Alicia Silverstone

Alicia Silverstone (pronounced /əˈliːsiə ˈsɪlvərstoʊn/; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress, author, and former fashion model. She first came to widespread attention in music videos for Aerosmith, and is best known for her roles in Hollywood films such as Clueless (1995) and her portrayal of Batgirl in Batman & Robin (1997).
Early life
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.[citation needed] Silverstone attended Crocker Middle School and then San Mateo High School, but did not complete her high school studies.[citation needed] When she was six years old, she began modeling and was subsequently cast in television 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 film performances, including MTV Movie Awards, National Board of Review, Young Artist Awards, and a Razzie. 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 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 film 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 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.[citation needed] Also in 1993, 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 television 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. 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 MTV Movie Awards for her performance in the film. In the same year, Silverstone starred in the erotic thriller The Babysitter, film 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 film grossed $238,207,122 worldwide.Silverstone's turn as Batgirl was not well received, and won her a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress.However she also won a Blimp Award at the Kid's Choice Awards for the role. 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, First Kiss Productions.

Silverstone ended the 1990s with the Saturn Award-nominated romance/comedy film 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, Silverstone appeared in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of the Shakespeare play Love's Labour's Lost, in which she was required to sing and dance. In 2001, Silverstone provided the voice of Sharon Spitz, the lead character in the Canadian animated television Braceface. During this time she also made the films Global Heresy and Scorched. In 2002, she made her Broadway debut alongside Kathleen Turner and Jason Biggs in The Graduate. After removing herself from the public eye for a few years, she resurfaced in the short-lived 2003 NBC television show Miss Match, which was canceled after 11 episodes. Silverstone later acknowledged that she hates the trappings of fame, saying, "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, Silverstone did a pilot with Fox called Queen B, in which she 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, she co-starred with Queen Latifah in Beauty Shop, a spinoff 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 and Freddie Prinze Jr. in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, which did well financially, and appeared in the direct-to-video film Silence Becomes You.In 2006, Silverstone starred in an ABC pilot called Pink Collar, in which her character 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 appeared in the Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-TV movie Candles on Bay Street, based on the book by Cathie Pelletier. Silverstone continued her theatre work, next appearing in David Mamet's Boston Marriage and Speed-the-Plow. In 2008, she filmed another ABC pilot alongside Megan Mullally called Bad Mother's Handbook and made a cameo appearance in the comedy film Tropic Thunder.

In early 2009, Silverstone starred in the world premiere of Donald Margulies's Time Stands Still at the Geffern Playhouse LA.The play focuses on a longtime couple and journalistic team who return to New York from an extended stint in the war-torn Middle East. In a review, Silverstone was described as "a formidable stage presence who creates sparks whenever she performs".She reprised her role alongside Laura Linney in the New York production of the play on Broadway, which premiered on January 28, 2010, directed by Daniel Sullivan, who described Silverstone as "a breath of fresh air."The play received good reviews with the New York Times praising Silverstone, saying she "brings warmth, actorly intelligence and delicate humour."

Silverstone filmed a small segment in Elektra Luxx, a sequel to Women In Trouble. Director Sebastian Gutierrez cut her segment but will possibly use it for a third installment, tentatively titled Women In Ecstasy.She also starred in the music video for Rob Thomas's 2009 single "Her Diamonds".

She will next appear with Sigourney Weaver and Krysten Ritter in director Amy Heckerling's vampire film, Vamps, playing one of two vampires who fall in love and face a choice that could jeopardise their immortality.She was offered the role after Heckerling came to see her in Time Stands Still.She is also set to play the adoptive mother of a 12-year old African American girl who enters a local butter sculpture competition in a small Iowa town, alongside Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman, Olivia Wilde and Ashley Greene in Butter. The movie is said to be inspired by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's battle to secure the Democratic nomination for president.Silverstone will also appear in the teen romance Homework.

Personal life

Silverstone has dated famous people including Benicio del Toro, Stephen Dorff, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Adam Sandler.[citation needed]

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 June 11, 2005. After meeting outside a movie theater in 1997, 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.She intends to have children in the future.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.

In 2009, Silverstone released The Kind Diet, a guide to vegan nutrition, and launched its associated website The Kind Life.The Kind Diet has topped the New York Times best sellers list.

Political convictions

Silverstone is noted for being an animal rights and environmental activist. She became a vegan in 1998 after attending an animal rights meeting. "I realized that I was the problem," she told InStyle Home, in spring 2007. "I was an animal lover who was eating animals."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."In 2004, Silverstone was voted, "Sexiest Female Vegetarian," by PETA. In 2007, 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.Federal campaign contribution records also reveal that Silverstone contributed US$500 to Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign.

