Early life

Cook was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of JoAnn, a cooking instructor and weaver, and Thomas H. Cook, a social worker and former stand-up comedian. She is of Italian descent. Cook first appeared in a public service announcement for foster care at seven years of age, and began working as a child print model at the age of 10, most notably in nationwide advertisements for Target and appearing on the boxes of Milk-Bone dog biscuits. She attended Clara Barton Open School, Laurel Springs School, and Minneapolis South High School.

Career

Cook began auditioning for acting work at the age of 14. She made her debut as an actress in the 1995 film The Baby-Sitters Club, based on Ann M. Martin's book series of the same name. Her second movie role was in Tom and Huck, in which she portrayed Rebecca "Becky" Thatcher. In 1996, her modeling agency sent her to star in a short film, 26 Summer Street. In 1997, Cook appeared in a leading role in the film Country Justice as a 15-year-old rape victim who is impregnated by her rapist. She gained national attention in 1998, when she was featured in the famous This Is Your Brain on Drugs PSA television advertisement, in which she proceeds to destroy a kitchen with a frying pan as she lists the important things in life that heroin harms.

In 1999, Cook starred her breakout role in the sleeper hit film She's All That, a romantic comedy that adapted George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and so far the most financially successful film in her career. In 2000 she starred opposite Elijah Wood in the well-received The Bumblebee Flies Anyway. She took the lead role in 2001's Josie and the Pussycats, which turned out to be a box office failure. After that Cook mainly focused her work in independent films, resulting in some nicknaming her the next "Indie Queen" after Parker Posey. She also appeared as a main cast member in the 2005 television miniseries Into the West produced by Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks.

In 2000, she was the cover girl for the premiere US issue of FHM, the March/April issue. She also starred in the music video for New Found Glory's 2000 single "Dressed to Kill" and singer Daniel Powter's "Love You Lately". In 2002, she was ranked #26 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World". In 2003,she starred in the film 11:14 as Cheri.

Cook provided the voice for Chelsea Cunningham on the Kids' WB animated series Batman Beyond in the episode "Last Resort" and in the animated film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Cook voiced Tifa Lockhart in the video games Kingdom Hearts II, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, as well as the CG movie Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. Cook's latest voice-over role is for the video game Yakuza in which she voices the role of Reina.

Cook owns her own production company, Ben's Sister Productions (in reference to her younger brother Ben Cook, an aspiring filmmaker). Cook eventually stepped away from the spotlight to focus on spending time with friends and family. She later returned to mainstream films when she signed on to a new casting agency. In 2007 Cook was in the big screen adaptation of Nancy Drew, played the female lead in the independent sports drama The Final Season, and played a supporting role in Blonde Ambition starring Jessica Simpson and Luke Wilson.

She has appeared in numerous episodes of the Seth Green comedies Titan Maximum and Robot Chicken. On the latter she parodied the "This Is Your Brain on Drugs" role she made famous, by destroying everything she encounters with her frying pan.

In 2008, she guest-starred in an episode of the USA Network series Psych as Abigail Lytar, an old flame of Shawn Spencer. She returned in the season finale in which Abigail and Shawn start dating and appeared in many more episodes the following season.

In February 2010, Cook signed on to play the female lead role in Fox TV's comedy pilot Nirvana. She will star in the Western horror film Vampire, which is the English-language feature debut of Japanese director Iwai Shunji.

In 2011, she voiced the character of Jaesa Willsaam in the MMO game, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

In 2012, Cook signed on to play the female lead role in the TNT crime drama series Perception opposite Eric McCormack. She starred in the independent film Broken Kingdom, which was directed by her husband Daniel Gillies and premiered on October 2, 2012. She also appeared in a Funny or Die sketch with Chad Michael Murray.

Public service

In 2011, she was selected by the Obama administration as a Champion of Change for Arts Education. In June 2012, she began to award a small scholarship to those between ages 14 and 19. The scholarship helps pay for career classes, mentoring programs, and other school fees.

Personal life

Cook married actor Daniel Gillies in August 2004, after less than a year of dating. They have two children: daughter Charlotte Easton Gillies (born September 2013) and son Theodore Vigo Sullivan Gillies (born April 2015).

