Elisha Cuthbert

 Elisha Ann Cuthbert (born November 30, 1982) is a Canadian film and television actress. Cuthbert is known as the former co-host of the Canadian children's television series Popular Mechanics for Kids. In 1998, she had her first film role in Airspeed. She followed this in 2003 with a role in Old School. Her most prominent role is as Kim Bauer in the American action-thriller television series 24. She stars as Alex Kerkovich on the ABC comedy series Happy Endings.

Early life

Cuthbert was born in Calgary, Alberta, the daughter of Patricia, a homemaker, and Kevin, an automotive design engineer. She has two younger siblings, Jonathan and Lee-Ann, and she 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 17 to pursue an acting career.

Career

Early career

When she was 9, 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 on the show. 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.
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 Hollywood, Cuthbert was cast in the role of Kim Bauer, daughter of federal agent Jack Bauer in the television series 24. She appeared in the show's first three seasons, but not in its fourth;^{[citation needed]} she guest-starred in two episodes in the fifth season. She also reprised her role as Kim Bauer in 24: The Game and again guest-starred in five episodes of the seventh season and in two episodes of the eighth season.

2002–2005: Commercial success

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, featured her first lead role. She plays ex–porn star Danielle opposite Emile Hirsch. Cuthbert had 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 Business, – although Cuthbert claims her character was not directly based on Rebecca De Mornay's character. 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 the cast, 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. 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, critics tended to think Cuthbert "fares the best." Though receiving negative reviews the film was a box office success. 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. The Quiet, 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, starring opposite Christian Slater. The film was in limited release in 2007, and it was released on DVD in early 2008.

 

2008–present

In 2008, Cuthbert appeared in My Sassy Girl, a remake of a Korean film, starring alongside Jesse Bradford. Her next film is the family comedy The Six Wives of Henry Lefay with actor Tim Allen, in which she plays his daughter. She starred in the Canadian miniseries Guns. She appeared as a guest judge in season two, episode two of Project Runway Canada, where designers were challenged to create a "party dress" for Cuthbert.
Cuthbert reprised her character Kim Bauer in the seventh season of 24 for five episodes. She also was scheduled to star in 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, which was based on a British series starring Rashida Jones and Stephen Moyer, has since been canceled.
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.
In December 2009, ABC announced Cuthbert had joined the cast of The Forgotten in a recurring role as Maxine Denver, a Chicago professional. As of 2011, Cuthbert stars in the ABC ensemble comedy series Happy Endings with Zachary Knighton, Casey Wilson, Adam Pally, Damon Wayans Jr. and Eliza Coupe.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Dancing on the Moon	Sarah
1997	Mail to the Chief	Madison Osgood
1997	Nico the Unicorn	Carolyn Price
1998	Airspeed	Nicole Stone
1999	Believe	Katherine Winslowe
1999	Time at the Top	Susan Shawson
2000	Who Gets the House?	Emily Reece
2001	Lucky Girl	Katlin Palmerson	CTV
2003	Love Actually	American Goddess Carol
2003	Old School	Darcie Goldberg
2004	The Girl Next Door	Danielle (aka "D")
2005	House of Wax	Carly Jones
2006	The Quiet	Nina Deer
2007	Captivity	Jennifer Tree
2007	He Was a Quiet Man	Vanessa
2008	My Sassy Girl	Jordan Roark
2008	Guns	Frances Dett
2009	The Six Wives of Henry Lefay	Barbara Lefay/Barby

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997–2000	Popular Mechanics for Kids	Herself
1999–2000	Are You Afraid of the Dark?	Megan
2001	Largo Winch	Abby
2004	MADtv	Herself and Kim Bauer	24 parody
2001–2004, 2006, 2009–2010	24	Kim Bauer	79 episodes
2010	The Forgotten	Maxine Denver	6 episodes
2011–present	Happy Endings	Alex Kerkovich	26 episodes

Music video

Year	Title	Artist	Role
2005	Perfect Situation	Weezer	Lead
2006	Nothing in This World	Paris Hilton	Popular girl

[edit] Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2001	Gemini Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series	Lucky Girl	Won
2003	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Breakout Star – Female	24	Nominated
2005	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Action/Adventure/Thriller	House of Wax	Nominated
2005	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Rumble	House of Wax	Nominated
2007	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Horror/Thriller	Captivity	Nominated
2003	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	24	Nominated
2005	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	24	Nominated
2005	MTV Movie Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance, Female	The Girl Next Door	Nominated
2005	MTV Movie Awards	Best Kiss	The Girl Next Door	Nominated