Hot or Not

February 3 – Jessica Biel

February 3rd, 2010

February 3rd’s “HOT or NOT?” candidate was Jessica Biel. You voted. She’s:

Jessica Claire Biel (born March 3, 1982)actress and former model, who has appeared in several Hollywood films, including Summer Catch, the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Illusionist and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. She is also known for her television role as Mary Camden in the long-running family-drama series 7th Heaven.

After leaving 7th Heaven at the end of the sixth season, Biel was cast as the lead heroine in the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film was met with mixed reviews, but became a box office success, scoring the number one spot in its opening week.

In fall 2003, Biel began working on the third installment of the Blade film series, Blade: Trinity. Almost immediately after finishing Blade Trinity in 2004, she headed to Australia to shoot the action/thriller Stealth. Both movies were critical and box office failures. Stealth had a budget of $130 million, but grossed just $76 million worldwide. Biel also made a notable cameo appearance in the 2004 film Cellular, which starred her then real-life boyfriend Chris Evans.

Biel went on to audition for the role of Claire Colburn in the romantic comedy Elizabethtown, but the role was eventually given to Kirsten Dunst. Biel was instead cast as Ellen Kishmore, a smaller role. She then played in the indie flick London, opposite then-boyfriend Chris Evans.

Biel’s film career blossomed when she played a turn-of-the-century duchess in the period piece, The Illusionist, co-starring Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti. The movie received mostly-positive reviews, and was a turning point for Biel, who had previously played more contemporary roles. She was awarded the Rising Star Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and won an Achievement Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival for her performance.

Biel played an Iraq War veteran in the 2006 film Home of the Brave, a drama about soldiers struggling to adjust back into society after facing the hardships of war. Her performance was well-received, but the movie was a commercial failure. After being pulled from theaters twice, it eventually went straight to DVD in late 2007. Biel and Home of the Brave co-star Samuel L. Jackson were nominated for Prism Awards for their performances.

Meanwhile, after a three-year absence from the series, Biel returned for what was to be the series finale of 7th Heaven (the show was later unexpectedly renewed at the last minute by The CW Television Network). The episode had already been initially shot, but producer and creator Brenda Hampton was determined to have Biel featured in the episode, so Biel agreed to shoot her scenes during a break from filming her upcoming 2007 movie Next.

In Next, Biel played alongside Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore. She then played in the summer comedy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, co-starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James. Like her earlier film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Chuck and Larry received mixed reviews, but opened its first week at number one at the box office. She also produced and starred in a short film titled Hole in the Paper Sky, which was released in 2008.

Biel was invited to announce nominations at both the Golden Globe Awards (with Rosario Dawson and Matthew Perry) and the Academy Awards in 2007.

In late 2007, Biel signed on to play a stripper in Powder Blue, alongside Forest Whitaker (who also produced the film) Ray Liotta and Patrick Swayze.

At the start of 2008, Biel shot Easy Virtue, an adaptation of the play by Noël Coward. Like the play, the movie is set in the 1920s and Biel plays young widow Larita, who marries John Whittaker in a spur-of-the-moment in France, but must face her disapproving in-laws when they return to England. The film premiered in September 2008 at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film opened to great reviews with the Hollywood Reporter describing her performance as “an irresistible force of nature — a kind, witty, supremely intelligent and beautiful woman who … is capable of rejoinders that thoroughly undercut her opponent’s withering criticism.” In 2009, Biel lent her voice to the animated sci-fi film Planet 51.

In April 2008, Biel began working on the political satire Nailed, with Jake Gyllenhaal. The movie centers around a woman who accidentally gets a nail lodged in her head, then travels to Washington D.C. to fight for better health care. Filming wrapped up in late-June after several production shut downs. She is also co-producing and starring in Die a Little, a contemporary adaptation of the novel by Megan Abbott. A start date for filming has not yet been set.

In 2009, Biel presented the Academy Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony.

Tags: Jessica Biel
Posted in Hot or Not? | No Comments »

January 27 – Mariah Carey

January 27th, 2010

January 27th’s “HOT or NOT?” candidate was Mariah Carey. You voted… and we still don’t have an answer. For the first time in the history of “HOT or NOT?” the votes were tied. Want to fight for your vote? Text the Bill & Spence show at 29909 to tell them why your vote should be the winning vote.

Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970) is an singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of hit records established her position as Columbia’s highest-selling act. According to Billboard magazine, she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States.

