Kim Kardashian

Kimberly Noel "Kim" Kardashian (born October 21, 1980) is an American businesswoman, socialite, television personality, model, and actress. She is known for the E! reality series that she shares with her family—Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Kardashian's prominence has increased as of January 2011 with the premiere of Kourtney and Kim Take New York, the second spin-off of Keeping Up with the Kardashians (the first being Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami), debuting on E!, with the series following Kim and sister Kourtney Kardashian as they leave Los Angeles to open a third D-A-S-H store in New York City.
Kardashian has launched multiple fragrances, guest starred on numerous shows, competed on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, and has had roles in movies such as Disaster Movie and Deep in the Valley. In 2010, Kardashian, along with her sisters Kourtney and Khloé, released an autobiography, Kardashian Konfidential.

Early life

Kardashian was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of attorney Robert Kardashian and Kris Jenner (née Houghton). Her father was a third generation Armenian American and her mother is of Dutch and Scottish descent. Her paternal great-grandparents immigrated to Los Angeles from Armenia. Her last name in Armenian (spelled Քարտաշեան in Armenian) means "son of a stonemason." Although only half Armenian, she states that she "was raised with a huge Armenian influence, always hearing stories of Armenia, eating Armenian food and celebrating Armenian holidays.
Kardashian has two sisters, Kourtney and Khloé, and one brother, Robert. She has stepbrothers Burton Jenner, Brandon Jenner, and reality TV star Brody Jenner, step-sister Casey Jenner, and half-sisters Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner.
She attended Marymount High School.

Personal life

In 2000, Kardashian married music producer Damon Thomas; their relationship ended in divorce in 2004. Subsequently she dated R&B singer Ray J, NFL star Reggie Bush and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin. She was also seen with model Gabriel Aubry.
Kardashian then began dating NBA player Kris Humphries of the New Jersey Nets in October 2010. They became engaged in May 2011, and married on August 20, 2011 in Montecito, California. It was reported that Kardashian and Humphries would make $17.9 million from the nuptials, and that they paid nothing of the $20 million costs associated with it. Three $20,000 Vera Wang gowns and $400,000 worth of Perrier-Jouët champagne were given free, as were invitations from Lehr & Black estimated at $10,000 and $750,000 for catering for the 500 guests at the reception. After just 72 days of marriage, Kardashian filed for divorce from Humphries on October 31, 2011, citing irreconcilable differences. Kardashian gained notoriety after several news outlets surmised that the marriage was a publicity stunt to promote the Kardashian brand and television ventures.

Hayden Panettiere

Hayden Leslie Panettiere born August 21, 1989 is an American actress and singer. She came to professional prominence at the age of 10 with her portrayal of Sheryl Yoast in Disney's Remember the Titans, although for five years before that, Panettiere had held roles in two soap operas. She portrayed Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live (1994–1997), and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light (1996–2000). Panettiere reached a wider audience with her starring role as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes. She also had a leading role as Kirby Reed in the horror film Scream 4, which was released in theaters on April 15, 2011.

Early life

Panettiere was born in and partly raised in Palisades, New York, the daughter of Lesley R. Vogel, a former soap opera actress, and Alan L. "Skip" Panettiere, a fire department lieutenant. Panettiere is of Italian descent, her surname meaning "baker" in Italian. She has one younger brother, fellow actor Jansen Panettiere.

Although Panettiere attended South Orangetown Middle School in New York, she was educated at home from the 9th grade through the end of high school. For now, Panettiere is postponing higher education in favor of an acting career. 

Acting Career

Panettiere first appeared in commercials at 11 months, beginning with an advertisement for Playskool. She landed a role as Sarah Roberts on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live (1994–1997), and she followed that up by playing the part of Elizabeth "Lizzie" Spaulding on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light (1997–2000). While on Guiding Light, Panettiere's character Lizzie battled leukemia. For drawing the attention of daytime viewers to the disease, and for improving national awareness, the Leukaemia & Lymphoma Society gave her its Special Recognition Award.

For her performance in Lifetime Television's 1999 TV movie If You Believe, she was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Young Actress Age Ten or Under in the category of Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot. Panettiere appeared on Fox's Ally McBeal as the title character's daughter, had a recurring guest role on Malcolm in the Middle and guest starred in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Panettiere became most prominent as Claire Bennet in the NBC series Heroes, which was created by Tim Kring, as a high school cheerleader with regenerative healing powers. Thanks to her role on Heroes, she became a regular on the science fiction convention circuit, invited to attend conventions around the world in 2007, including Gen Con, New York Comic-Con, and Fan Expo Canada. Panettiere has complained that her acting options are sometimes limited because "people look at [her] as either the 'popular cheerleader' type or just 'the blonde.

In early 2007, Panettiere appeared on the MTV show, Punk'd. The appearance was engineered by her mother and involved a male "fan" discussing her work with her, instigating a jealous reaction from the man's spouse. 

Personal life

Panettiere has dated heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko. She was ringside for his knockout victory over Samuel Peter on September 11, 2010. The actress confirmed on May 12, 2011 that she and Klitschko have broken up amicably after two years together. Both cited the long-distance nature of their relationship as the reason, and said they would remain close friends.

Panettiere has a tattoo of the Italian words Vivere senza rimipianti [sic] running down her left side. The word rimpianti is misspelled in what otherwise would mean "To Live Without Regrets" 

natalie portman

Natalie Hershlag (Hebrew: נטלי הרשלג‎; born June 9, 1981), better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (released in 1999, 2002 and 2005). In 1999, she enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology while still working as an actress. She completed her bachelor's degree in 2003.

In 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. In 2005, Portman received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture for the drama Closer. She won a Constellation Award for Best Female Performance, and a Saturn Award for Best Actress for her starring role in V for Vendetta (2006). She played leading roles in the historical dramas Goya's Ghosts (2006) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008). In May 2008, she served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury. Portman's directorial debut, Eve, opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival's shorts competition in 2008.