On May 23, 2007, 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 September 19, 2007, 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, 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

Film

Year Film Role Notes
1993 The Crush Adrian/Darian Forrester MTV Movie Awards
1995 Le Nouveau monde Trudy Wadd a.k.a New World
Hideaway Regina Harrison
Clueless Cher Horowitz American Comedy Award
The Babysitter Jennifer
1996 True Crime Mary Giordano direct-to-video
1997 Batman & Robin Batgirl/Barbara Wilson Kids' Choice Award
Excess Baggage Emily Hope also uncredited producer
1998 Junket Whore Herself documentary
1999 Blast from the Past Eve Rustikoff
2000 Love's Labour's Lost The Princess of France
2002 Global Heresy Natalie "Nat" Bevin a.k.a Rock My World
2003 Scorched Sheila Rio
2004 Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Heather Jasper-Howe
2005 Beauty Shop Lynn
Silence Becomes You Violet direct-to-video
2006 Stormbreaker Jack Starbright
2008 Tropic Thunder Herself
2010 Elektra Luxx TBA
Homework TBA
2011 Butter Jill Emmet

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1992 The Wonder Years Jessica Thomas episode: Road Test
1993 Torch Song Delphine TV movie
Scattered Dreams Phyllis Messenger TV movie
1994 Cool and the Crazy Roslyn TV movie
1998 Wildlife Vet[36] Herself TV documentary
2001–2005 Braceface Sharon Spitz (voice) TV cartoon series
also executive producer
Emmy nomination
2003 Miss Match Kate Fox TV series
Golden Globe nomination
2005 Queen B Beatrice 'Bea' TV pilot
co-executive producer
2006 Pink Collar Hayden TV pilot
Candles on Bay Street Dee Dee Michaud TV movie
2007 The Singles Table Georgia TV series
(unreleased)
2008 Bad Mother's Handbook Karen TV series
(post-production)

Music videos

Year Title Role Notes
1993 Cryin' Young Girl Aerosmith
Amazing Girl
1994 Crazy Girl #1
2009 Her Diamonds Frozen Girl Rob Thomas

Theatre

Year Title Role Director and writer
1993 Carol's Eve Debbie Pauline Lepor (writer)
Valerie Mayhew (director)
2002 The Graduate Elaine Robinson Terry Johnson Broadway
2006 Boston Marriage Catherine David Mamet
2007 Speed-the-Plow Karen David Mamet (writer)
Randall Arney (director)
2009/2010 Time Stands Still Mandy Donald Marguiles (writer)
Daniel Sullivan (director)

Awards and nominations

Year Result Award Category Show
1994 Won MTV Movie Awards Best Villain The Crush
Best Breakthrough Performance
Nominated Most Desirable Female
Young Artist Awards Best Young Leading Actress, Drama
1996 Won National Board of Review Best Breakthrough Performer Clueless
American Comedy Awards Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture
Blockbuster Entertainment Award Best Female Newcomer
MTV Movie Awards Best Female Performance
Most Desirable Female
Nominated Best Comedic Performance
Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Movie Actress
Young Artist Awards Best Young Leading Actress, Feature Film
1998 Won Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Supporting Actress Batman & Robin
Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Movie Actress
Nominated Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Supporting Actress, Sci-Fi
2002 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program Braceface
2004 Genesis Awards Children's TV Series
Nominated Golden Globe Awards Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy Miss Match
Satellite Awards Best Actress, Musical or Comedy SeriesShe was awarded a Heart Of Green Award in 2009, which "recognises individuals, organizations or companies who have helped green go mainstream." In 2010, she was awarded a Voice Of Compassion Award by the Physician's Committee For Responsible Medicine for "shining a spotlight on the powerful health benefits of a vegan diet."
Listing

Silverstone has appeared on the covers of Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, FHM, Rolling Stone, and other magazines. She appeared in FHM's Denmark, Australia, Netherlands, German, Dutch, South African, Danish, Russian and Romanian editions's 100 Sexiest Women lists several times. She was ranked #5 in Australia's 100 Sexiest Women list in 1998. She has been ranked #3 in FHM-US's Cover Girls.
FHM

* 70 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (1996)
* 11 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (1997)
* 16 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (1998)
* 26 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (1999)
* 22 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2000)
* 20 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2001)
* 43 in FHM-USA's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2001)
* 28 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2002)
* 17 in FHM's All Time 100 Sexiest Women Hall of Fame (2009)

Cosmopolitan

* 6 in Cosmopolitan's Fun, Fearless Females of the Year (2003)
* 4 in Cosmopolitan's Fun, Fearless Females of the Year (2004)

Other

* 31 in Celebrity Skin's 50 Sexiest Starlets of All Time (May 1996)
* 94 in Heat Magazine's Top 100 Beautiful Women (2004)
* 12 in VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars (February 2006)
* PETA chose her as "Sexiest Female Vegetarian" (2004)
* In 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90's she was ranked #5.
* Topsocialite.com listed her as the 3rd Sexiest woman of the 90s.