Rachael Leigh Cook

In August 2004, Rachael Leigh Cook married actor Daniel Gillies. Together they have two children: a daughter Charlotte Easton Gillies who was born in September 2013, and son Theodore Vigo Sullivan Gillies who was born in April 2015.

In 2011, the Obama administration selected her as a Champion of Change for Arts Education.

In 2012, she started to grant scholarships to students in the age group of 14-19 to help them pay for the career classes, school fees and mentoring programs.

Rachael Leigh Cook was born on October 4, 1979 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the daughter of Thomas H. Cook, a social worker and former stand-up comedian, and Joann, a cooking instructor and weaver.

At the age of seven, Cook was first seen in a public service announcement for foster care. Soon she started working as child print model and was seen nationwide in advertisements for Target and also appeared on the boxes of Milk-Bone dog biscuits.

She has attended Clara Barton Open School, Laurel Springs School, and Minneapolis South High School.

Rachael Leigh Cook began auditioning for acting work when she was 14. Clearing the auditions, she made her debut in the 1995 film ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’. The movie was based on Ann M. Martin’s book series by same name.

Her next movie was ‘Tom and Huck’ where she played the role of Rebecca ‘Becky’ Thatcher. In 1996, she was seen in the short film ’26 Summer Street’. The following year, Cook played the role of a 15-year-old rape victim who gets impregnated by her rapist in the film ‘Country Justice’.

In 1998, she grabbed the attention of her entire country when she appeared in the famous ‘This Is Your Brain on Drugs’ PSA television advertisement. In the advertisement, she was seen destroying a kitchen with a frying pan as she spoke about the harmful effects of heroin on a person’s life.

In 1999, Cook starred in the unforgettable romantic comedy film ‘She’s All That’ which brought her recognition in the film industry. The movie is so far the most financially successful film in her career.

In 2000, she starred in ‘The Bumblebee Flies Anyway’ along with Elijah Wood. She was also seen in a lead role in ‘Josie and the Pussycats’, but the movie failed at box office.

Rachael Leigh Cook’s career has covered several genres of the entertainment industry. She has appeared in movies, TV series, advertisements, video games, music videos, and has also done modelling. But the most popular movie of her career has to be ‘She’s All That’ which was a teen romantic comedy movie. It was one of the most popular teen films of the 1990s, and had reached number one position at the box office in just one week of its release.

The film helped her gain fame and recognition. Also, it was considered to be her greatest commercial success. The movie got her nominated for many teen awards out of which she won a few.