Following her separation from Mottola in 1997, Carey introduced elements of hip hop into her album work, to much initial success, but her popularity was in decline when she left Columbia in 2001. She signed to Virgin Records but was dropped from the label and bought out of her contract the following year after a highly publicized physical and emotional breakdown, as well as the poor reception given to Glitter, her film and soundtrack project. In 2002, Carey signed with Island Records, and after a relatively unsuccessful period, she returned to the top of pop music in 2005.

Carey has sold more than 175 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. She was named the best-selling female pop artist of the millennium at the 2000 World Music Awards. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, she is the third best-selling female artist and sixteenth overall recording artist with shipments of over 62.5 million albums in the US. She is also ranked as the best-selling female artist of the U.S. Nielsen SoundScan era (third best-selling artist overall). She has the most number-one singles for a solo artist in the United States (eighteen; second artist overall behind The Beatles). In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked her at number six on “The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists”, making Carey as the second most successful female artist, in the history of Billboard Hot 100 chart. In addition to her commercial accomplishments, Carey has earned five Grammy Awards, and is well-known for her five-octave vocal range, power, melismatic style, and use of the whistle register.

Tags: Mariah Carey
Posted in Hot or Not? | No Comments »

January 20 – Rachel Nichols

January 20th, 2010

January 20th’s “HOT or NOT?” candidate was ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. You voted. It was a close one, but more of you think she’s:

Rachel Michele Nichols (born October 18, 1973) is an ESPN reporter, who covers breaking news and events for SportsCenter. She also contributes investigative pieces and human-interest features for SportsCenter and Outside the Lines. A regular part of ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown shows, as well as a regular on ESPN’s NBA coverage, Nichols is also a correspondent for E:60. She has previously worked for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (1995-1996) and Washington Post (1996-2004). Nichols has been at ESPN since February 2004.

Tags: ESPN, Rachel Nichols
Posted in Hot or Not? | No Comments »

January 13 – Ginnifer Goodwin

January 13th, 2010

January 13th’s “HOT or NOT?” candidate was Ginnifer Goodwin. You voted. She’s:

Goodwin was born Jennifer Goodwin in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Linda, a Federal Express worker, and Tim Goodwin, who formerly owned and operated a recording studio. She changed her name from “Jennifer” to “Ginnifer”, because that is how she and her family pronounced it in their regional dialect. Her younger sister—Melissa Goodwin—is a prominent stop motion animator on shows such as the Emmy Award winning Robot Chicken, on which Ginnifer has also appeared as voice talent.

Goodwin was affiliated with the North American Federation of Temple Youth and was active in BBYO at the Jewish Community Center in Memphis growing up; she had a bat mitzvah. After graduating from Lausanne Collegiate School in 1996, Goodwin attended Hanover College (majoring in Theatre) for one year before moving on to Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, with honors, in 2001.

Goodwin first had roles in the popular NBC television programs Law & Order and Ed before appearing in the Comedy Central television movie Porn ‘n Chicken. She later had substantial roles in the films Mona Lisa Smile, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, Walk the Line—in which she portrayed Vivian Liberto, Johnny Cash’s first wife—and Birds of America. She also played Dori Dumchovic in the dark comedy Love Comes to the Executioner. Goodwin is currently in a leading role as Margene Heffman—the third wife in a polygamous family—on the HBO original series Big Love.

Goodwin starred as Gigi in He’s Just Not That into You, which was released in February 2009. For this role she received a nomination for the People’s Choice Award for Breakout Movie Actress. In April 2009, she began filming Ramona and Beezus (playing Ramona’s favorite person, Aunt Bea), co-starring with John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan, and Selena Gomez.

In 2008, MaxMara honored Goodwin with a “Face of the Future” award, an award recognizing up and coming women in film. Also, Goodwin was one of the celebrities featured in Gap’s Fall 2008 ad campaign.

Tags: Ginnifer Goodwin
Posted in Hot or Not? | No Comments »

January 6 – Mila Kunis

January 6th, 2010

January 6th’s “HOT or NOT?” candidate is Mila Kunis. You voted. She’s:

Milena “Mila” Kunis (born Milena Markovna Kunis; August 14, 1983) is an actress whose television work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on That ’70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy. She has also played roles in film, such as Rachel Jansen in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and as Mona Sax in Max Payne.

