| Alicia Silverstone Biography |
4 October 1976
San Francisco, California, USA
Alicia Silverstone was born on October 4, 1976, in San Francisco, California as the youngest of three children to parents Monty Silverstone, a real-estate investor, and Didi Silverstone, a former flight attendant. Alicia's career began at the tender age of six when her dad, Monty, took some photos of his young daughter. The photos allowed her to get some modeling gigs which then led to television commercials. After a guest spot on "The Wonder Years" (1988) as a literal "dream girl" she moved on to movies. She landed a role in The Crush (1993), a sort of Fatal Attraction for teenagers in which she portrayed a disturbed young lady obsessed with an older man. The nasty little role didn't impress the critical establishment but it wowed its target audience of teenagers. In fact, the role won her the 1994 MTV Movie Award for "Best Villain" and "Breakthrough Performance". It is interesting to note that during the filming of The Crush (1993), Alicia became an emancipated minor in order to get around child labor laws which would have interfered with her working hours. She was a dedicated actress from early on. The Crush (1993) also caught the attention of Aerosmith, who hired her to appear in a string of their music videos. The first of them, "Cryin'" was voted the number one video of all time on MTV. Silverstone was definitely a hit with the MTV crowd, but larger commercial success had still eluded her. That all changed when she landed the role of "Cher" in Amy Heckerling's Clueless (1995). The "Cher" character was the antithesis of her role in The Crush (1993). This time around, Silverstone was a naive yet endearing girl from Beverly Hills in search of love in the nineties. The film was a huge sleeper hit at the box office and wowed both audiences and critics alike. It also demonstrated Alicia's strength and bankable. She was hailed as the woman of the hour, and branded the spokeswoman for an emerging young generation. She signed a deal with Columbia Tristar worth $10 million and got the coveted role of Batgirl in the Batman franchise. Also, as part of the package, she got a three-year first-look deal for her own production company, "First Kiss Productions". The first film released by "First Kiss" was Excess Baggage (1997).
General Info
Won "Best Female Performance and "Most Desirable Female" by the MTV Movie Awards in 1996 for her performance in Clueless (1995).
Confirmed on BBC Radio 1 that she is not "going out" with Kenneth Branagh. [6 April 2000]
In an interview with "FHM", she denies that she is dating Kenneth Branagh. [January 2000]
Refuses to appear nude in any of her movies. She requires a body double in her place for nude scenes. Also, when starring in the stage version of "The Graduate," she insisted on wearing underwear for the famous nude-scene. The producers were forced to let her do this because, otherwise, she would have resigned from the show.
Was offered the role of Valerie Malone, on "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990). Since it was the beginning of her career, Alicia turned it down, and Tiffani Thiessen got the role instead. [1994]
Dated Adam Sandler
Is a vegan.
Parents are English
Dated Christopher Jarecki, lead singer of the unsigned rock band, Underdogs, for eight years, before marrying him.
First commercial was for Domino's Pizza.
Became legally emancipated at 15 in order to work the hours required for the shooting schedule of The Crush (1993)
Was turned down for the lead in My Father the Hero (1994). They said she was too heavy for the part. The role went to Katherine Heigl.
Attended San Mateo High School in San Mateo, California. She was a cheerleader.
Daughter of Monty Silverstone
Half-sister of David Silverstone and Kezi Silverstone.
Born at 3:44pm-PDT
Was turned down for the role of Juliet in Romeo + Juliet (1996).
Was offered a role in Scream 3 (2000).
Starred in a few Aerosmith music videos, and sometimes typecast as the "Aerosmith chick." She and Liv Tyler were cast in the Aerosmith video "Crazy".
Voted one of the "Fun and Fearless Females" by Cosmopolitan Magazine (2002.)
Has a dog named "Sampson".
Signed a $10,000,000 3-movie deal with Sony after Clueless (1995).
Measurements: 33-24-34 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
The Plain English Campaign awarded her the annual Foot in Mouth Award in 2000 for her 'baffling verbal statement', "I think that Clueless (1995) was very deep. I think it was deep in the way that it was very light. I think lightness has to come from a very deep place if it is true lightness".
She is an animal rights activist. During the filming of Clueless (1995), she adopted a raggedy old mutt, whom she found wandering the streets of Los Angeles. She named him "Samson," and kept him on the set.
In answer to the question 'Is it true that you like to do gardening naked?' in Britain's 'Radio Times' magazine (22.5.04) she said, 'Yes, that is something that I enjoy doing. I don't know how you know about that but it's ... not untrue. It's just that if it's really hot and you're in LA, and you happen to be doing some gardening -- your clothes come off. I also like to swim naked and trampoline naked and do all those kind of things.'
Voted sexiest female vegetarian, 2004.
Attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Went to William H. Crocker Middle School in Hillsborough, California.
Got a surprise grab-and-smooch by Jim Carrey at the 1997 MTV Movie Awards when she presented the Best Comedic Performance award to Carrey. Carrey apologized to her backstage after realizing that she felt very humiliated.
Was Bat Mitzvahed at Temple Beth Jacob in Redwood City, California.
Personal Quotes
"I don't feel like a dream girl, but I think it's really nice. I guess a part of me wishes I got that sort of attention in my real life. Because in my real life, I'm this weird, dorky girl who just hangs out with her dog."
"I hate people to call me 'that Aerosmith chick!'"
I think that Clueless (1995) was very deep. I think it was deep in the way that it was very light. I think lightness has to come from a very deep place if it's true lightness.
"My boyfriend calls me 'princess', but I think of myself more along the lines of 'monkey' and 'retard'".
On her 'chocolate is better than sex' quote: "I was interviewed when I was 17 and I didn't actually say that. It was the worst piece of journalism that I've ever been involved with."
"Some days I wake up and think 'what's wrong' and I'd realise it's nothing other than waking up in a not so great a mood. Generally I feel good though. I go to yoga, I feel great. I love to wake up on Sundays - just hang out with the dogs."
"My parents taught me about other cultures. I spent time in Africa, Cuba, Europe, Jamaica, the Amazon and that was nothing to do with work."
"To be put in a position at 15 where people are saying how sexy you are is really awkward, so I did all I could to try and diffuse that. It's only now that I've started to feel like I've become a lady."
"I'm not obsessed with being in the public eye. It's not my job to impress people - I'm really just a working actress and I like to pick projects and do things that really inspire me."
"The things that move me and excite me aren't necessarily going to be box-office hits all the time. My favourite film I've ever done was Love's Labour's Lost (2000) and I think - in box-office terms - barely one person saw it. But I still think it's the greatest movie and I don't care if anybody doesn't like it. I saw it in seven different countries and the audience would leave the theatre dancing. I think that's a pretty incredible thing."
"I think people that genuinely do good are great people. And I don't think, "Oh, there must be something wrong with them". I think that there's something wrong with the people who aren't doing good."
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