In 2011, Portman won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award, and the BAFTA Award for her lead performance as Nina Sayers in Black Swan.

Early life

Portman was born in Jerusalem, Israel. She is the only child of Shelley (née Stevens), an American homemaker who works as Portman's agent, and Avner Hershlag, an Israeli citizen who is a fertility specialist and gynecologist. Portman's maternal ancestors were Jewish immigrants to the United States, from Austria and Russia (her mother's family had changed their surname from "Edelstein" to "Stevens"). Her paternal ancestors were Jews who moved to Israel from Poland and Romania. Her paternal grandfather, whose parents died at Auschwitz, was an economics professor in Israel, and her Romanian-born great-grandmother was a spy for British Intelligence during World War II.

Portman's parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University, where her mother was selling tickets. They corresponded after her father returned to Israel, and were married when her mother visited a few years later. In 1984, when Portman was three years old, the family moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training. Portman, a dual citizen of the United States and Israel, has said that although she "really love[s] the States... my heart's in Jerusalem. That's where I feel at home.  Portman and her family first lived in Washington, D.C., but relocated to Connecticut in 1988, and then settled on Long Island, New York, in 1990. 

Personal life

In 2006, she said that she felt more Jewish in Israel and that she would like to raise her children Jewish: "A priority for me is definitely that I'd like to raise my kids Jewish, but the ultimate thing is to have someone who is a good person and who is a partner.

After starring in the video for his song "Carmensita", she began a relationship with American folk singer Devendra Banhart, which ended in September 2008.

Portman began dating ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied in 2009. The couple met while she was filming Black Swan. The following year, Portman publicly announced her engagement to Millepied and later confirmed her pregnancy. In 2011, Portman gave birth to their first child, a son named Aleph Portman-Millepied. 

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American film and television actress. She has had lead roles in TBS's The Bill Engvall Show and in the independent films The Burning Plain and Winter's Bone, for which she received critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. At age 20, this made her the second youngest actress to ever be nominated for the award. She was cast as Katniss Everdeen in the upcoming 2012 film, The Hunger Games, which is based on the first book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

Early life

Lawrence was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Karen (Koch), who runs a children's camp, and Gary Lawrence, who once owned a concrete construction firm, Lawrence & Associates. She acted in church plays and, by the age of 14, had decided to pursue an acting career, persuading her parents to take her to New York City to find a talent agent. Although she had no training or experience, she received high praise from the agency for which she auditioned. She graduated from high school two years early in order to begin a career in acting. 

Career

Lawrence starred in Guillermo Arriaga's directorial debut The Burning Plain, opposite Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger. Her performance in the film earned her the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young emerging actor/actress during the Venice Film Festival in 2008.

She was part of the main cast of the TBS comedy The Bill Engvall Show as Lauren Pearson. Written and created by Bill Engvall and Michael Leeson, the show is set in a Denver suburb and follows the life of 'Bill Pearson' (played by Engvall), a family counselor whose own family could use a little dose of counseling. The series was canceled in 2009 after having aired three seasons.

Lawrence's other film credits include a lead role in Lori Petty's The Poker House opposite Selma Blair and Bokeem Woodbine as well as roles in Devil You Know and Garden Party. Her television credits include roles on Cold Case, Medium, and Monk. She is also featured in the music video for the song "The Mess I Made", from the album Losing Sleep by Parachute.

Lawrence had the lead role, frequently cited as a "breakout performance" for her, in Debra Granik's Winter's Bone (which won best picture at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010). She portrays seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly in the rural Ozarks, caring for her mentally-ill mother and her younger brother and sister, when she discovers that her father has put their house and land up as a bond for a court appearance. The performance was highly acclaimed by film critics: David Denby, writing in The New Yorker, said "the movie would be unimaginable with anyone less charismatic playing Ree. Lawrence received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for the role, on January 25, 2011. She is the second-youngest person to date to be nominated for the category.

Lawrence had a role in The Beaver, a dark comedy starring Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson. The Beaver was filmed in 2009, but after spending an extended period of time stalled due to controversy surrounding Gibson, it received a release date of May 6, 2011. Lawrence also has a starring role in the independent film Like Crazy, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and has reportedly been picked up by Paramount Pictures for a wider release. In June 2011, Lawrence appeared as shape-shifting villainess Mystique in X-Men: First Class, a prequel to the rest of the X-Men film series. Lawrence's Mystique is a younger version of the character played by Rebecca Romijn in earlier X-Men films. Lawrence is also set to star alongside Elisabeth Shue in Mark Tonderai's thriller House at the End of the Street, which completed filming in 2010 and is in post-production

Lawrence has stated that she has never taken drama classes or acting lessons, simply relying on her instincts when playing a role. She lived in New York City for the first few years of her career, but resides in Santa Monica, California.

Lawrence has been cast as Katniss Everdeen in the movie The Hunger Games, set to be released in March 2012. and The Silver Linings Playbook, opposite Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro.

On June 18, 2011, it was announced that Lawrence was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences alongside other actors and actresses that include Mila Kunis, Russell Brand, Bradley Cooper, and her Winter's Bone co-star John Hawkes.

Cameron Michelle Diaz

  

Filmography: Being John Malkovich (1999), Shrek (2001), Shrek Forever After (2010), Shrek 2 (2004), Gangs of New York (2002), Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000), There's Something About Mary (1998)

See entire filmography

Model-turned-actress Cameron Diaz seemed to come out of nowhere when she made her 1994 screen debut opposite Jim Carrey in The Mask. However, her unusual beauty -- the result of her Cuban-American and Anglo-German-Native-American parentage -- helped to ensure that she would not be soon forgotten.