Cook is a vegetarian. She lives mostly in Los Angeles, but frequently goes back to visit her family in Minnesota.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Baby-Sitters Club, TheThe Baby-Sitters Club	Mary Anne Spier
1995	Tom and Huck	Becky Thatcher
1996	26 Summer Street	The Girl	Short film
1996	Carpool	Kayla
1997	House of Yes, TheThe House of Yes	Young 'Jackie-O'
1997	Eighteenth Angel, TheThe Eighteenth Angel	Lucy Stanton
1998	Hairy Bird, TheThe Hairy Bird	Abigail 'Abby' Sawyer
1998	Naked Man, TheThe Naked Man	Dolores
1998	Living Out Loud	Teenage Judith Moore
1999	Hi-Line, TheThe Hi-Line	Vera Johnson
1999	She's All That	Laney Boggs
1999	Bumblebee Flies Anyway, TheThe Bumblebee Flies Anyway	Cassie
2000	Sally	Beth
2000	Get Carter	Doreen Carter
2000	Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker	Chelsea Cunningham (voice)	Direct-to-DVD
2001	Antitrust	Lisa Calighan
2001	Blow Dry	Christina Robertson
2001	Texas Rangers	Caroline Dukes
2001	Josie and the Pussycats	Josie McCoy
2001	Tangled	Jenny Kelley
2002	29 Palms	The Waitress
2003	Bookies	Hunter
2003	Scorched	Shmally
2003	Big Empty, TheThe Big Empty	Ruthie
2003	11:14	Cheri
2003	Tempo	Jenny Travile
2004	Stateside	Dori Lawrence
2004	American Crime	Jesse St. Claire	Direct-to-DVD
2005	Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children	Tifa Lockhart (voice)
2006	My First Wedding	Vanessa	Direct-to-VOD
2007	Descent	Allison	Direct-to-VOD
2007	All Hat	Chrissie Nugent	Direct-to-VOD
2007	Nancy Drew	Jane Brighton
2007	Matters of Life and Death	Emily Jennings	Short film
2007	Final Season, TheThe Final Season	Polly Hudson	Direct-to-VOD
2007	Blonde Ambition	Haley	Direct-to-VOD
2008	Fairy Tale Police	Officer Duffy	Short film
2009	Lodger, TheThe Lodger	Amanda Manning	Direct-to-VOD
2009	Bob Funk	Ms. Thorne	Direct-to-DVD
2009	Falling Up	Caitlin O'Shea	Direct-to-DVD
2011	Vampire	Laura King	Direct-to-VOD
2011	The Family Tree	Rachel Levy	Direct-to-VOD
2012	Broken Kingdom	Marilyn	Direct-to-DVD
2012	First Kiss	Samantha	Short film
2014	Red Sky		Direct-to-DVD

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Country Justice	Emma Baker	TV film
1997	True Women	Young Georgia Lawshe	TV film
1997	Defenders: Payback, TheThe Defenders: Payback	Tracey Lane	TV film
1998	Outer Limits, TheThe Outer Limits	Cassie Boussard	Episode: "Glyphic"
1999	Dawson's Creek	Devon	Episodes: "His Leading Lady", "Psychic Friends", "A Perfect Wedding"
2000	Batman Beyond	Chelsea Cunningham (voice)	Episodes: "The Last Resort", "Plague"
2004	Fearless	Gaia Moore	Unsold TV pilot
2005	Into the West	Clara Wheeler	TV miniseries
2005	Las Vegas	Penny Posin	Recurring role (5 episodes)
2006-2014	Robot Chicken	Various (voice)	Recurring (11 episodes)
2008	Ghost Whisperer	Grace Adams	Episode: "Big Chills"
2008-2010	Psych	Abigail Lytar	Recurring role (6 episodes)
2009	Titan Maximum	Lt. Jodi Yanarella (voice)	Main role (9 episodes)
2010	Nevermind Nirvana	Elizabeth	TV film
2011	Stealing Paradise	Amanda Collier	TV film
2012	Left to Die	Tammi Chase	TV film
2012-2015	Perception	Kate Moretti	Main role (39 episodes)
2013	Team Unicorn	Rachel Leigh Cook	Episode: "The UniCorps Wants You!"
2014	Christmas Tail, AA Christmas Tail		TV film

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Yakuza	Reina
2005	Kingdom Hearts II	Tifa Lockhart
2006	Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII	Tifa Lockhart
2007	Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+	Tifa Lockhart
2011	Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy	Tifa Lockhart
2011	Star Wars: The Old Republic	Jaesa Willsaam
2013	Star Wars: The Old Republic - Rise of the Hutt Cartel	Jaesa Willsaam
2014	Star Wars: The Old Republic - Shadow of Revan	Jaesa Willsaam

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1997	YoungStar Award	Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy Film	Tom and Huck	Nominated
1999	YoungStar Awards		She's All That	Won
	MTV Movie Awards	Best Breakthrough Female Performance		Nominated
		Best On-Screen Duo
	Teen Choice Awards	Film - Sexiest Love Scene		Won
		TV - Breakout Performance	Dawson's Creek	Nominated
2000	Santa Monica Film Festival	Best Actress	The Hi-Line	Won
	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Movie Couple	She's All That
	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Actress - Newcomer (Internet Only)
	New York International Independent Film & Video Festival	Best Actress	Sally
2001	Young Hollywood Awards	Superstar of Tomorrow - Female
	Teen Choice Awards	Film - Choice Actress	Josie and the Pussycats	Nominated
2006	Western Heritage Awards	Television Feature Film	Into the West	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]