and uptown operas. After spending countless summers watching her mother perform at the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts, Paltrow made her own professional stage debut there in 1990; the same year she graduated from the exclusive Spence School. From her Upper East Side townhouse, Paltrow headed back to California and a semester at the University of California in Santa Barbara before deciding that she really preferred to be down in her hometown pursuing an acting career.Top Hollywood Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow 3
Gwyneth Paltrow - Paltrow landed her first screen role in the forgettable "Shout" (1991), and family friend Steven Spielberg cast her as the young Wendy in his slightly overblown family favorite "Hook" (1991). That summer, Paltrow also shared the stage with her mother in a Williamstown production of "Picnic" (1991). She was cast first in the 1992 true crime NBC miniseries "Cruel Doubt" before her mother was tapped to play her on-screen parent. With a supporting role in 1993's "Flesh and Bone" as a Texas con woman traveling with the much older James Caan, Paltrow first displayed her uncanny knack for accents, bringing a much needed vitality to the otherwise dreary film and earning the lion's share of critical kudos. She followed up with a series of finely-tuned supporting turns, first as a bitchy actress in the ensemble of Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" (1994) and next as the ambassador's knowing daughter in the Merchant-Ivory production "Jefferson in Paris" (1995). It was that same year that the young actress stepped out from under her look-a-like mother's considerable shadow. David Fincher cast Paltrow as the loving wife of a homicide detective in the hit thriller "Seven" (1995), which not only gave the actress her first high-profile role, but also introduced her to co-star Brad Pitt - at that time, the hottest actor in the business. The pair's well-publicized romance arguably introduced her to a wider audience than her acting work had done thus far - thanks in large part to tabloid exposure and nude photos of the couple lounging on a beach - as well as grouped her with the exclusive club of gorgeous up-and-comers of the late 1990s.Top Hollywood Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow 4
Gwyneth Paltrow - Paltrow made her first foray into comedy with the disappointing David Schwimmer vehicle "The Pallbearer" (1996), before solidifying her reputation as a star-in- the-making with a superb turn as Jane Austen's meddling heroine in "Emma" (1996). Her dead-on English accent even left the uninitiated convinced that she was British and put to rest any preexisting thoughts of nepotism or famous boyfriends playing a role in her success. In an about-face from genteel to gritty, she next played a Reno cocktail waitress and part-time hooker in Paul Thomas Anderson's directorial debut "Hard Eight" (1996). Paltrow celebrated a year well done by cementing her super couple status and becoming engaged to marry Pitt, but by spring of the following year the couple announced their split. Despite rumors of infidelity or professional jealousy playing into the split, it was obvious that the break-up affected both actors tremendously.Top Hollywood Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow 5
Gwyneth Paltrow - By 1998, the actress who had often been compared to Grace Kelly for her fluid movements, pale beauty and elegant fashion style, easily slipped into Kelly's role in a loose remake of Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder" (1954), "A Perfect Murder." Paltrow was alluring as a wealthy philandering wife, though much of the film's ink was devoted to her questionable May-December pairing with Michael Douglas, who was actually a family friend Paltrow had known since she was young. The misstep was soon forgotten in the face of her triumph as a 16th-century woman who yearns for romance and poetry rather than arranged marriage in the frothily delightful "Shakespeare in Love." Her spirited outing as the Bard's muse garnered her Best Actress Oscar and SAG wins, as well as Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. Creating almost as much buzz was the timeless pink gown she wore to the Academy Awards, designed specifically for her by Ralph Lauren. Walking the red carpet with her father, Paltrow dazzled fans and solidified the Grace Kelly comparisons by wearing a similar dress the late actress wore when she won her Oscar for "The Country Girl" (1954).Top Hollywood Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow 6
Gwyneth Paltrow - At the same time every chic ensemble she donned made fashion news, she also embarked on a short-lived romance with "Shakespeare" co-star Ben Affleck, which set the tabloids on fire. After their break-up, it was rumored that the couple were just in two different head spaces, maturity-wise, with Affleck gambling and hitting the clubs and Paltrow more settled. Apart from her high-wattage relationship, all eyes remained planted squarely on the actress of the year, as she catapulted to the top of many best-dressed lists for a personal flair that reflected her modern, casual sophistication. She would only take one notable fashion misstep, but it was a doozie - the gothic, Alexander McQueen gown she wore to the 2002 Academy Awards, in which she appeared to be braless in the scrunched, sheer top. Fashionistas had a field day, but it was a testament to Paltrow's style status that she was raked over the coals to the extent that she was.Top Hollywood Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow 7
Gwyneth Paltrow - In Paltrow's first post-Oscar performance, she was cool and conniving in a murderous Italian-set love triangle with Matt Damon and Jude Law in Anthony Minghella's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999), adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel. A first-time collaboration with her director father, "Duets" (2000), offered the popular actress a chance to show off her considerable singing talents in the thin tale of a father-daughter team of karaoke hustlers. Paltrow found herself an unwitting pop star when a cover of Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'" performed by her and screen dad Huey Lewis made its way onto the music charts. Later that year, she co-starred with former flame Affleck in Don Roos' "Bounce," turning in a charming and convincing performance in a rare blue-collar role. It was in large part to Paltrow's influence that Affleck was cast in the dramatic lead role of a man riddled with guilt after giving up his seat on a doomed plane to Paltrow's husband. The exes remained close friends off-screen, with Affleck giving Paltrow all the credit for helping him develop into a deeper, more accomplished actor than he had been in years past. Paltrow, herself, stepped outside her comfort zone by following up the somber "Bounce" with the lead role in the Farrelly Brothers comedy "Shallow Hal" (2001), donning a fat suit to teach Jack Black's character a lesson about inner beauty. Paltrow came under fire by some for her role in the surprisingly gentle romance, which required her to wear prosthetics as the 300-pound character her suitor Hal cannot see.Top Hollywood Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow 8
Gwyneth Paltrow - After a pair of pandering mainstream films, Paltrow made a refreshing return to more challenging indie fare in Wes Anderson's "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001). The actress was a seamless fit in Anderson's quirky world, with her appropriately reined in performance as the enigmatic and uncommunicative playwright Margot. She likewise gave a rich performance in Jennifer Jason Leigh's and Alan Cummings' ensemble piece "The Anniversary Party" (2001), sending up her image as Hollywood's "golden girl" in her portrayal of an up-and-coming starlet and uninvited party guest of aging (and jealous) actress Leigh. In 2002, Paltrow made her West End debut in David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a young woman who has sacrificed much of her life caring for her father, a brilliant but schizophrenic mathematician (Anthony Hopkins), whose death leaves her wondering whether she has inherited his genius or his madness.Top Hollywood Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow 9
Gwyneth Paltrow - Tapped again for her believability in an academic setting, Paltrow co-starred with Aaron Eckhart as competing scholars investigating the possible romance between the 18th-century writers in Neil LaBute's adaptation of A.S. Byatt's novel, "Possession" (2002). Sadly, at year's end Paltrow lost her father - with whom she was extremely close - to complications of pneumonia and recurring throat cancer; in fact, the pair had been on a father/daughter vacation in Italy to celebrate her 30th birthday only days before. Paltrow was devastated by the loss in her uncommonly close family, but banded together with mom Danner in mother-daughter roles as renowned poet Sylvia Plath and her mother Aurelia in the British-produced biopic of the ill-fated literary icon, "Sylvia" (2003). During Paltrow's emotionally trying year, the actress met Chris Martin, frontman of the British rock band Coldplay, backstage at a concert. Perhaps due to the process of reassessing life after a tragic loss, the pair formed an intense romance that led to marriage only a year later.
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