Born in San Diego, CA, on August 30, 1972, Diaz left school at 16 to become a model. For the next five years, she traveled the globe, working in Japan, Australia, Mexico, Morocco, and Paris. As a model for the Elite Agency, she did commercial work for such products as Coke, Nivea, and L.A. Gear. She returned to California at the age of 21 and was unknown in the film industry when cast in her breakthrough role as the target of Jim Carrey's hyper-animated lust in The Mask. Following the hoopla surrounding her performance -- or, more specifically, her physical appearance -- in the film, Diaz opted to take acting lessons and appear in a series of small, independent films, including The Last Supper (1995), She's the One (1996), and Feeling Minnesota (1996).

After starring opposite Ewan McGregor in Danny Boyle's A Life Less Ordinary (1997), Diaz further endeared herself to audiences and critics with her performance in My Best Friend's Wedding (1997). Proving herself an acceptable foil for the film's star, Julia Roberts, she went on to greater success in the Farrelly brothers' There's Something About Mary in 1998. Starring as the film's titular heroine, Diaz turned in an audience-pleasing performance in the cheerfully bawdy film, which proved to be one of the year's biggest box-office successes. The same year, Diaz cameoed in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and starred as Jon Favreau's unhinged fiancée in the black comedy Very Bad Things. Now fully established as one of Hollywood's hottest properties, she accepted leads in 1999's Being John Malkovich, in which she played puppeteer John Cusack's wife, and Any Given Sunday, in which she played the president and co-owner of a football team in Oliver Stone's paean to American football.

In 2000, Diaz joined Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu in Charlie's Angels, the much-hyped big-screen remake of the television classic. A comically self-aware and fairly faithful adaptation of the original series, Charlie's Angels served up Matrix-style action with retro-sensibilities, propelling the franchise into the new millennium. The following year found Diaz endearing herself to younger audiences as the voice of Princess Fiona in the animated box-office smash Shrek, as well as using her wide-eyed innocence to horrific effect in the Tom Cruise mindbender Vanilla Sky. Headlining the ill-fated comedy The Next Best Thing in 2002, Diaz would take a historical trip to the birthplace of America in director Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York before becoming the second (after Julia Roberts) actress to join the "20-Million-Dollar Club" with Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Like its predecessor, the film performed well at the box office, and Diaz further proved her box-office clout in 2004 when another sequel, Shrek 2, became the third-highest grossing film of all time.

Diaz switched gears altogether in 2005 when she headed to the small screen, hosting and producing the MTV reality show Trippin'. With its focus on ecology and conservation, the program found the actress and her celebrity pals traipsing the globe to explore various natural environments. Diaz also remained a strong presence in Hollywood during the Christmas season of 2005 in the well-received Curtis Hanson film In Her Shoes. In this picture -- adapted from the Jennifer Weiner novel by Susannah Grant -- Diaz plays the beautiful yet thoroughly harebrained and irresponsible Maggie, sister of the prim, proper, and conservative attorney Rose (Australian import Toni Collette), with whom she comes to blows during their ill-advised stint as roommates. As Maggie discovers a grandmother that she never knew existed (Shirley MacLaine) and travels to Florida to bond with the woman, Rose experiences a significant romantic breakup and decides to change careers. A long-buried and dormant secret from the past then comes to light that reunites the women and forges a path to reconciliation. In Her Shoes struck box-office gold and won the hearts of many critics. And though it surprised just about everyone who foresaw a dopey, lame-brained romantic comedy, assiduous devotees of Hanson's career were perhaps less shocked given the director's keen intelligence and marvelous track record.

Diaz maintained a relatively low profile throughout 2006, following up the Hanson film with yet another lightly comic dissection of contemporary relationships, Nancy Meyers' Holiday. In this romantic comedy, released in December 2006, Diaz plays Amanda, a City of Angels native who meets Briton Iris (Titanic star Kate Winslet) on an Internet website that encourages its users to take vacations by temporarily "swapping homes" with one another. Inevitably, Amanda falls for an Englishman (Jude Law) while Iris meets and falls for an American man (Jack Black).

Meanwhile, the actress signed on to voice Princess Fiona again for Dreamworks' tertiary installment of the Shrek franchise, Shrek the Third, which finds Prince Fiona and Shrek the Ogre married but not planning to inherit the throne. When King Harold (the voice of John Cleese) falls ill, Shrek, Puss in Boots, and Donkey foresee the need for a scion, and set out to find Fiona's rebellious cousin, Artie, the "rightful" heir to the kingdom. Pop idol Justin Timberlake, Diaz's longtime boyfriend and suitor, provided the voice for Artie.

Prior to her long-standing romantic relationship with Timberlake (a constant source of tabloid fodder and speculation), Diaz was alternately linked, offscreen, with actor Matt Dillon, actor Jared Leto (to whom she was engaged for a time), and video producer Carlos De La Torre. She has never married, and according to some sources, never has any intention of marrying. In August 2004, however, she caused an enormous media stir when she turned up alongside Timberlake at Disney's Magic Kingdom in Orlando -- wearing what appeared to be a massive gold band with a diamond on her left hand; the couple denied that it was an engagement ring. The very same situation recurred in January 2005, when Diaz (sporting the same jewelry) and Timberlake popped up at the Los Angeles restaurant Angelini Osteria. by Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Vanessa Hudgens

Vanessa Anne Hudgens (born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer, who is best known for her portrayal of the character Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical series. She also earned critical acclaim for her role in the 2009 film Bandslam. As an actress, Hudgens has appeared in several television programs including Quintuplets, Still Standing, The Brothers García, Drake & Josh, and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. She made her screen debut in the 2003 drama Thirteen as Noel. She got her first starring role in the 2004 science-fiction-adventure Thunderbirds as Tintin. Hudgens' debut album V was released on September 26, 2006. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number twenty four, and was later certified Gold. Hudgens released her second album, Identified, on July 1, 2008 in the U.S. Hudgens' fame has also been marked by scandal caused by the release of private, self-taken nude photographs of herself on the Internet without her permission on several occasions. Since a third and anonymous release of these images, the FBI is now investigating these leaked photos in an attempt to find the source in connection with similar investigations regarding such hackings around altogether about 50 Hollywood celebrities.

