Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 4, 1979, Rachael Leigh Cook was shy as a child. She knew early on that she wanted to become an actress, to use acting as a means of expressing herself. Before jumping on to the big screen, Rachael began acting in commercials and school musicals by the time she was 7, and modeling at age 10. rachael appears in psas
Rather than being a fashion model (probably difficult, standing at 5'2"), Rachael used her beautiful face and talent in more beneficial ways: in public service announcements. She appeared in a non-speaking part in a PSA about adopting foster children, while her most notable work was in the famous anti-drug PSA that simulated how the brain is affected by drugs, by smashing eggs with a frying pan and then destroying the kitchen.
Although Rachael was receiving work as a print model during her 4-year modeling stint (her face appears in a Milk-Bone ad and on the Milk-Bone box), Minnesota was not the hub of acting. So Rachael headed to the West Coast, to pursue an acting career.
rachael leigh in tom and huck
Once in Los Angeles, Rachael didn't have much trouble landing roles. In 1995, she made her feature film debut in the film adaptation of the popular children's book series, The Baby-Sitters Club. Remaining true to her younger fans, she followed up that performance with a role in the film Tom and Huck, co-starring Home Improvement's Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
The rest of the '90s were marked by independent films such as Carpool (1996), the short feature 26 Summer Street (1996), The House of Yes (1997), which earned recognition at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, and The Eighteenth Angel (1998).
rachael leigh does she's all that
After a couple more films, including Living Out Loud and Strike! (both in 1998), Rachael bounced onto the big-screen in the sleeper hit She's All That (1999), and landed in the hearts of many a young man. As the nerd-turned-high school sweetheart in the modern day adaptation of Pygmalion, Rachael gave a credible performance, although she couldn't fool audiences into believing that she was really the scrawny, awkward girl she portrayed.
The success of She's All That gave Rachael the recognition she needed to become the in-demand star that she is today. She appeared in Six-Pence None the Richer's video for "Kiss Me" (off the She's All That soundtrack) with co-star, Freddie Prinze Jr.
rachael stars on dawson's creek
Television audiences must have been accustomed to seeing Rachael on the television screen by then, as she also made an appearance on The Outer Limits, had a guest-starring recurring role in the high school series Dawson's Creek (1998), as well as roles in made-for-TV movies such as True Women, Country Justice and The Defenders: Payback (all in 1997)).
rachael and stallone get carter
After starring in Get Carter with Sylvester Stallone, it seems the new millennium hasn't been incredibly kind to Rachael, as she has been starring in movies that don't do very well at the box office. In 2001, Rachael appeared alongside Ashton Kutcher in film Texas Rangers, and with Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson in the film adaptation of the popular cartoon Josie and the Pussycats, which tanked at the box office; in 2002, she starred in two more box-office bombs entitled Scorched and 29 Palms.
2003 saw Rachael starring in four more films, including The Big Empty with Jon Favreau, and Tempo. In 2004, Rachael continued to star in little heard of films including American Crime and Fearless.
Besides acting, Rachael is passionate about art, especially drawing. She would like to eventually try screenwriting and she will get her chance to co-produce an independent film entitled Tangled.
Currently engaged to actor Daniel Gillies, Rachael lives mostly in her L.A. apartment, and she has a boxer dog and two cats. She's a vegetarian and has a tattoo on her left arm.