Kunis was born in Chernivtsi, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union to a Jewish family. Her mother, Elvira, is a physics teacher and drug store manager, and her father, Mark Kunis, is a mechanical engineer and cab company executive. She also has an older brother. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1991. Despite reports to the contrary, Kunis did not learn English from watching The Price Is Right. In Los Angeles, she attended Hubert Howe Bancroft Middle School. She was mostly taught by an on-set tutor for her high school years while taping That ’70s Show. When not on the set, she attended Fairfax Senior High School. She briefly attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

At age nine, Kunis took acting classes after school at the Beverly Hills Studios, where she met her first and current manager Susan Curtis. She began appearing in print-ads, catalogues, and TV commercials for children’s products like Lisa Frank products, Mattel’s Barbie, and Payless Shoes. She also modeled for a Guess girls’ clothing campaign. Her first TV role was as the young Hope Williams on an episode of the popular soap opera Days of our Lives. She had a minor role on 7th Heaven as Lucy’s nemesis and supporting roles in Santa with Muscles, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, and the Angelina Jolie film Gia, as Gia Carangi’s younger self, prior to her breakthrough role on That ’70s Show.

Kunis was cast as Jackie Burkhart in the television series That ’70s Show in 1998. During the auditions, all people auditioning for the roles in the show were required to be at least 18 years old, so Kunis told the casting staff at the audition that she was going to be 18 “on her birthday” not specifying to which birthday she was referring. She was actually 14 at the time of the audition and after receiving the part, she was able to continue in the role despite having misled the directors. She had been considered the best fit for the character and was thought to have been creative in her way of gaining the audition despite her age.

Kunis went in to the casting of an animated television sitcom called Family Guy created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series plot centers on a family called the Griffins, a dysfunctional family. The series starred MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green and Mike Henry. She auditioned for the character Meg Griffin, Peter and Lois Griffin’s unpopular teenage daughter, who is frequently the butt of the family’s jokes. Kunis won the role after auditions and a slight rewrite of the character, in part due to her performance on That ’70s Show. MacFarlane called Kunis back after her first audition, instructing her to speak slower, and then told her to come back another time and enunciate more. Once she claimed that she had it under control, MacFarlane hired her.

Kunis described her character as “the scapegoat.” She further explained, “Meg gets picked on a lot. But it’s funny. It’s like the middle child. She is constantly in the state of being an awkward 14-year-old, when you’re kind of going through puberty and what-not. She’s just in perpetual mode of humiliation. And it’s fun.” She replaced Lacey Chabert, who voiced Meg Griffin for the first production season (15 episodes).

Kunis was nominated for an Annie Award in the category of Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production in 2007. She also voiced Meg in the Family Guy Videogame.

She appeared in Get Over It opposite Kirsten Dunst. She starred in the straight-to-DVD horror film American Psycho 2 alongside William Shatner which was a sequel to the 2000 film American Psycho starring Christian Bale. She appeared in After Sex alongside Zoe Saldana as well as in Boot Camp and Moving McAllister alongside Jon Heder. Kunis’ breakout movie performance was in the role of Rachel Jansen in the 2008 movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The performance won her rave reviews and a Teen Choice Award nomination. Also in 2008, she starred alongside Mark Wahlberg in the action movie Max Payne, portraying character Mona Sax. The film is based on the popular video game of the same name. In December 2008, Kunis was featured in Gap’s “Shine Your Own Star” Christmas campaign with other celebrities such as Jennifer Hudson, Jason Bateman, Mary-Louise Parker, Jon Heder, and others.

In 2009, she starred alongside Ben Affleck and Jason Bateman in the comedy Extract. She has been confirmed to star alongside Denzel Washington in the action film The Book of Eli. She has also been confirmed to join the comedy Date Night starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell. She will also play Lilly, Natalie Portman’s rival, in Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming Black Swan in late 2010.

Kunis was ranked #54 in Stuff’s “102 Sexiest Women in the World” (2002); Maxim named her #47 on its 2006 Hot 100 list. In 2008, she was ranked #81 on the Maxim Hot 100 list. She was also ranked #81 on the FHM U.S 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2008, although she is unranked in other FHM magazines from different nations. She is ranked #5 on Maxim’s 2009 Hot 100 list. Kunis was also accredited to be one of the “most attractive geeks” in 2008 by Wired.com due to her much-publicized affinity for World of Warcraft.

Kunis has been dating actor Macaulay Culkin since 2002. Although there have been rumors of the couple getting married, Kunis has denied this, saying:

“I’ve been engaged. I think I’ve already been married. And I’m sure I have a child somewhere. I’m waiting to have something else happen. No, I’m not married. And no, I’m not engaged. And no, I do not have a child. No one seems to listen. And next week I’ll be engaged again. I think, at one point, they were like, ‘Seen shopping in Beverly Hills for engagement rings.’ We were in Japan working. What is wrong with these people? Half the time you can say they misconstrued facts. But, more often than not, they just make stuff up.”

She has identified herself in interviews as a fan of the online computer game World of Warcraft and has received a certain amount of attention from the game’s fan community as a result. She has not released what server she is in but says she is with her close friends in the Alliance. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, she says she does not use voice chat with other players in response to claims that some people had recognized her voice.

Tags: Mila Kunis
Posted in Hot or Not? | No Comments »

December 30 – Christina Aguilera

December 30th, 2009

December 30th’s “HOT or NOT?” candidate is Christina Aguilera. You voted. She’s:

christina_aguilera

Christina María Aguilera was born December 18, 1980. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel’s television series The New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994. Aguilera signed to RCA Records after recording “Reflection“ for the film Mulan. She came to prominence following her debut album Christina Aguilera (1999), which was a commercial success spawning three number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. A Latin pop album, Mi Reflejo (2001), and several collaborations followed which garnered Aguilera worldwide success, though she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image.

After parting from her management, Aguilera took creative control over her second studio album, Stripped (2002), which received mixed reviews, produced substantial sales and was elected as the 13th album of the decade by Rolling Stone magazine. The second single, “Beautiful“, was a commercial success and sustained the album’s sales amidst controversy over Aguilera’s sexual image. Aguilera’s third studio album, Back to Basics (2006), included elements of soul, jazz, and blues music, and was released to positive critical reception.

Aside from being known for her vocal ability, music videos and ever-changing image, musically, she includes themes of dealing with public scrutiny, her childhood, and female empowerment in her music. Apart from her work in music, she has also dedicated much of her time as a philanthropist for charities, human rights and world issues. Aguilera’s work has earned her numerous awards, including four Grammy Awards and one Latin Grammy Award, amongst eighteen nominations. She has become one of the most successful recording artists of the decade, selling more than 43 million records worldwide.

Tags: Christina Aguilera
Posted in Hot or Not? | No Comments »

December 23 – Eliza Dushku

December 23rd, 2009

December 23rd’s “HOT or NOT?” candidate was Eliza Dushku. She’s

eliza_dushku

Eliza Patricia Dushku was born December 30, 1980 and is best known for her roles on television, such as her recurring appearances as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel, as well as the main character, Tru Davies, in the short-lived Fox series Tru Calling. She currently produces and stars in the series Dollhouse as Echo, created by Buffy and Angel creator Joss Whedon. She has also appeared in several films, including True Lies, The New Guy, Bring It On, Wrong Turn and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

Dushku was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, the daughter of Philip R. Dushku, an administrator and teacher in the Boston Public Schools, and ex-wife Judith “Judy”, a political science professor at Suffolk University in Boston. Dushku’s father is Albanian American and her mother is of Danish and English descent. Dushku attended Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, and graduated from Watertown High School. She was raised a Mormon, the faith of her mother (though she is not actively practicing). She has three older brothers: Aaron, Benjamin (Ben, born February 5, 1976), and Nathaniel (Nate, born June 8, 1977, in Boston, Massachusetts), the latter of whom is a model and actor. Her parents divorced when she was still an infant. In 2005 she visited her father’s family in Albania after being personally invited by the president. While there she also visited the Albanian Community in Kosovo and got an Albanian Eagle tattooed on the back of her neck.

Dushku came to the attention of casting agents when she was 10. She was chosen at the end of a five month search throughout the United States for the lead role of Alice, playing with Juliette Lewis in the film That Night. In 1993, Dushku landed a role as Pearl alongside Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in This Boy’s Life, a role that she said opened a lot of doors. The following year, she played the teenage daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies. She also had parts as Paul Reiser’s daughter in Bye Bye, Love, as Cindy Johnson with Halle Berry and Jim Belushi in Race the Sun, as well as roles in a television movie and a short film.

