About Rachael
Rachael Leigh Cook was born October 4, 1979 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She graduated from Laurel Springs in 1998. However, she spent only a couple months in an actual high school when she was a freshman. This doe eyed beauty stands in at 5'2 and weighs around 100 pounds. Despite being really shy when she was younger, Rachael nabbed her first acting role when she was around seven in a non-speaking part in a public service announcement encouraging adults to become foster parents. As you can guess, she eventually overcame her shyness. Rachael has been quoted as "sweet, funny, and quick with a quip" by many teen magazines.

Around age 10, Rachael started modeling. With her parents' help, Rachael got an agent and soon started landing modeling and commercial gigs. Rachael also appeared in school musicals. Rachael modeled for local ads in the Minnesota area and Target ads. Her work used to be seen on the Milk-Bone Dog Biscuits box. She was in a pink shirt and is next to a cute brown cocker spaniel and is around 11 or 12 in that photo. Rachael modeled for around four years before her professional acting career.

Rachael now lives mostly in Los Angeles. She used to live most of the year in Minnesota with her parents, younger brother Ben, two cats, and a dog. Ben is around 19, and they get along great. He is an aspiring actor and is going into his second year of college. "He is totally awesome," says Rachael. Rachael does wish that she could have pets in her home in Los Angeles, but cannot due to travel. Rachael seems to like Los Angeles. However, her take on the guys in L.A: "There are a lot of guys with perfect teeth, haircut, clothes. I don't know, you never know- everyone's pretending they're somebody or with somebody. It's just weird to sit at a restaurant table and hear people around you talking- the guy behind you is talking about the script he's writing, the people next to you are talking about who they say last week..."

Rachael loves art, especially drawing. Someday, she also hopes to do some screenwriting. One of her favorite restaurants is called Louise's Trattoria, in Los Angeles. Rachael enjoys reading, writing, drawing, tennis, rollerblading, and shopping for vintage clothes. Rachael also has been quoted for liking hats. In a magazine, Rachael says that most of the wardrobe in her closet is mostly black and brown. Rachael has also been known to design her own clothing that she has worn for premieres and award shows, including the 1999 MTV Movie Awards as well as the She's All That premiere. sRachael's favorite color is black. Her favorite authors include Franz Kafka, Sandra Cisneros, and Nadine Gordimer. The bands Rachael likes are Moby, The Who, That Dog, and U2. Rachael's favorite TV shows include "American Gladiators", "3rd Rock From the Sun", "Fraiser, " and admittingly a "recovering 'Beverly Hills 90210' junkie". Rachael also likes Johnny Depp ("He's so cool.") and Sinbad. Rachael doesn't like spiders, power tools, going to the dentist, poodles, and rollercoasters. Rachael also recently states on Leno that she does not like blue M&M's.

Rachael says that she picks her films "where I can just read it, I can so clearly just see myself saying these lines. I read them on the page and I can hear my voice in my head and how I would say them. At that point, it's like, 'I have to do this. You might think that there is someone else you might want for this role, but you don't understand, because I'm going to do this.' I can just hear these characters in my head." Rachael's ultimate film role would be the character Kate Nolan in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Rachael accomplishments with awards include:

Nominated:

1999 - MTV Movie Award - Best Breakthrough Performance - She's All That
1999 - MTV Movie Award - Best On-Screen Duo - She's All That
1997 - YoungStar Award - Best Young Actress - Tom and Huck

Won:

2000 - Blockbuster Award - Favorite Actress [Newcomer] - She's All That
2000 - Kids' Choice Awards - Favorite Movie Couple - She's All That
2000 - Santa Monica Film Festival - Best Actress - The Hi-Line
1999 - YoungStar Award - Best Young Actress - She's All That

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