Elisha Cuthbert
Elisha Ann Cuthbert (born November 30, 1982) is a Canadian film and television actress. Cuthbert is the former co-host of the Canadian children’s television series Popular Mechanics for Kids. In 1998, she had her first film role in Airspeed. She followed this in 2003 with a role in Old School. Her most prominent television roles are as Kim Bauer in the FOX action-thriller series 24 and currently as Alex Kerkovich in the ABC ensemble comedy series Happy Endings.Cuthbert was born in Calgary, Alberta, daughter of Patricia, a homemaker, and Kevin, an automotive design engineer. She has two younger siblings, Jonathan and Lee-Ann. She grew up in Greenfield Park, near Montreal, Quebec. She also lived for sometime in Toronto, Ontario before moving onto acting. In 2000, she graduated from Centennial Regional High School and moved to Los Angeles at 17 to act.
When she was 9, Cuthbert started modeling children’s clothing and also became a foot model. She made her first televised appearance as an extra in the horror-themed series for children, Are You Afraid of the Dark?; she later became a regular on the show.[6] Cuthbert co-hosted Popular Mechanics for Kids with Jay Baruchel, filmed in Montreal. Her reporting captured the attention of Hillary Clinton, who invited her to the White House.Cuthbert landed her first role in a feature film in the family drama Dancing on the Moon (1997). She appeared in other Canadian family movies and in an airplane thriller, Airspeed. She starred in the Canadian television movie, Lucky Girl, in 2001 and was awarded a Gemini Award for her performance.Soon after her move to Hollywood, she was cast as Kim Bauer, daughter of federal agent Jack Bauer, in the television series 24. She appeared in the show’s first three seasons, but not in its fourth; she guest-starred in two episodes in the fifth season. She also reprised her role as Kim Bauer in 24: The Game and again guest-starred in five episodes of the seventh season and in two episodes of the eighth season.
She began her Hollywood film career with small roles in Old School and Love Actually in 2003. Cuthbert’s next film, The Girl Next Door, was her first lead role. She played an ex–porn star, Danielle, opposite Emile Hirsch. She had reservations about the part, but was persuaded by director Luke Greenfield. She researched the role, speaking to adult actresses from Wicked Pictures and Vivid Entertainment. The film was compared to Risky Business, although Cuthbert said her character was not directly based on Rebecca De Mornay’s. Critics were divided; some praised the film for boldness, others, notably Roger Ebert, called it gimmicky and exploitative.
Ebert wrote that he saw Cuthbert’s character as “quite the most unpleasant character I have seen in some time.” In her next film, Cuthbert starred with Paris Hilton and Chad Michael Murray in the 2005 remake of the horror film House of Wax. Cuthbert, with the rest of the cast, was made up to look haggard. In one scene, her character was to attempt to open her mouth while her lips were sealed with glue. For realism, she used Superglue over prosthetics. House of Wax was largely panned, critics citing a range of flaws. It was called “notable for having some of the most moronic protagonists ever to populate a horror film,” though of those characters, critics tended to think Cuthbert “fares the best.” Though receiving negative reviews the film was a box office success. Others noted Cuthbert as an “exception,” playing her role “earnestly” and “fine.”Cuthbert’s next film was the indie film The Quiet She was co-star and co-producer. She played Nina, a temperamental 17-year-old cheerleader who suffers sexual abuse by her father. Cuthbert looked to her younger cousin as inspiration for to how to play a teenager. The Quiet, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival and received a limited release in Los Angeles and New York City on August 25, 2006, before expanding regionally in the USA on September 1. Cuthbert appeared in the music video for Weezer’s “Perfect Situation” in early 2006, playing the group’s fictional original singer who threw a tantrum that led to Rivers Cuomo, the roadie, becoming frontman of the band. She also had a small role in Paris Hilton’s music video for the song “Nothing In This World”.In 2007, Cuthbert appeared in Captivity, a thriller centered on a fashion model taunted by a psychopath who has imprisoned her in a cellar, a role for which she was nominated for a Razzie award as “worst actress.”In He Was a Quiet Man, Cuthbert played Vanessa, a quadriplegic, starring with Christian Slater. The film was in limited release in 2007, and it was released on DVD in early 2008. In 2008, Cuthbert appeared in My Sassy Girl, a remake of a Korean film, starring with Jesse Bradford. Her next film was the family comedy, The Six Wives of Henry Lefay, with Tim Allen, in which she played his daughter. She starred in the Canadian miniseries Guns. She was a judge in season two, episode two of Project Runway Canada, in which designers were challenged to create a “party dress” for her. Cuthbert reprised her character Kim Bauer in the seventh season of 24 for five episodes. She was also was to star in the CBS drama pilot Ny-Lon, playing a New York literacy teacher/record-store clerk who embarks on a transatlantic romance with a London stockbroker. The project, based on a British series starring Rashida Jones and Stephen Moyer, was canceled.
In December 2009, ABC said Cuthbert had joined the cast of The Forgotten in a recurring role as Maxine Denver, a Chicago professional. In 2011, Cuthbert began starring in the ABC ensemble comedy series Happy Endings alongside Eliza Coupe, Zachary Knighton, Adam Pally, Damon Wayans Jr. and Casey Wilson. The series was picked up for a third season, which premiered on October 23, 2012. That same month, she appeared in The Gaslight Anthem’s music video “Here Comes My Man,” playing the girlfriend of a man who mistreats her, until she imagines a romantic relationship with a character in a movie and chooses to end her real relationship.
Cuthbert regularly secures a place in FHM and Maxim’s annual “hottest women” lists. Her highest ranking was #4 in the 2008 UK Edition of FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women in the World list. She was ranked #14 in 2003, #10 in 2004, #5 in 2005, #22 in 2006, #10 in 2007 and #7 in 2009. The U.S. Edition ranked her #53 in 2003, #63 in 2004, and #54 in 2006. She was not listed in the U.S. 2005 list. Cuthbert was ranked #10 by AskMen.com readers in the list “Top 99 Women of 2007.” In Maxim’s Hot 100 list, she was ranked #84 in 2002, #9 in 2003, #21 in 2004, #92 in 2006, #25 in 2007, #6 in 2008, #43 in 2009, #65 in 2011 and #34 in 2012. The magazine also featured her in its Girls of Maxim Gallery. BuddyTV ranked her #33 on its TV’s 100 Sexiest Women of 2011 list. Cuthbert dated Canadian NHL player Sean Avery for nearly two years, before breaking up in August 2007. Cuthbert subsequently began dating Canadian NHL player Dion Phaneuf, currently captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, in May 2008. Cuthbert was the subject of much media attention over these relationships in December 2008, when Avery approached assembled reporters prior to a game and in reference to Phaneuf, said, “I’m just going to say one thing. I’m really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada. I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don’t know what that’s about, but enjoy the game tonight.” He was subsequently suspended for the comment. Cuthbert and Phaneuf announced their engagement in September 2012.Cuthbert is an avid hockey fan, and in 2005, she maintained a blog on the National Hockey League website, though she did not post for most of the season.
