Amanda Peet was
born January 11, 1972, in
New York City,
NY. The younger of two daughters,
Amanda was raised by her father
Charles, a lawyer, and mother
Penny, a social worker.
Although it was
clear from the start that
Amanda had the
showbiz flair after
she jumped on a
stage in the middle of a
play,
She majored in history at
Columbia University. It was there that a
drama professor encouraged her to audition for
Uta Hagen, an acting teacher.
With the
urge to study
drama and try her hand at acting,
Amanda spent 4 years under the dramatic training of
Uta Hagen after
she graduated
University in 1994. In the meantime,
She gained experience by performing in the
play,
Awake & Sing.
Amanda accepted whichever acting gigs
she was offered.
She was finally
cast in an episode of
NYPD Blue, and had a recurring gig in
Central Park West.
she also appeared in
Law & Order and
The Single Guy.
she finally received her film debut in 1995's
Animal's Room, and
bit parts in
she's the One, with
Jennifer Aniston, and
One Fine Day, with
Michelle Pfeiffer.
Virginity followed a year later.
In 1997,
Amanda appeared in
Seinfeld's "The
Summer of
George" episode, as well as the sitcom
Spin City. Roles in independent
features were heading her way, namely
Grind and
Touch Me, and of course, they offered no more than experience and measly paychecks.
Amanda was able to add more films to her resume including
1999,
Southie, and
Origin of the Species ring a
bell. 1998's
Playing By Heart was already a
career step up considering its star-filled
cast of
Gillian Anderson and
Sean Connery.
By 1999,
Amanda was
cast in the WB romantic series,
Jack & Jill. Although
Amanda wasn't the original
beauty set to
play the masculine-monikered "
Jack," Amanda proved to be the
perfect fit.
Jack & Jill has been praised with positive reviews and has gained quite a fan
base. This was undoubtedly the role
Amanda needed to boost her career, as the short-lived
Partners certainly wasn't.
And a string of sexy movie roles didn't
hurt her reputation either, as seen in 1999's
Body Shots and
Whipped, in which
she stars as a dominant
tease who turns
the world of three men upside-down.
After a role in
Two Ninas,
Jump, and the comedy
Isn't she Great,
Amanda gained more recognition as a film actress in her role as a dental hygienist in
The Whole Nine Yards, starring
Bruce Willis. Her topless scene was certainly the film's highlight.
Amanda practically reprised her role of the domineering girlfriend from
hell in 2001's
Saving Silverman.
Amanda can still be seen as
Jacqueline "
Jack"
Barrett in
Jack & Jill but
Amanda has
nothing but roles in upcoming high-profile films, such as
Changing Lanes, with
Ben Affleck and Samuel L.
Jackson,
High Crimes, with
Ashley Judd and
Morgan Freeman, and
Igby Goes Down.
Named
One of
People magazine's 50 Most
Beautiful Women in
the world,
Amanda is a
One-woman
man to
actor Brian Van Holt, her
Whipped co-star.
; "Amanda Peet")
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