Early life

Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, and lived all over the West Coast — from Oregon to Southern California — with her parents, Gina (née Guangco), who held a succession of office jobs, and Gregory Hudgens, a firefighter. She was raised as a Roman Catholic and has a younger sister, Stella Hudgens, who is also an actress. Hudgens is of mixed cultural background, as her father is of Irish and Native American descent, and her mother, a native of Manila, is of Chinese-Filipino-Spanish descent. Two of her grandparents were musicians.

Starting at the age of eight, Hudgens performed in musical theater as a singer, and appeared in local productions of Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, The Music Man, and Cinderella, among others. Two years after her career in stage plays and musicals, she started auditioning for commercials and television shows, and her family moved to Los Angeles after she won a role in a television commercial. Her acting career started at the age of 15, and she briefly attended Orange County High School of the Arts, followed by homeschooling with tutors. 

Acting career

In 2003, Hudgens played a minor role in the independent drama film Thirteen, where she plays Noel, a friend of a lead character (Tracy, played by Evan Rachel Wood). The film was critically successful, receiving generally favorable reviews, and its receipts surpassed its $4 million budget. Hudgens subsequently landed a role in the 2004 science fiction-adventure film Thunderbirds as Tintin. Unfortunately, the film was commercially and critically unsuccessful, and received heavy criticism through the Internet prior to its release. In late 2005 Hudgens appeared in television shows such as Quintuplets, Still Standing, The Brothers García, Drake & Josh, and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.

In late 2005 she landed her breakout role of shy and meek Gabriella Montez in High School Musical, opposite to Zac Efron. Her performance received numerous nominations and awards. With the success of the film, the BBC predicted that Hudgens would be a "household name" in the US.

In 2007, Hudgens reprised her role as Gabriella Montez in the sequel of High School Musical, High School Musical 2. Virginia Heffernan of TV Review described Hudgens in her performance in the movie as "matte" as she "glows like a proper ingénue".Hudgens reprised her role as Gabriella Montez in High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Her performance in the film made her win favorite movie actress in the 2009 Kids Choice Awards.

Post-High School Musical, Hudgens remarked that she will focus in her acting and films, while "taking a break" from her music career as a solo artist. She played a supporting role in a musical comedy Bandslam, which was released theatrically on August 14, 2009. Hudgens plays "Sa5m", a 15-year-old awkward freshman with untapped talents. Although Bandslam was commercially unsuccessful, Hudgens's performance received praise from critics.David Waddington of the North Wales Pioneer noted that Hudgens "outshines the rest of the cast, failing to fit in with the outcast narrative and making the inevitable climactic ending all the more expected," and Philip French of The Guardian compared her acting to Thandie Newton and Dorothy Parker.

Hudgens performed a musical number with other artists during the 81st Academy Awards. Hudgens later provided voice roles in an episode of Robot Chicken. Hudgens' involvement in Beastly, a film based on Alex Flinn's novel of the same name, was announced in early 2009. She played one of the main characters in the film as Linda Taylor, described by Hudgens as the "beauty" of the story but not the stereotypical beauty everyone thinks of. Along with Beastly co-star, Alex Pettyfer, Hudgens was recognized as ShoWest stars of Tomorrow. Hudgens was later cast in an action film directed by Zack Snyder, Sucker Punch, playing Blondie, an institutionalized girl in an asylum, which was released in March 2011.

After so many years, Hudgens returned to theater productions wherein she starred in the musical Rent as Mimi. The stage production ran from August 6–8, 2010 at the Hollywood Bowl. Her involvement in the production drew negative comments, but director Neil Patrick Harris defended his decision with casting Hudgens by saying, "Vanessa [Hudgens] is awesome. She's a friend. I asked her to come in and sing to make sure she had the chops for it. And she was very committed and seemed great."

In October 2010, it was announced that Hudgens will be joining the sequel to the 2008 film Journey to the Center of the Earth alongside Dwayne Johnson and Josh Hutcherson, playing Hutcherson's love interest. In April 2011, it was reported that she would star in an indie film, Gimme Shelter with Brendan Fraser, written and directed by Ron Krauss.

jennifer lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez  (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, fashion designer and television producer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller Money Train.

Her first leading role was in the biographical film Selena (1997), in which she earned an ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress. She earned her second ALMA Award for her performance in Out of Sight (1998). She has since starred in various films, including The Wedding Planner (2001), Maid in Manhattan (2002), Shall We Dance? (2004), Monster-in-Law (2005), and The Back-up Plan (2010).

Lopez came to prominence within the music industry following the release of her debut studio album On the 6 (1999) which spawned the number one hit single "If You Had My Love". Her second studio album J.Lo (2001) was a commercial success, selling eight million copies worldwide. J to tha L–O!: The Remixes (2002) became her second consecutive album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 while her third and fourth studio albums – This Is Me... Then (2002) and Rebirth (2005) – peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. In 2007, she released two albums including her first full Spanish-language album Como ama una Mujer, and her fifth English studio album Brave. Lopez returned to music and released her seventh studio album, titled Love?, on April 19, 2011. Its single "On the Floor" has impacted charts worldwide. Her contributions to the music industry have garnered her numerous achievements including two Grammy Award nominations; two Latin Grammy Award nominations; three American Music Awards, amongst six nominations; and the estimated sale of over 55 million records worldwide. Billboard ranked her as the 27th Artist of the 2000s decade. Lending her musical knowledge to others, Lopez is currently a member of the judging panel of American reality television competition American Idol.

