Elisha Ann Cuthbert (born November 30, 1982) is a
Canadian-born
actress. Cuthbert is known as the former
co-host of the
Canadian children's television series Popular Mechanics for Kids. She had her first lead role in the 2003
feature film,
Old School followed by
The Girl Next Door. She has also had starring roles in the 2005
House of Wax film and the 2007 horror film
Captivity. Her most prominent role is as
Kim Bauer in the
American action-thriller television series
24.
Early life
Cuthbert was born in
Calgary,
Alberta,
Canada, the daughter of Patricia, a
homemaker, and Kevin, an
automotive design engineer.
She has two younger siblings, Jonathan and Lee-Ann and grew up in
Greenfield Park, near
Montreal, Quebec. In 2000, she graduated from
Centennial Regional High School and moved to
Los Angeles at the age of seventeen to pursue an acting career.
Career
Early career
When she was seven, Cuthbert started modeling for various lines of 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 series regular. Cuthbert also co-hosted
Popular Mechanics for Kids, which was filmed in Montreal. Her reporting captured the attention of then-
First Lady Hillary Clinton, who invited her to visit the
White House.
She also gave a cleveland steamer to Harvey Dent.
Cuthbert landed her first role in a feature film in the family drama
Dancing on the Moon (1997). She appeared in several other Canadian family-themed movies and an
airplane thriller,
Airspeed. Cuthbert starred in the Canadian
television movie Lucky Girl in 2001 and was awarded a
Gemini Award for her performance.
Soon after her move to Los Angeles, Cuthbert was cast in the role of
Kim Bauer, daughter of CTU 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 only two episodes in the
fifth season. She also reprised her role as Kim Bauer in
24: The Game.
2003-2005: Commercial success
Cuthbert auditioned for the role of
Mary Jane Watson in the
Spider-Man film, but the role went to
Kirsten Dunst.
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, cast her in her first lead role as an ex-
porn star, Danielle, alongside
Emile Hirsch. Cuthbert had initial reservations about taking the part, but was persuaded by director
Luke Greenfield into accepting. She researched the role, speaking to actual adult actresses from
Wicked Pictures and
Vivid Entertainment.
Upon its release the film received comparisons to
Risky Businessndash although Cuthbert claims her character was not directly based on
Rebecca De Mornay's characterndash and was noted for Cuthbert's
sex appeal. Critics were divided; some praised the film for its boldness, while others, notably
Roger Ebert, decried it as gimmicky and exploitative.
Ebert wrote that he saw Cuthbert's character Danielle as "quite the most unpleasant character I have seen in some time."
In her next big-screen outing, Cuthbert starred with
Paris Hilton and
Chad Michael Murray in the
2005 remake of the classic
horror film House of Wax. Cuthbert, along with the rest of her castmates, 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 the sake of realism, Cuthbert opted for real
superglue over
prosthetics.
Despite her efforts,
House of Wax was largely panned, with 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 out of those characters reviews tended to think Cuthbert "fares the best".
Others noted Cuthbert as an "exception" playing her role "earnestly" and "fine".
2006-2007: Career transition
Cuthbert's next film project was the
indie film The Quiet, which she not only co-starred in but also co-
produced and helped finance. She played Nina, a temperamental 17-year-old
cheerleader who suffers from
sexual abuse. Cuthbert looked to her younger cousin for inspiration as to how to play a teenager.
, 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 on September 1.
Cuthbert appeared in the
music video for
Weezer's "
Perfect Situation" in early 2006, where she played the group's fictional original singer who threw a tantrum that led to
Rivers Cuomo, the unlikely
roadie, becoming the
frontman of the band.
Cuthbert also had a small role in
Paris Hilton's music video for the song "
Nothing In This World".
In 2007, Cuthbert appeared in the film,
Captivity, a thriller centered around 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. The film was in limited release in 2007 and release on DVD in early 2008.
2008-present: Current and future projects
Cuthbert is slated to voice Cleo, "the feline daughter of a wealthy kitty litter baron", in
Cat Tale, an
animated film set in a civilized world of cats and dogs.
For 2008, Cuthbert is scheduled to appear in two films. The first is the family comedy
The Six Wives of Henry LeFay with actor
Tim Allen, in which she plays his daughter. She will also appear in
My Sassy Girl, a remake of a
Korean film, starring alongside
Jesse Bradford.
She is one of the stars in the Canadian
mini-series Guns, due to premiere sometime in 2008.
Cuthbert returns to television with 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 has since been canceled, and was based on a British series starring
Rashida Jones and
Stephen Moyer.
Cuthbert will reprise her character
Kim Bauer in the seventh season of
24.
Personal life
Cuthbert, who enjoys painting,
is an
ice hockey fan and
Los Angeles Kings season ticket holder. In 2005 she maintained a blog on the
NHL web site.
She was previously in a relationship with
Dallas Stars player
Sean Avery and is now dating
Calgary Flames hockey player
Dion Phaneuf.
She regularly secures a place in
FHM and
Maxim's annual Top 100 Sexiest/Hottest 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, and #10 in 2007. 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.
Maxim named her #92 in its 2006 Hot 100 list, and features her in their Girls of Maxim Gallery.
As of 2006, Cuthbert has stated that she would refuse to be photographed nude in film roles or magazines, and uses
body doubles whenever necessary, specifying that she would "like to keep some things to
[1]".
Most recently, Cuthbert was ranked #10 by
AskMen.com readers in the list "Top 99 Women of 2007".
Filmography
Films
Television
