Hollywood

emma watson english actress and model

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson born 15 April 1990 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.
In 2007, Watson announced her involvement in two non-Harry Potter productions: the television adaptation of the novel Ballet Shoes and an animated film, The Tale of Despereaux. Ballet Shoes was broadcast on 26 December 2007 to an audience of 5.2 million, and The Tale of Despereaux, based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo, was released in 2008 and grossed over US $70 million in worldwide sales.
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
o 2.1 Harry Potter
o 2.2 Other acting work
o 2.3 Fashion and modelling
* 3 Personal life
* 4 Filmography
* 5 Awards
* 6 References
* 7 External links
Early life
Emma Watson was born in Paris to Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson, both British lawyers. Watson has one French grandmother, and lived in Paris until the age of five. Later, 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.
Career
Harry Potter
In 1999, casting began for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States), the film adaptation of British author J. K. Rowling's bestselling novel. Casting agents found Watson through her Oxford theatre teacher, and producers were impressed by her confidence. After eight auditions, producer David Heyman told Watson and fellow applicants Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint that they had been cast for the roles of the schoolfriends Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley respectively. Rowling supported Watson from her first screen test.
The release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001 was Watson's debut screen performance. The film broke records for opening-day sales and opening-weekend takings and was the highest-grossing film of 2001. Critics praised the performances of the three leads, often singling out Watson for particular acclaim; The Daily Telegraph called her performance "admirable", and IGN said she "stole the show". Watson was nominated for five awards for her performance in Philosopher's Stone, winning the Young Artist Award for Leading Young Actress.
A year later, Watson again starred as Hermione in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second installment of the series. Although the film received mixed reviews, reviewers were positive about the lead actors' performances. The Los Angeles Times said Watson and her peers had matured between films,[20] while The Times criticised director Chris Columbus for "under-employing" Watson's hugely popular character. Watson received an Otto Award from the German magazine Bravo for her performance.
In 2004, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released. Watson was appreciative of the more assertive role Hermione played, calling her character "charismatic" and "a fantastic role to play". Although critics panned Radcliffe's performance, labelling him "wooden", they praised Watson; The New York Times lauded her performance, saying "Luckily Mr. Radcliffe's blandness is offset by Ms. Watson's spiky impatience. Harry may show off his expanding wizardly skills ... but Hermione ... earns the loudest applause with a decidedly unmagical punch to Draco Malfoy's deserving nose." Although Prisoner of Azkaban remains the lowest-grossing Harry Potter film as of April 2009, Watson's personal performance won her two Otto Awards and the Child Performance of the Year award from Total Film

emma watson

amanda tapping directing experience

Amanda Tapping born 28 August 1965 in Rochford, Essex is an English-born Canadian actress, producer and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. Currently she stars as Dr. Helen Magnus in the Syfy Channel series Sanctuary.
Contents
* 1 Background
* 2 Acting career
* 3 Directing experience
* 4 Selected filmography
* 5 Theatre
* 6 Awards and nominations
* 7 References
* 8 External links
Background
Born in Rochford, Essex, England, she moved with her family to Ontario, Canada when she was three years old. She attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute where she excelled in environmental science and drama. However, when she finished in 1984, she decided to focus her attention on drama, attending the University of Windsor School of Dramatic Arts in Windsor, Ontario.
As of 2004, Tapping lives with her husband, Alan Kovacs, in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has one daughter, Olivia B., born on 22 March, 2005. Tapping has two living brothers, Richard and Christopher. Chris is her fraternal twin, who works in Toronto as a database administrator. A third brother, Steven, died in December 2006.
Acting career
In costume as Samantha Carter, during filming for Stargate: Continuum.
After graduation Tapping continued to study theatrical arts while performing in several stage productions. She appeared in several television commercials and played a variety of roles in television and film productions, such as The Outer Limits and The X-Files. She also formed a comedy troupe, the "Random Acts", with collaborators Katherine Jackson and Anne Marie Kerr, in Toronto in the early 1990s.
Tapping is best known for her portrayal of Samantha Carter in the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, which debuted in 1997. After SG-1 aired its final episode, Tapping reprised the role of Samantha Carter on Stargate Atlantis as the new commander of the Atlantis expedition. In season five however, Tapping's role on the show was reduced to that of "special guest-star" with only occasional appearances due to her choosing to focus attention on the development of a new series for Syfy called Sanctuary. The show consists of 26 episodes over 2 seasons, which expanded on an original show released on the internet in 2007 as a series of eight webisodes, where the bulk of the scenery and characters are entirely green screen and CGI creations. Tapping serves as both star and executive producer of the show. Sanctuary has been renewed for a 4th season due to air Autumn of 2011.
In 2007, she won a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Actress for her role in the short film Breakdown.
Directing experience
Tapping's first directing experience was during the seventh season of Stargate SG-1 on an episode titled "Resurrection", written by co-star Michael Shanks. She directed the seventh episode of Sanctuary season two titled "Veritas".