She led People en Español's list of "100 Most Influential Hispanics" in February 2007. She has parlayed her media fame into a fashion line and various perfumes with her celebrity endorsement. A fashion icon, several of her dresses have received considerable media attention, most notably the Jungle green Versace dress which she wore at the 43rd Grammy Awards in 2000 which has been voted the 5th most iconic dress of all time. Outside of her work in the entertainment industry, Lopez advocates human rights, vaccinations and is a supporter of Children's Hospital Los Angeles.  

Early life

Jennifer Lopez was born in the Bronx, New York, and raised on Blackrock Avenue in the New York City borough's Castle Hill neighborhood. She is the daughter of Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe (née Rodríguez), a kindergarten teacher, and David Lopez, a computer specialist, both born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Lopez was raised Roman Catholic. She has two siblings, Lynda and Leslie. Lopez spent her entire academic career in Catholic schools, finishing at the all-girls Preston High School in the Bronx. She financed singing and dancing lessons for herself from the age of 19. After attending Baruch College for one semester, Lopez divided her time between working as a notary public in a legal office,[18] dance classes, and dance performances in Manhattan night clubs. She had a small part in the 1987 film My Little Girl at the age of sixteen. After months of auditioning for dance roles, Lopez was selected as a dancer for various rap music videos, a 1990 episode of Yo! MTV Raps and as a backup dancer for the New Kids on the Block and their performance of their song "Games" for the American Music Awards in 1991. She gained her first regular high-profile job as a "Fly Girl" dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color from 1991-1993. Soon after, Lopez became a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and made an appearance in her 1993 video "That's the Way Love Goes".

Acting career

Lopez's first television job as an actress was on the Fox series South Central. She also made guest appearances in Second Chances and Hotel Malibu. She then appeared in the made-for-television film Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7. Lopez's first serious screen role was in Gregory Nava's 1995 drama My Family, playing the character of Young Maria in the 1920s. After starring alongside Jimmy Smits and Edward James Olmos in My Family, Lopez starred in the action film Money Train opposite Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. In 1996, she reportedly beat out Ashley Judd and Lauren Holly for the supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1996 comedy Jack starring Robin Williams. She then starred opposite Jack Nicholson in Bob Rafelson's well-received noir thriller Blood and Wine.

Lopez's first big break came in 1997, when she was chosen to play the title role in Selena, a biopic of the Tejano pop singer Selena. Despite having previously worked with Nava on Mi Familia, Lopez was subjected to an intense auditioning process before landing the role. She earned widespread praise for her performance, including a Golden Globe Award nomination for "Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy". Later that year, Lopez appeared in two major films. She starred in the horror film Anaconda alongside Ice Cube and Jon Voight, playing the role of Terri Flores, a director who is shooting a documentary while traveling through the Amazon River.[54] Despite being a modest box office hit, the film was critically panned. Lopez then starred as the leading actress in the neo-noir film U Turn, which is based on the book Stray Dogs, starring alongside Sean Penn and Billy Bob Thornton.

In 1998, she had one of her most acclaimed roles, starring opposite George Clooney in Out of Sight, Steven Soderbergh's adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel. Cast as a deputy federal marshal who falls for a charming criminal, Lopez won rave reviews for her tough performance and in the process she became the first Latina actress to earn over $1 million for a role. That same year, she provided the voice for Azteca on the computer-animated film Antz. Lopez then starred opposite Vincent D'Onofrio, in the psychological thriller film The Cell. She portrayed Catherine Deane, a child psychologist who uses virtual reality to enter into the minds of her patients to coax them out of their comas. The film was released in August 2000 and became a box office success opening at number one. The following year, Lopez took a break from acting in films, in order to work on her music career.

In 2001, Lopez starred alongside Matthew McConaughey in the romantic comedy The Wedding Planner. The film debuted at number one, making her the first actress and singer in history to have a film and an album, J.Lo, at number one in the same week. Her next roles were in the supernatural romance Angel Eyes (2001), and in the psychological revenge thriller Enough (2002). Both failed to find an audience, and were met with a negative response from critics. She appeared alongside Ralph Fiennes in the romantic comedy film Maid in Manhattan (2002). Her character, Marisa Ventura, is a struggling single mother who lives in the Bronx and makes her living cleaning rooms in a super-luxurious Manhattan hotel, and gets mistaken for a socialite by a princely politician. Maid in Manhattan was a box office hit, opening at number one. The New York Times compared the film's storyline to her 2002 song, "Jenny from the Block", commenting, "In her new single, Jenny From the Block, Jennifer Lopez declares that despite her enormous wealth and global fame, she has not lost touch with her roots.

Some of her other critically acclaimed films include An Unfinished Life and Shall We Dance?. Two independent films produced by Lopez were well-received at film festivals: El Cantante at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Bordertown at the Brussels film festival. Her modestly successful film career includes Monster-in-Law (2005). Gigli, however, would become a notorious box office bomb.

In 2006, Jennifer was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award along with Lauren Shuler Donner and Diane Warren.
In August 2007, Lopez collaborated on the feature film, El Cantante, with her husband – singer-actor Marc Anthony. Ms. Lopez, who's also a producer of the film, "does enough acting for the two of them in her role as Puchi, Héctor’s wife" while creating a very interesting and edgy performance.The film is in English, with creative use of subtitles for songs with Spanish lyrics. In 2010, she appeared in the romantic comedy The Back-up Plan.

Lopez is one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood and the highest-paid Latin actress in Hollywood history, though she's never had a film grossing over $100 million in the USA. She was on The Hollywood Reporter's list of the top ten actress salaries in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Lopez received $15 million for her role in Monster-in-Law. Her top-grossing film domestically is Maid in Manhattan which grossed $94,011,225, and her most successful international film, Shall We Dance?, grossed $112,238,000, at the international box office. Domestically, Shall We Dance? grossed $57,890,460 and a total of $170,128,460 worldwide. In 2007, Lopez made the Forbes magazine's list of "The 20 Richest Women In Entertainment," ranking ninth. Her wealth was estimated to be $110 million in 2007.

On January 27, 2010, it was announced that Lopez would guest-star on an episode of How I Met Your Mother as Anita Appleby, a no-nonsense author of self-help books that teach women how to mold men into "relationship machines" through the power of denial. After Robin informs Anita of Barney's womanizing ways, Anita sets out to "break" him.  

Mila Kunis

Milena "Mila" Kunis (Russian: Милена Кунис; Ukrainian: Мілена Куніс born August 14, 1983),( /ˈmiːlə ˈkuːnɪs/), is an American actress. Her television work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy. She has also played roles in film, such as Rachel Jansen in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Mona Sax in Max Payne and Solara in The Book of Eli.

In 2010, she won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress at the 67th Venice International Film Festival for her performance as Lily in Black Swan. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for the same role.

Early life  

Kunis was born in Chernivtsi in the Ukrainian SSR. Her mother, Elvira, is a physics teacher and drug store manager, and her father, Mark Kunis, is a mechanical engineer and cab company executive. She has an older brother, Michael. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1991, when she was seven years old. Kunis is Jewish and has cited antisemitism in the former Soviet Union as one of several reasons for her family's move to the U.S. She has said that her parents "raised me Jewish as much as they could", though religion was suppressed in the U.S.S.R.

Kunis has stated that a lottery system allowed her family to make the move: "It took about five years. If you got chosen the first time around, you went to Moscow, where there was another lottery, and you maybe got chosen again. Then you could come to the States." On her second day in Los Angeles, she was enrolled at Rosewood Elementary School not knowing a word of English. "I blocked out second grade," she says. "I don't remember, but my mom tells me that I came home and cried every day. I wasn't that traumatized. It was just a shock." Kunis added: "I didn't understand the culture. I didn't understand the people. I didn't understand the language. My first sentence of my essay to get into college was like, 'Imagine being blind and deaf at age seven.' And that's kind of what it felt like moving to the States."In Los Angeles, she attended Hubert Howe Bancroft Middle School. She was mostly taught by an on-set tutor for her high school years while filming That '70s Show. When not on the set, she attended Fairfax High School, where she graduated in 2001. She briefly attended UCLA and Loyola Marymount University in  Los Angeless.

 Personal life

Kunis has spoken with affection about her parents and has credited them for being a positive influence and keeping her focused on what is important in life. "I had a normal upbringing and went to public school," she says. "If I ever, even for a second, started getting a big head, I was brought back to reality pretty quickly. My parents are why I'm pretty grounded."

Kunis began dating actor Macaulay Culkin in 2002. At one time there were rumors of the couple getting married, but Kunis denied them, saying:

I've been engaged. I think I've already been married. And I'm sure I have a child somewhere. I'm waiting to have something else happen. No, I'm not married. And no, I'm not engaged. And no, I do not have a child. No one seems to listen. And next week I'll be engaged again. I think, at one point, they were like, 'Seen shopping in Beverly Hills for engagement rings.' We were in Japan working. What is wrong with these people? Half the time you can say they misconstrued facts. But, more often than not, they just make stuff up.

In an interview with BlackBook Magazine Kunis stated that marriage is "not something that's important to me". Kunis said she tried her best to protect her and Culkin's privacy, noting that "We don't talk about it to the press. It's already more high profile than I want it to be. When questioned if it was difficult to stay out of the tabloids and press, Kunis responded: "I keep my personal life as personal as I physically, mentally, possibly can." Asked if that is difficult she said, "I don't care. I will go to my grave trying. It is hard, but I'll end up going to a bar that's a hole in the wall. I won't go to the "it's-happening" place." On January 3, 2011, Kunis' publicist confirmed reports that Kunis and Culkin had ended their relationship, saying "The split was amicable, and they remain close friends"

She has identified herself in interviews as a fan of the online computer game World of Warcraft and has received a certain amount of attention from the game's fan community as a result. She has not released what server she is in but says she is with her close friends in the Alliance.In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, she said she does not use voice chat in the game after another player recognized her voice. Although Kunis has described herself as a "computer nerd", she does not have a Myspace, Facebook or Twitter account. Kunis discussed her desire for privacy as she explained why she is not on Facebook or Twitter. "Why would I want to share my life with the world when it's being shared already, without my consent? The only problem with not having an account is that there are fake accounts, pretending to quote me. But what am I going to tweet about?

In an interview with H Magazine Kunis stated that she does not devote as much time to World of Warcraft anymore, but enjoys hanging out with her friends when she can. "When we have 'friends night' and we all get together, we play board games like The Settlers of Catan." She also mentioned that she and her friends enjoy doing Murder Mystery tours, where they drive around the Los Angeles area exploring locations of famous murders that have taken place. Kunis also enjoys traveling, and often goes on trips with her older brother, Michael. She and Michael have explored countries such as Fiji and Korea. "I like the way he travels," she explains. "He grabs a map, says, 'Let's walk,' and makes you explore. When asked to describe her perfect day Kunis said: "It would be going for a swim, lazing around the house, playing with my dogs, drinking a root beer float, catching up on TiVo, having some food, a glass of wine and calling it a night."In an interview Kunis elaborated: "I love to hang out with my friends....I love to sit home in my pajamas and watch TiVo. That brings me so much happiness. That's it. It's quiet and calm."

In January 2011, she revealed publicly for the first time her struggle with an eye condition called chronic iritis that had caused blindness in one eye. However, a couple of months earlier she had surgery that corrected the problem.

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson (born November 22, 1984) is an American actress and singer. Johansson made her film debut in the 1994 film North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in 1996's Manny & Lo. Johansson rose to fame with her roles in 1998's The Horse Whisperer and 2001's Ghost World.

She transitioned to adult roles with her performances in Girl with a Pearl Earring and Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, for which she won a BAFTA Award, and both films earned her Golden Globe Award nominations in 2003. A role in A Love Song for Bobby Long earned her a third Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination.

Following an appearance in The Island, Johansson garnered a fourth Golden Globe nomination, for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Woody Allen's Match Point. She also starred in other Allen movies, such as Scoop, with Hugh Jackman and Allen, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, alongside Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Rebecca Hall. Scarlett Johansson appeared in films such as Christopher Nolan's The Prestige and the summer blockbuster Iron Man 2. A role in the 2010s Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge gave her some of her best reviews for her acting, and she received a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play.

On May 20, 2008, Johansson debuted as a vocalist on her first album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, which comprises mostly cover versions of Tom Waits songs. Her second album, Break Up, with Pete Yorn, was released in September 2009.

  Early life

Johansson was born in New York City on November 22, 1984. Her father, Karsten Johansson, is a Danish-born architect, and her paternal grandfather, Ejner Johansson, was a screenwriter and director. Her mother, Melanie Sloan, a producer, comes from an Ashkenazi Jewish family from the Bronx. Johansson has an older sister, Vanessa, who is an actress; an older brother, Adrian; a twin brother, Hunter (who appeared with her in the film Manny & Lo);[5] and an older half-brother, Christian, from her father's first marriage.

Johansson grew up in a household with "little money, and with a mother who was a "film buff. She and her brother, Hunter, attended P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village in elementary school. Johansson began her theatrical training by attending and graduating from Professional Children's School in Manhattan in 2002.

Asin Thottumkal

 

 Asin Thottumkal (Malayalam: അസിന്‍ തോട്ടുങ്കല്‍, Asin Tōṭṭuṅkal ?; born 26 October 1985), known mononymously as Asin, is an Indian film actress, model and stage performer who acts primarily in Bollywood and Kollywood.

Making her acting debut in Sathyan Anthikkad's Malayalam film Narendra Makan Jayakanthan Vaka (2001), Asin had her first commercial success with the Telugu film Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi in 2003, and won a Filmfare Best Telugu Actress Award for the film.

After a number of films, she received her second South Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her critically acclaimed performance in her second Tamil film, Ghajini (2005). She played the lead female roles in blockbusters such as the action comedy Varalaru (2006), the action thriller Pokkiri (2007) and the big budget production Dasavathaaram (2008). In late 2008, Asin made her début in Bollywood, with Ghajini, the remake of its Tamil namesake, subsequently winning the Film fare Best Female Debut Award.

 

Early life and background 

 Asin was born in Kochi, Kerala, India and attended Naval Public School from L.K.G.(Pre.K) through 10th standard (grade). She then attended St. Teresa's School in Kochi for her Plus Two education. After that she attended St. Teresa's College for Women in Kochi, a college affiliated with MG University, where she earned a Bachelors of Arts degree in English Literature.[2] Her father, Joseph Thottumkal originally from a Nasrani (Syro Malabar) family in Thodupuzha, managed several businesses. Her mother, Seline Thottumkal remains a surgeon, who moved settlements from Cochin to Chennai to Mumbai to live with her daughter. Asin has quoted that her name means "pure and without blemish". She claims that "the 'A' in her name is from Sanskrit meaning "without", and 'sin' from English".

Michelle Rodriguez

Mayte Michelle Rodriguez (born July 12, 1978), known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, S.W.A.T., Avatar, Machete and Battle: Los Angeles, as well as for her role as Ana Lucia Cortez in the television series Lost (2005–2006, 2009–2010)

 Early life

Rodriguez was born in San Antonio, Texas, the daughter of Carmen Milady (née Pared), a native of the Dominican Republic, and Rafael Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican who served in the United States Army. She has a total of ten siblings and half-siblings. She was partly raised by her devoutly religious maternal grandmother and was brought up as one of Jehovah's Witnesses (her mother's religion), though she has since abandoned that faith. Rodriguez moved to the Dominican Republic with her mother when she was eight and lived in Puerto Rico until the age of eleven, later settling in Jersey City, New Jersey. She dropped out of high school, but later earned her GED;[citation needed] in total she was expelled from five schools. Rodriguez briefly attended business school before quitting to pursue a career in acting, with the ultimate goal of becoming a writer and director.

 Career

Having run across an ad for an open casting call and attending her first audition, Rodriguez beat 350 other applicants to win her first role in the low-budget 2000 independent film, Girlfight. With her performance as Diana Guzman, a troubled teen who decides to channel her aggression by training to become a boxer, Rodriguez accumulated several awards and nominations for the role in independent circles, including major acting accolades from the National Board of Review, Deauville Film Festival, Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards, Las Vegas Film Critics Sierra Awards, and many others. The film itself took home a top prize at the Sundance and won Award of the Youth at the Cannes Film Festival.

Subsequently, she has had notable roles in other successful movies, including The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil, Blue Crush, and S.W.A.T.. In 2004, Rodriguez lent her voice to the video game Halo 2, playing a Marine. She also provided the voice of Liz Ricarro in the Cartoon Network series IGPX. From 2005 to 2006, she played tough cop Ana Lucia Cortez on the television series Lost during the show's second season (the character's first appearance was a flashback on season 1's finale, Exodus: Part 1), and returned for a cameo in the second episode of the show's fifth season The Lie in 2009 and again in the penultimate episode of the series What They Died For in 2010. In 2006, Rodriguez was featured in her own episode of G4's show Icons.

In 2008, she appeared in Battle in Seattle alongside Charlize Theron. Rodriguez next appeared in the fourth installment of the The Fast and the Furious franchise, which was titled simply Fast & Furious and released to theaters on April 3, 2009. Rodriguez starred in James Cameron's high-budget sci-fi adventure film Avatar, which was released to theaters on December 18, 2009. The film became the highest-grossing film in history and Rodriguez's most successful film to date.

She filmed Trópico de Sangre, an independent film based on the Dominican Republic's historic Mirabal sisters who were assassinated in 1960 by the Dominican dictator Trujillo for opposing his rule, the same year.

In 2010, Rodriguez appeared in Robert Rodriguez's Machete, which also co-starred Danny Trejo, Robert DeNiro and Steven Seagal. The film was opened to mostly positive reviews and earned $44 million in the box-office on a $10 million budget. In 2011, she appeared with Aaron Eckhart in the science fiction film Battle: Los Angeles which grossed over $200 million in the worldwide box ofiice, becoming a blockbuster success. 

Jessica Alba

Jessica Marie Alba (born April 28, 1981) is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994). Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel (2000–2002). Alba later appeared in various films including Honey (2003), Sin City (2005), Fantastic Four (2005), Into the Blue (2005), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Good Luck Chuck both in 2007.

Alba is considered a sex symbol and often generates media attention for her looks. She appears on the "Hot 100" section of Maxim and was voted number one on AskMen.com's list of "99 Most Desirable Women" in 2006, as well as "Sexiest Woman in the World" by FHM in 2007. The use of her image on the cover of the March 2006 Playboy sparked a lawsuit by her, which was later dropped. She has also won various awards for her acting, including the Choice Actress Teen Choice Award and Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television, and a Golden Globe nomination for her lead role in the television series Dark Angel.

Early life

Alba was born in Pomona, California to Catherine (née Jensen) and Mark Alba. Her mother is of Danish and French Canadian descent and her father is Mexican American. She has a younger brother, Joshua. Her father's Air Force career took the family to Biloxi, Mississippi and Del Rio, Texas, before settling back in California when she was nine years old. Alba described her family as being a "very conservative family – a traditional, Catholic, Latin American family" and herself as very liberal; she says she had identified herself as a "feminist" as early as age five.

Alba's early life was marked by a multitude of physical maladies. During childhood, she suffered from collapsed lungs twice, had pneumonia 4–5 times a year, as well as a ruptured appendix and a tonsillar cyst. Alba became isolated from other children at school, because she was in the hospital so often due to her illnesses that no one knew her well enough to befriend her. Alba has also had asthma since she was a child. Alba has said that her family's frequent moving also contributed to her isolation from her peers. She has acknowledged that she has suffered from obsessive–compulsive disorder during her childhood. Alba graduated from high school at age 16, and she subsequently attended the Atlantic Theater Company.

Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan  (née Aishwarya Rai, Tulu: ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯಾ ರೈ; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian  actress and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained fame after winning the Miss World title in 1994. During her career, Rai has acted in over 40 movies in Hindi, English, Tamil and Bengali, which include a number of international productions.

Often cited by the media as the most beautiful woman in the world, Rai made her movie debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar (1997) and had her first commercial success in the Tamil movie Jeans (1998). She came to the attention of Bollywood in the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her performance in the film won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. In 2002 she appeared in Bhansali's next project, Devdas (2002), for which she won her second Filmfare Best Actress Award.

After a low phase in her career during 2003–2005, she appeared in the blockbuster Dhoom 2 (2006), which turned out to be her biggest Bollywood commercial success. She later appeared in films like Guru (2007) and Jodhaa Akbar (2008), which were commercially and critically successful. Rai has thus established herself as one of the leading contemporary actresses in the Hindi film industry.

While pursuing her studies in architecture, Rai began modelling on the side. In the 1994 Miss India contest, she won the second place behind Sushmita Sen, and was crowned Miss India World. She went on to win the Miss World title the same year, where she also won the Miss Photogenic  award. She abandoned her academic education after winning the pageant and spent one year reigning as Miss World in London. Rai then started working as a professional model and then moved on to her current profession as an actress.

Early life

Rai was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj Rai and Vrinda Rai. She has one elder brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy and has also co-produced one of Rai's movies, Dil Ka Rishta (2003). At an early age her parents moved to Mumbai where she attended the Arya Vidya Mandir high school in Santa Cruz. Rai then entered Jai Hind College at Churchgate for one year, and then moved to Ruparel College in Matunga to finish her HSC studies. She planned to become an architect, and started studying architecture, but gave up her education to pursue a career in modelling.

She can communicate in several languages, including her mother tongue Tulu,as well as Hindi, English, Marathi and Tamil.

Miss World

While pursuing her studies in architecture, Rai began modelling on the side. In the 1994 Miss India contest, she won the second place behind Sushmita Sen, and was crowned Miss India World. She went on to win the Miss World title the same year, where she also won the Miss Photogenic award. She abandoned her academic education after winning the pageant and spent one year reigning as Miss World in London. Rai then started working as a professional model and then moved on to her current profession as an actress.

Personal life

Aishwarya Rai with her husband Abhishek Bachchan at the IIFA Awards (2007).

Aishwarya is Hindu and deeply religious. Her favourite temple is a 200-year-old Lord Ganesha Temple.

In 1999 Aishwarya began dating Bollywood actor Salman Khan; their relationship was often reported in the media until the couple separated in 2001. Rai cited "abuse (verbal, physical and emotional), infidelity and indignity" on the part of Khan as a reason for ending their relationship. However, in a 2009 Times of India article titled "Salman didn’t hit Ash!" Khan denied ever beating her: "It's not true that I hit a woman.

Rai is married to actor Abhishek Bachchan. After much speculation concerning their relationship, their engagement was announced on 14 January 2007. The announcement was later confirmed by his father Amitabh Bachchan. The couple got married on 20 April 2007 according to traditional Hindu rites of the South Indian Bunt community, to which she belongs. Token North Indian and Bengali ceremonies were also performed. The wedding took place in a private ceremony at the Bachchan residence "Prateeksha" in Juhu, Mumbai. Though the wedding was a private affair intended for the Bachchan and Rai families and friends, the involvement of the media turned it into a national extravaganza. They have been cited as a supercouple in the Indian media. Rai has been very close to her family and lived with them in Bandra, Mumbai until her marriage.