Despite
being named one of the Most Beautiful People of 2000
by People magazine, actress amanda peet has a down-to-earth
nature that belies her outta-this-world good looks.
According to interviews with intimates, amanda peet's
the type of girl who unapologetically eats all the
Cheez Doodles, then lets out a gigantic burp. amanda
peet doesn't exercise, telling Cosmopolitan magazine,
"I'd rather get drunk and eat some great pasta
Alfredo," and prefers Coca-Cola to water. On-screen,
amanda peet's surface good looks lure many a man into
water that's much hotter and deeper than anticipated.
Most recently, the native New Yorker portrayed Judith,
a fianc? from Freudian hell opposite Jason Biggs (American
Pie) and lackadaisical comedic actors Steve Zahn (Happy,
Texas) and Jack Black (High Fidelity) in Saving Silverman.
amanda peet honed the love dominatrix persona in the
comedy Whipped, in which amanda peet's character,
Mia, beats three would-be players at their own game.
And few among the few who remember The Whole Nine
Yards can forget amanda peet's depiction of dental
hygienist Jill St. Claire, an aspiring hit woman with
a penchant for taking it all off before taking out
her targets.
According
to amanda peet Most Beautiful bio in People, a short-haired
amanda peet spent much of her childhood assuring folks
that amanda peet wasn't a little boy. It's apropos,
then, that amanda peet first assaulted a mass audience's
senses as the male-monikered Jacqueline "Jack"
Barrett, who falls for neighbor David "Jill"
Jillefsky (Ivan Sergei) in the 1999 WB romantic drama
Jack & Jill. Even
if the pilot actress, Amelia Heinle, had stayed with
Jack after the WB picked up the series, amanda peet's
drive and determination would have led to her big
break eventually. The blue-eyed brunette had been
working steadily in television and movies since 1995,
a year after graduating from Columbia University with
a history degree. amanda peet subsequent resume reads
like an absolute scale of mid-'90s TV, from the first-rate
(Seinfeld, Law & Order) to the forgettable (The
Single Guy, Central Park West, Partners).
amanda
peet's early film career consisted largely of what
amanda peet described to CheckOut.com as "[14]
independent [movies] that I did for $75 a day - much
to the chagrin of my agent. Both of us were getting
poorer by the movie." Although some of the sets
didn't even sport an accessible commode, amanda peet
had the opportunity to work with numerous television
stars trying to transition to film, including Jennifer
Aniston (She's the One), George Clooney (One Fine
Day), Gillian Anderson (Playing by Heart), and Sarah
Michelle Gellar (Simply Irresistible). So
what was amanda peet thinking, accepting such a variety
of roles that might have been a bit beneath her four
years of training with Broadway legend Uta Hagen?
"There so wasn't a plan," amanda peet exclaimed
in the Daily Breeze. "Are you kidding? It was
just, 'Say yes to work.' That was the plan."
She added in a CNN interview, "I think I wasn't
ready, but I just wanted to work. I had the philosophy
that work begets work."
The
best-laid plans of mice and men go oft astray; conversely,
amanda peet's worked like a charm. Once Jack gave
her some name recognition, her film career perked
right up, and she nabbed a lead in the mob comedy
The Whole Nine Yards, working once again with familiar
boob-tube faces: this time, Matthew Perry and Bruce
Willis. Not surprisingly, the bald-headed one made
Peet a little nervous. "I'm not going to lie
to you and say that it's no different doing a scene
with Bruce Willis because he's just an actor and it's
just the same thing, because it's fucking not,"
she told CheckOut. "He's Bruce Willis, for chrissake.
I was so scared of him." Willis' first phone
call to amanda peet did nothing to reduce her anxiety.
"He [called] me when I got the part [in Yards],"
she explained to talk show host Larry King. "He
left a message on my machine saying, 'Hello, Amanda.
It's Bruce Willis calling. And if you don't call me
back in 10 minutes, I'm going to burn your house down.'
It's, like, his stock phrase for everyone he fears
won't call him back. It's bizarre because he's a megastar.
But he never leaves his number, so it's like - it's
just kind of bizarre."
amanda
peet held her own against Perry and Willis, impressing
director Jonathan Lynn (My Cousin Vinny). "I
think she is extraordinary. She has a tremendous flair.
It's a wonderful comedy performance. amanda peet has
a real sort of immediacy, an extraordinary presence,"
he said in the Los Angeles Times. Her presence greatly
enhanced the chemistry in Saving Silverman, her most
recent cinematic project, and the film debuted in
third place, lagging behind the Jennifer Lopez romantic
comedy The Wedding Planner and the weekend winner,
Hannibal, which took in a surprising $58 million.
Up
next for amanda peet will be two star-studded films:
She joins Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson in Changing
Lanes, which recounts a deadly game of road rage,
and she shares the screen with Amanda Pudd, Morgan
Freeman, and Jim Caviezel in High Crimes, the story
of a Harvard law school professor who must defend
her husband in military court after the Army declares
him a deserter.
Actress
- filmography
2001 - Saving Silverman as Judith
2000 - Whole Nine Yards, The as Jill St. Claire
2000 - Isn't She Great as Debbie
1999 - "Partners" TV Series as Beth Harmon
1999 - Jump as Lisa
1999 - Takedown as Karen
1999 - Two Ninas as Nina Harris
1999 - Whipped as Mia
1999 - Body Shots as Jane Bannister
1999 - "Jack & Jill" TV Series as Jacqueline
'Jack' Barrett
1999 - Simply Irresistible as Chris
1998 - Origin of the Species as Julia
1998 - Playing by Heart as Amber
1998 - Southie as Marianne
1998 - 1999 as Nicole
1997 - Ellen Foster (TV)
1997 - Touch Me as Bridgette
1997 - Grind as Patty
1996 - Virginity
1996 - One Fine Day as Celia
1996 - She's the One as Molly
1995 - Animal Room
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