'Alicia Silverstone', (born
October 4,
1976) is an American
actress and former
fashion model. She first came to widespread attention in
music videos for
Aerosmith and later starred in
Hollywood films such as ''
Clueless'' and ''
Batman & Robin''.
Biography
Early life
Alicia Silverstone was born in
San Francisco, California to Monty Silverstone, a
real-estate investor, and Didi Radford, a former
flight attendant. Silverstone's father is
English-born and her mother is
Scottish.
[1] Her father, a native of
East London, is
Jewish and her mother also Jewish upon marrying Silverstone's father.
[2] She attended San Mateo High School but did not complete her high school studies. Silverstone is the youngest of three children and also has a half-sister, London rock singer Kezi Silverstone, and a half-brother, David Silverstone, both from her father's previous marriage. Silverstone visited
England during the summer during her childhood. When she was six, 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 the 'dream girl' on American TV series ''
The Wonder Years''.''
Career
1990s
Silverstone won a leading part in the
1993 film ''
The Crush'', playing a girl who sets out to ruin an older man after her teenage crush is spurned; she won two awards at the
1994 MTV Movie Awards for the role for Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Villain. Silverstone became legally emancipated at the age of fifteen in order to work the hours required for the shooting schedule of the film. After seeing her in ''The Crush'',
Marty Callner decided she'd be perfect for a role in a music video he was directing for the band
Aerosmith, called "Cryin", and then the following two videos "Amazing" and "Crazy". These were hugely successful both for the band and Silverstone, making her a household name (and also gaining her the nickname, "the Aerosmith chick"). They also got her noticed by film maker
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" by the
MTV Movie Awards in 1996 for her performance in the film.
Silverstone's next role was as
Batgirl in ''
Batman & Robin'', which was neither a critical
[3] nor a financial success.
[4] Silverstone won a
Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. She suffered further bad press for allegedly striking a pedestrian with her vehicle in a crosswalk.
[5] She also starred in 1997's
dark comedy ''Excess Baggage'', which was the first movie to be released by ''First Kiss Productions''. In the film, Silverstone played a
chain smoking,
underage drinking, rich brat who fakes her own kidnapping in order to get her father's attention. The film was not as critically or commercially embraced as ''Clueless''
[6] After just one film, Columbia-TriStar let their production deal with Silverstone expire.
2000s
Silverstone appeared in
Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of the
Shakespeare play ''
Love's Labour's Lost'' in
2000, 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''.
After removing herself from the public eye for a few years, she resurfaced in the 2003
NBC television show ''
Miss Match'', which was then cancelled after thirteen episodes. Silverstone's long hiatus was referred to in the pilot episode of the television series ''
Get Real'', as an exasperated Kenny remarked, "Why can't I fall off the face of the earth, like Alicia Silverstone?"
Silverstone later acknowledged that she hates the trappings of fame, insisting that being a celebrity is a horrific ordeal that she wouldn't want her worst enemy to suffer. According to Silverstone, "Fame is not anything I wish on anyone. You start acting because you love it. Then success arrives, and suddenly you're on show."
[7]
After the cancellation of ''Miss Match'' in 2003, she did a pilot with
FOX called ''Queen B'', in which she would have played a former high school prom queen named Beatrice (Bea), who has found out that the real world is nothing like high school.
In
2005, she co-starred with
Queen Latifah in ''
Beauty Shop'', a spin-off of the ''
BarberShop'' films. She played one of the stylists in the beauty shop.
For the pilot season of
2006-
2007, she surfaced on a pilot being developed by
ABC called ''Pink Collar'', in which she would have worked in a law firm.
Silverstone's most recent movie, ''
Stormbreaker'', was released in the UK on
July 21,
2006, and in North America on
October 13, 2006. Silverstone filmed the role of Jack Starbright (Alex Rider's housekeeper and guardian) in the summer of
2005, several days after her wedding. She took the role because the opportunity to work with co-stars
Ewan McGregor and
Sophie Okonedo, both of whom she has said she admires.
In
November 2006, she starred in the television movie ''
Candles on Bay Street'' for
Hallmark Hall of Fame, based on the book by
Cathie Pelletier under the pseudonym of K.C. Mikinnon.
Personal life
Silverstone married longtime boyfriend, rock musician
Christopher Jarecki, in a beachfront ceremony at
Lake Tahoe on
June 11,
2005. The couple had dated for eight years prior to being married, after meeting outside a movie theater in 1997.
[Pener, Degan. "Alicia in Wonderland." ''InStyle Home'' spring 2007.] They got engaged about a year before their marriage and Silverstone's engagement ring belonged to Jarecki's grandmother.
["Love, Naturally." ''People'' Magazine 27 June 2005.] They live in an eco-friendly
Los Angeles house complete with
solar panels and an
organic vegetable garden.
[Pener, Degan. "Alicia in Wonderland." ''InStyle Home'' spring 2007.] She bought the house, shared with a "menagerie of rescued dogs," in 1996.
["Love, Naturally." ''People'' Magazine 27 June 2005.] Silverstone drives a
Mercedes Benz.
[Pener, Degan. "Alicia in Wonderland." ''InStyle Home'' spring 2007.]
Political beliefs
Silverstone has strong political opinions and is noted for being an
animal welfare and
environmental activist. She also 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."
[Pener, Degan. "Alicia in Wonderland." ''InStyle Home'' spring 2007.] In 2004, Silverstone was voted "Sexiest Female Vegetarian" by
PETA.
Records
[8] also reveal that Silverstone contributed
$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''
[9] deemed the act a deliberate snub.
Filmography
References
1. Interview, Feb, 1994 by Graham Fuller
2. http://www.interfaithfamily.com/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ekLSK5MLIrG&b=297403&ct=514855
3. Batman & Robin
4. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=batmanrobin.htm
5. http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,1919,00.html
6. News for Excess Baggage, IMDb
7. http://breakingnews.iol.ie/entertainment/story.asp?j=187233891&p=y87z34754&n (link dead on March 1, 2007)
8. NEWSMEAT - Alicia Silverstone's Federal Campaign Contribution Report
9. http://www.accesshollywood.com/news/ah5476.shtml
External links
★
★
Alicia Fans - Fansite
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