Dushku took some time off from acting to finish her junior and senior years of high school. She was accepted to the George Washington University in Washington, DC and Suffolk University in Boston, where her mother serves as professor of government and previously served as dean of the campus in Dakar, Senegal.

After completing high school, Dushku returned to acting with the role of Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a Slayer much more troubled than the main character Buffy Summers. Though initially planned as a five episode role, the character became so popular that she stayed on for the entirety of the third season and returned for a two-part appearance in season four, after which the remainder of her original story arc was played out as part of the first season of the Buffy spin-off series Angel. Repentant and rededicated, Faith returned as a heroine in a number of further episodes of Angel and in the last five episodes of Buffy. Dushku was inundated with piles of fan mail from legions of prisoners. She said that:

I’ve been getting fan mail from maximum security penitentiaries and death row. What are the authorities thinking of in playing a show with young teenage girls to Death Row inmates? They write everything — disgusting things that you don’t even want to know about. And they send me pictures — ‘Oh, here’s a picture of me before I was incarcerated!’ — and there’s some guy sat on the sofa with a bottle of beer and a moustache, and a big gut. It’s so creepy. Way more creepy than Buffy.

In 2000, Dushku starred in Soul Survivors, reuniting her with Race The Sun co-star Casey Affleck. One reviewer described the film as “84 minutes of everyone’s wasted time.” She followed that up with the hit cheerleader comedy Bring It On with Kirsten Dunst. In 2001, she appeared in The New Guy with DJ Qualls and City by the Sea with Robert De Niro and James Franco. The latter film garnered attention from a wider adult audience and several good reviews. The same year, Kevin Smith invited Dushku to be a part of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, where she co-starred with Shannon Elizabeth, Ali Larter, and Ben Affleck.

In 2003, Dushku appeared in Wrong Turn, a horror film in which she had the starring role, and The Kiss, an independent comedy-drama. Starting that same year, she also starred in a new Fox TV series, Tru Calling, where she played the main character, medical student Tru Davies. After having a grant pulled out from under her, Tru is forced to take a job at a local morgue where she discovers her power to “re-live” the previous day over again if one of the deceased asks for her help to change what has happened. Dushku turned down a role in a spin-off of Buffy The Vampire Slayer which would have been about Faith. She has had many roles as a “bad girl” in movies and relishes the opportunities. In an interview with Maxim in May 2001, Dushku says of her roles, “It’s easy to play a bad girl: You just do everything you’ve been told not to do, and you don’t have to deal with the consequences, because it’s only acting.”

Dushku starred in an off-Broadway production entitled Dog Sees God from December 2005, playing “Van’s sister”, a character paralleled with Lucy Van Pelt from the original Peanuts comic strip on which the play production is based. She quit in February 2006 along with several other members of the cast among rumours of alleged abuse from the producer, which were later dismissed.

She played the lead character on Nurses, a hospital comedy/drama for Fox. This was the second Fox pilot in which she has been cast, but will not be broadcast. She appeared in the Simple Plan music video, “I’m Just a Kid“, as the band’s love interest, as well as Nickelback’s video for “Rockstar“.

Dushku has landed starring roles in two video game productions. She voiced the role of Yumi Sawamura in the English language version of Yakuza for the PlayStation 2, which was published and developed by SEGA, and released in September 2006. Dushku also stars as Shaundi, one of the lead characters in Saints Row 2, which was developed by Volition and published by THQ. It was released (in North America) on October 14, 2008 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. She also was the voice talent for the role of Rubi Malone, the main character in the game WET. She appeared at Spike TV’s 2008 Video Game Awards in December 2008.

Dushku resides in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California.

Dushku is the CEO of her production company Boston Diva and serves as a producer on her recently released Fox sci-fi series, Dollhouse. She is an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox.

Throughout her career, Dushku had refused to appear in nude scenes, saying that people have “a better chance of seeing God than seeing me naked.” She did however appear topless in The Alphabet Killer. In Nobel Son her character removed all but a black lace thong. She also posed naked for promotional pictures for Dollhouse and for a photoshoot in the May 2009 issue of Allure magazine.

She had dated former L.A. Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny, but in February 2009 she announced on the Howard Stern radio show that they had broken up.^[35] Dushku is currently dating former Los Angeles Lakers star Rick Fox.