amanda tapping

amanda peet career transition and early 2000s

Amanda Peet born January 11, 1972 is an American actress, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. After studying with Uta Hagen at Columbia University, Peet began her career in television commercials, and progressed to small roles on television, before making her film debut in 1995. Featured roles in films such as the 2000 comedy film The Whole Nine Yards brought her to a much wider recognition.
She has appeared in a variety of films, including the 2003 psychological horror Identity, the 2005 action-thriller Syriana, the 2006 comedy-drama Griffin & Phoenix, the 2007 romantic comedy The Ex, the 2008 science fiction film The X-Files: I Want to Believe and the 2009 disaster adventure drama 2012. She has also appeared in the 1999 drama series Jack & Jill and the 2006 comedy series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
o 2.1 Early work, 1995–1999
o 2.2 Career transition and early 2000s
o 2.3 2005–2007
o 2.4 2008–present
* 3 Personal life
* 4 Filmography
* 5 References
* 6 External links
Early life
Amanda Peet was born in New York City, the daughter of Penny (née Levy), a social worker, and Charles Peet, a corporate lawyer. The two are now divorced. Her father is a Quaker and her mother is Jewish. Peet attended Friends Seminary, then studied history at and graduated from Columbia University, where she auditioned for acting teacher Uta Hagen and decided to become an actress after taking Hagen's class. During her four-year period of study with Hagen, Peet appeared in the off-Broadway revival of Clifford Odets's Awake and Sing.
Career
Early work, 1995–1999
Peet's first screen performance was in a television commercial for Skittles. Her early roles included a guest role on the television series Law & Order episode "Hot Pursuit", playing a character similar to Patty Hearst. She made her film debut in the drama film Animal Room (1995), which was starring Neil Patrick Harris and Matthew Lillard. For much of the late 1990s, Peet maintained a steady acting career in relatively obscure independent films. Her next feature film was One Fine Day. The film was released in late 1996, and she co-appeared with George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer. Also that year, she portrayed a supporting role in the romantic comedy film She's the One, opposite Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz.
After several small and supporting roles in 1998's Origin of the Species, Southie and Playing by Heart, Peet had her first major role as "Jack" in the 1999 WB network series Jack & Jill (which aired for two seasons). Her character was played by Amelia Heinle in the pilot. However, Heinle was replaced by Peet after the series was picked up. She also appeared in the eighth-season finale of Seinfeld ("The Summer of George") as a waitress whom Jerry Seinfeld meets. In 1999, Peet was cast opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar in the fantasy romantic comedy Simply Irresistible. Her character in the film was Chris, the former girlfriend of Sean Patrick Flanery's character, Tom.
Career transition and early 2000s
Peet had a supporting role in the biographical film Isn't She Great, in which she appeared with Bette Midler and Nathan Lane. The film was released in January 2000. Peet's first role in a widely-released feature film came in 2000, with the mafia comedy film The Whole Nine Yards, starring Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry. She portrayed the character of Jill St. Claire, who had a nude scene in the film. The film received several favorable reviews from critics and was a big hit at the worldwide box office, with a $106,371,651 gross. Critic Roger Ebert called Peet's performance "Perfect" because "it exactly matches what is required, and then adds a level of heedless glee." She received a nomination for the "Favorite Supporting Actress: Comedy" award at the 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards and for the "Choice Film Liar" award at the 2000 Teen Choice Awards. That same year, landed the starring role, Mia, in the independent film Whipped, won the Young Hollywood Award at the category of "Best New Style Maker", and was voted one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People magazine.
Peet appeared, playing a psychologist and romantic interest of Jason Biggs's character in the American comedy Saving Silverman (2001). The film was largely panned by critics, but had a minor box office success grossing over $26 million worldwide. Jack Black and Steve Zahn also co-starred in the film. Later, she appeared as Rachel in the 2002 American comedy-drama film Igby Goes Down. In an interview, she explained her character in the film: "She's not very successful at it and she certainly doesn't seduce the right things" and "She seduces all the wrong things and is seduced by all the wrong things, as well."
Peet portrayed a supporting role in the thriller film Changing Lanes (2002) as Ben Affleck's wife. In 2003, Peet co-starred with Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves in the romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give, directed by Nancy Meyers. Her role was Marin Barry, the daughter of Keaton's character, who is a 29-year-old auctioneer, working for Christie's. The film was a commercially and critically success and won and was nominated for several awards. Peet appeared in the 2003 horror and psychological thriller film Identity. She played the role of Paris Nevada, a Las Vegas prostitute who is killed by Timmy (played by Bret Loehr) at the end of the movie. Identity afforded her the chance to work with such actors as John Cusack, Ray Liotta and John Hawkes. The film was a modest box office success worldwide however received much critical acclaim. The following year, she starred in The Whole Ten Yards, the sequel to The Whole Nine Yards. The film was not well received by critics and audience.

