Rachel Sarah Bilson (born
August 25,
1981)
[1] is an
American actress. After growing up in a
California show business family, she made her television debut in
2003 and subsequently became well-known for playing
Summer Roberts on the
prime time dramedy series
The O.C. Bilson made her film debut in the
2006 film
The Last Kiss and will star in the 2008 thriller
Jumper.
Early lifeBilson was born in
Los Angeles,
California to a
Jewish American father
[2] (writer/director/producer
Danny Bilson) and a
Philadelphia-born
Italian American mother,
[3] Janice Stango, who is a
sex therapist.
[4] Her father comes from a showbusiness family, as her great-grandfather, George Bilson, was the head of the
trailer department at
RKO Pictures, while her great-grandmother, Hattie, was a
screenwriter and her grandfather, Bruce Bilson, is a film director.
[5] Bilson's parents divorced during her childhood, and in 1997, her father remarried Heather Medway, an actress and the mother of Bilson's half sister Hattie (born
December 19,
2001).
Bilson has been noted as having a "self-destructive, rebellious period" during her teen years.
[6] When she was thirteen, she and a group of her brother's friends
[7] were involved in a car accident, a head-on collision with another car. As a result, Bilson was unconscious for a few days, had a scar above her right eye, and sometimes suffers from
migraines and
memory loss;
[8] she has stated that the experience "changed" her,
[7] encouraging her to "stop... getting into trouble"
[5] and stopping her from "going down that road".
[7] Bilson graduated from Walter Reed Middle School in 1996 and from
Notre Dame High School in 1999. During her time at Notre Dame, she appeared in productions of
Bye Bye Birdie,
Once Upon a Mattress and
The Crucible, and appeared on stage together with
Katharine McPhee, who attended the same school and would later be a finalist on
American Idol.
[9]Career
Bilson attended
Grossmont College in
San Diego, but dropped out
after one year,
[10] taking her father's advice to pursue a professional acting career
[5] and making several appearances in commercials, including advertisements for
Raisin Bran and
Pepto-Bismol.
[5] She made her screen acting debut in early 2003, appearing in episodes of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, and in the short film, Unbroken. Bilson was subsequently cast in
The O.C., which debuted in August of 2003. Her character,
Summer Roberts, was initially intended to appear in only a few episodes, but became a series regular after a successful run, as Bilson's on-screen romance with
Seth Cohen (
Adam Brody) became a noted aspect of the series.
[10]Bilson with Adam Brody on The O.C.
As a result of the success of The O.C., Bilson has become well-known among teenage audiences. At the 2005
Teen Choice Awards, Bilson collected three awards - "Choice Hottie Female", "Choice TV Actress (Drama)" and "Best Onscreen TV Chemistry" (jointly won with
Adam Brody).
[11] In 2005,
Maxim magazine named her sixth in their annual "Hot 100 List";
[12] in 2006, the publication awarded her #14.
[13] The UK edition of
FHM Magazine named her 28th in the 2006 100 Sexiest Women in the World list,
[14] while the US Edition Ranked her 77th in 2005.
[15] Bilson was also named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in 2006 People magazine.
[16]Bilson's first film role was in
The Last Kiss, a romantic comedy/drama als
o starring
Zach Braff and
Jacinda Barrett. In the film, which opened on
September 15,
2006, Bilson plays a college student who seduces Braff's character. Bilson had long wanted to work with Braff, having admired the film
Garden State, which he directed and starred in.
[17] A
body double was used for the film's sexual scene between Bilson and Braff's characters, as Bilson specified that she "feel[s] really strong[ly]" about not appearing in a nude scene.
[18] One review of the film noted that Bilson played the role with "surprising depth",
[19] although another critic described her role as "
Glenn Close in
Fatal Attraction as an
airhead valley girl with a hot bod".
[20]Bilson has stated that she prefers acting in feature films to appearing on television, and that she would like the kind of roles "that
Natalie Portman and
Scarlett Johansson are offered".
[10] She has specified that though she is "grateful" for the success of The O.C.,
[21] she feels that the show "is over" and that she is "ready to move on" to film roles.
[22] In September of 2006, unconfirmed reports surfaced that Bilson was linked to star in a film version of the
comic book character
Wonder Woman;
[23] Bilson has stated that these reports were untrue.
[24] These reports spawned solely from a Wonder Woman costume she wore in an episode of the The O.C.
In late 2006, Bilson was cast in the role of Millie in
Doug Liman's thriller
Jumper, as the replacement for actress
Teresa Palmer; Bilson began filming the role in October of that year.
[25] The film is scheduled for a February 2008 release.
Bilson was also featured on
Stuffmagazine.comPersonal life
Bilson began dating her The O.C. co-star,
Adam Brody, in 2003. In 2005,
Brody gave Bilson a
pit bull, Penny Lane, as a birthday present. The couple later adopted another dog, Thurmen Murmen. The two split in November 2006. She has been recently spotted with her
Jumper co-star,
Hayden Christensen. Rachel has been recognized by several media sources as being a "fashion junkie"
[26][27][28] She has described herself as having a "vintage" sense of style, and noted
Kate Moss and
Diane Keaton as inspirations.
[28] Bilson enjoys watching television
game shows, especially
Jeopardy!,
[5] and has stated that if she were not acting, she would be a pre-school teacher.
[28] Her favorite designers are,
Stella McCartney and
Chanel.
Bilson has turned down requests to appear semi-nude in magazines, specifying that she feels that her body "is sacred" and "not there for the whole world to see".
[29]