Tags: Eliza Dushku
Posted in Hot or Not? | No Comments »

December 16th – Rihanna

December 16th, 2009

December 16th’s “HOT or NOT?” candidate was Rihanna. You voted. She’s:

rihanna

Not to be confused with Rhianna, Rayhana, or Rianna, Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born February 20, 1988), better known mononymously as Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist and model. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers. She subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for then-label head Jay-Z.

In 2005, Rihanna released her debut studio album, Music of the Sun, which peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200 and features the Billboard Hot 100 hit single “Pon de Replay”. Less than a year later, she released her second studio album, A Girl Like Me (2006), which peaked within the top five of the Billboard albums chart, and produced her first US number one hit single, “SOS”, as well as Billboard Hot 100 top ten entries “Unfaithful” and “Break It Off”. Rihanna’s third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, featured five top ten hits including three US number one hit singles—”Umbrella”, “Take a Bow” and “Disturbia”—and the worldwide hit “Don’t Stop the Music”. The album was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “Umbrella,” which features Jay-Z.

Rihanna has sold over 12 million records, worldwide in her four-year career span and has received several accolades, including the 2007 World Music Awards for World’s Best-Selling Pop Female Artist and Female Entertainer of the Year, as well as the 2008 American Music Awards for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. Rihanna has attained five Hot 100 number one singles, becoming the first of two female artists, joint with Beyonce Knowles, with the most number ones attained within the 2000s. She also serves as one of Barbados’ honorary cultural ambassadors.

Tags: Rihanna
Posted in Hot or Not? | No Comments »

December 9 – Laura Vandervoort

December 9th, 2009

December 9th’s “HOT or NOT?” candidate was Laura Vandervoort. You voted. She’s:

laura_vandervoort

Laura Dianne Vandervoort was born September 22, 1984 and is best known for her roles as Supergirl in the television series Smallville and Sadie Harrison in the television series Instant Star. She is currently starring as Lisa on the ABC series V.

After commercials and guest-starring roles on Mutant X, Prom Queen, Twice in a Lifetime, Doc, Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, Troubled Waters, The Dresden Files, and a few Disney TV movies (Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire, and Alley Cats Strike), at age 19 Vandervoort landed a lead role as Sadie Harrison on the CTV television series Instant Star, which ran for four seasons.

In 2006, Vandervoort shot her first feature titled The Lookout with Jeff Daniels, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Matthew Goode, and Isla Fisher. Several other TV appearances such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation led Vandervoort to the role of Clark Kent’s Kryptonian cousin “Kara Kent” (the woman destined to become Supergirl) on the CW series Smallville. She was a regular in season seven, and appeared in the “Bloodline” episode for season eight.

Following the CW and Smallville, Vandervoort then shot the sequel to the feature film Into the Blue titled Into the Blue 2: The Reef. She next filmed an independent production titled The Jazzman, which also starred Canadians stars Michael Ironside (who appeared in the second V mini-series as well as the 1984 V regular series) and Corey Sevier.

Vandervoort currently portrays “Lisa,” an extraterrestrial Visitor, in the 2009 ABC series V, a reboot of the 1980s science fiction franchise of the same name. Vandervoort was also cast in Riverworld in which she will play the fiancée of a war correspondent who, after dying, wakes up in a land populated by everyone who has ever lived on Earth.

Tags: Laura Vandervoort, Smallville, V
Posted in Hot or Not? | No Comments »

December 2 – Keira Knightley

December 2nd, 2009

December 2nd’s “HOT or NOT?” candidate was Keira Knightley. It was a close one, but you said she’s:

keira_knightley

Keira Knightley began her career as a child and came to international prominence in 2003 after co-starring in the films Bend It Like Beckham and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

Knightley has appeared in several Hollywood films and earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. Two years later she again was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, as well as the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Atonement.

In 2008, Forbes claimed Knightley to be the second highest paid actress in Hollywood (behind Cameron Diaz), having reportedly earned $32 million in 2007, making her the only non-American person on the list of highest paid actors or actresses.

Knightley appeared in several television movies in the mid to late 1990s—as well as ITV1’s The Bill—before being cast as Sabé, Padmé Amidala’s decoy, in the 1999 science fiction blockbuster Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Knightley was cast in the role due to her close resemblance to Natalie Portman, who played Padmé; the two actresses’ mothers had difficulty telling their daughters apart when the girls were in full makeup. Knightley’s first starring role followed in 2001, when she played the daughter of Robin Hood in the made-for-television Walt Disney Productions feature, Princess of Thieves. During this time, Knightley also appeared in The Hole, a thriller that received a direct-to-video release in the United States. She appeared in a miniseries adaptation of Doctor Zhivago that first aired in 2002 to mixed reviews but high ratings.

Knightley’s breakthrough role was in the soccer-themed film, Bend It Like Beckham, which was a success in its August 2002 UK release, grossing $18 million, and in its March 2003 U.S. release, grossing $32 million. After Bend It Like Beckham’s UK release raised her profile, she was cast in the big budget action film, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (along with Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp) which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and opened in July 2003 to positive reviews and high box office grosses, becoming one of the biggest hits of summer 2003 and cementing Knightley as the new “It” girl.

Knightley had a role in the British romantic comedy Love Actually, which opened in November 2003. Her next film, King Arthur, opened in July 2004 to negative reviews. In the same month, Knightley was voted by readers of Hello! magazine as the film industry’s most promising teen star. Additionally, Time magazine noted in a 2004 feature that Knightley seemed dedicated to developing herself as a serious actress rather than a film star.

2005 saw the release of 3 films, the first of which was The Jacket. The complex thriller starring Adrien Brody was derided by critics as unoriginal, silly and messy. Knightley was taken to task for her American accent but was otherwise dismissed by critics. Next came Tony Scott’s Domino, an action film based on the life of bounty hunter Domino Harvey. The film has been Knightley’s greatest critical flop to date. Knightley’s critics often suggested she was nothing more than a pretty face, which led the young starlet to comment to Elle magazine, “I always feel like I’m the one with everything to prove.”

Pride & Prejudice rounded out 2005. Variety wrote about her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet: “Looking every bit a star, Knightley, who’s shown more spirit than acting smarts so far in her career, really steps up to the plate here, holding her own against the more classically trained Matthew Macfadyen, as well as vets like Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland, Penelope Wilton, and Judi Dench with a luminous strength that recalls a young Audrey Hepburn. More than the older Jennifer Ehle in the TV series, she catches Elizabeth’s essential skittishness and youthful braggadocio, making her final conversion all the more moving.” The film grossed more than $100 million worldwide, and Knightley earned a Golden Globe nomination and an Oscar nomination (the Oscar ultimately went to Reese Witherspoon). The Academy Award nomination made her the third-youngest performer ever nominated. BAFTA’s decision not to nominate her drew criticism from Pride & Prejudice producer Tim Bevan.

In 2006, Knightley was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her biggest financial hit thus far, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, was released in July.

2007 saw the release of several films starring Knightley: Silk, an adaptation of the novel by Alessandro Baricco, Atonement, a feature film adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name (co-starring James McAvoy, Vanessa Redgrave, and Brenda Blethyn), and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which was released in May 2007. Knightley’s performance in Atonement began to generate buzz before the film was released; she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the Best Dramatic Actress category for the role, as well as a BAFTA Award. Critic Richard Roeper was puzzled by both Knightley’s and McAvoy’s Academy Award snubs, stating “I thought McAvoy and Knightly were superb.”

In the late spring of 2007, Knightley shot The Edge of Love with Cillian Murphy as her husband, Matthew Rhys as her childhood sweetheart, Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and Sienna Miller as Thomas’ wife Caitlin MacNamara. She received, for the most part, very positive reviews for her role. The 2008 release was penned by her mother, Sharman Macdonald, and directed by John Maybury. She then filmed The Duchess, based on the best-selling biography, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman in which she played Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire; the film was released in cinemas on 5 September 2008 in the U.K.

Knightley appears in the present-day drama Last Night, in which she co-starred with Eva Mendes, Sam Worthington, and Guillaume Canet; it was directed by Massy Tadjedin. In April 2009, Knightley began work on an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s dystopian novel, Never Let Me Go. Filming took place in Norfolk and Clevedon.

Upcoming films for 2010 include London Boulevard with Colin Farrell, the script of which is written by William Monahan, who will also make his directing debut.

Knightley successfully auditioned for the role of Eliza Doolittle in the Columbia Pictures planned remake of the stage musical My Fair Lady to be produced by Cameron Mackintosh, although no release date has yet been scheduled. She will also work on The Beautiful and the Damned, a biopic about the life and relationship of American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald and his novelist wife Zelda Sayre. The film is directed by John Curran and scheduled for release in 2010.

Tags: Keira Knightley
Posted in Hot or Not? | 1 Comment »

Home of the Utes