amanda peet

michelle trachtenberg American television star

Michelle Christine Trachtenberg born October 11, 1985 is an American television and film actress. She is well known for her roles as Dawn Summers in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000-03) and as Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl (2008-10) and in the films Harriet the Spy (1996); Inspector Gadget (1999); EuroTrip (2004); Ice Princess (2005); Black Christmas (2006) and 17 Again (2009).
Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
* 3 Filmography
o 3.1 Films
o 3.2 Television
* 4 References
* 5 External links
Early life
Trachtenberg was born in New York City, the younger of two daughters of Lana, a bank manager, and Michael Trachtenberg, a fiber-optics engineer. Her father is from Germany and her mother was born in Russia; Trachtenberg can speak Russian fluently. Her family is Jewish and Trachtenberg celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah; her grandparents live in Israel.Trachtenberg was raised, along with older sister Irene, in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, where she attended P.S. 99 Elementary School and The Bay Academy for the Arts And Sciences Junior High School. She later attended Notre Dame High School with Katharine McPhee, Rachel Bilson, and Kirsten Dunst.
Career
Trachtenberg in September 2007
Trachtenberg made her first television appearance at the age of three, in a commercial for Wisk Detergent. She went on to feature in over 100 more commercials. She appeared in her first credited role as Nona F. Mecklenberg in The Adventures of Pete & Pete from 1994 until 1996. During the same period she played Lily Montgomery in All My Children, in which she first worked with future Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Trachtenberg's film career began in 1996 with the lead role in Harriet the Spy. She then returned to television for Meego, for which she won a Young Artist Award. She returned to film in 1999 for Inspector Gadget, as the gadget-master's niece, Penny. She also starred in the film Can't Be Heaven. In the summer of 2000, Trachtenberg took up the role of Dawn Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She remained in the role until the show ended in 2003. She also hosted the Discovery Kids series Truth or Scare from 2001 to 2003. After Buffy and Truth or Scare, she returned to film in the comedy film EuroTrip, co-starring Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts and Travis Wester and directed by Jeff Schaffer. She also had a recurring role in the HBO series Six Feet Under as Celeste, a spoiled pop star for whom Keith Charles served as a bodyguard.
In March 2005, Trachtenberg played the title character in Walt Disney Pictures' family comedy–drama Ice Princess with Kim Cattrall. In the film, Trachtenberg played a science whiz named Casey Carlyle who gives up her future academic life in order to pursue her newfound dream of being a professional figure skater.
In April 2006 Trachtenberg guest-starred in the episode of House, M.D., "Safe". She revealed on the December 22, 2006, episode of Late Night With Conan O'Brien that House is her favorite show, she is friends with one of the producers and she asked to be a guest star.
In November 2006, Trachtenberg guest-starred in the sixth season of the Emmy-nominated crime drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In the episode "Weeping Willow", she played the role of Willow, a kidnapped video blogger based on lonelygirl15. Trachtenberg also made a cameo in the Fall Out Boy music video for "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" (with fellow Buffy cast member Seth Green), Joaquin Phoenix-directed video "Tired of Being Sorry" for Balthazar Getty's band Ringside, and Trapt's video "Echo". In 2007, she was cast as the female lead in an ABC comedy pilot called The Hill, set in Washington, D.C. Trachtenberg provided the voice of Tika Waylan for Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, a direct-to-video animated movie based on the novel of the same name.
Trachtenberg appeared on The CW hit show Gossip Girl as Georgina Sparks, who recently left rehab and brings back the dark past Serena van der Woodsen desperately wants to leave behind. She returned to the show for a multi-episode story arc towards the end of the second season. Trachtenberg appeared in the season 3 finale and the season 4 premiere. In 2009, Trachtenberg was a cast member on the NBC drama Mercy, the series however was not renewed for a second season.
Trachtenberg appeared in the 2009 film 17 Again alongside Zac Efron, Sterling Knight and Matthew Perry. She also had a small role in the comedy film Cop Out.
On October 21, 2010, It was announced that Trachtenberg will star in new series that is being developed for The CW to premiere in Fall 2011. In addition to starring in the series she also serve as executive producer along with Gossip Girl producers Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz.