Elisha Cuthbert

Elisha Ann Cuthbert (born 30 June 1982) is a Canadian actress.

As a child actress, she made her first televised appearance as an extra in the horror-themed series for children Are You Afraid of the Dark? and co-hosted Popular Mechanics for Kids.

She made her feature-film debut in the 1997 Canadian family drama Dancing on the Moon.

Cuthbert landed a role in a feature film in the family drama Dancing on the Moon (1997).

She appeared in other Canadian family films and in an airplane thriller, Airspeed.

Her first major lead role came in the 1998 drama film Airspeed (No Control) alongside Joe Mantegna.

In 2000, she graduated from Centennial Regional High School and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 17.

As a child, she participated in Girl Guide programs as a member of Girl Guides of Canada.

When she was nine, Cuthbert began modeling children's clothing while appearing as a foot model.

She made her first televised appearance as an extra in Are You Afraid of the Dark?, a horror-themed series for children; she later became a regular on the show.

Cuthbert co-hosted Popular Mechanics for Kids with Jay Baruchel, filmed in Montreal.

Her reporting captured the attention of Hillary Clinton, who invited her to the White House.

In 2000, Cuthbert co-starred in Believe, a Canadian film with Ricky Mabe.

The following year she starred in the Canadian television movie, Lucky Girl, and was awarded a Gemini Award for her performance.

Soon after moving to Hollywood, she was cast as 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; 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.

She began her Hollywood film career with small roles in Old School, which grossed $87 million.

Cuthbert next appeared in Love Actually, which earned $246.4 million worldwide.

In 2001, she starred in the movie Lucky Girl, for which she received her first award, the Gemini Awards.

After moving to Hollywood in 2001, she was cast as Kim Bauer in the series 24, her first big role in an American production, alongside Kiefer Sutherland.

For this role, she was nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards twice.

In 2003, she played Darcie Goldberg in the college comedy Old School and Carol-Anne in Love Actually. Cuthbert received wide recognition for her breakout role as Danielle in the 2004 teen comedy film The Girl Next Door, being nominated for Best Breakthrough Performance at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, and for her next role as Carly Jones in the 2005 House of Wax, for which she received two nominations for the Teen Choice Awards, including Best Actress: Action/Adventure/Thriller.

Her first break in a major film role was in 2004, The Girl Next Door.

She played an ex–porn star, Danielle, opposite Emile Hirsch.

She had reservations about taking the part, but director Luke Greenfield persuaded her to accept the role.

Cuthbert did research for the film speaking to adult actresses from Wicked Pictures and Vivid Entertainment.

The film was compared to Risky Business although Cuthbert said her character was not directly based on Rebecca De Mornay's. Critics were divided; some praised the film for boldness, while others, notably Roger Ebert, called it gimmicky and exploitative.

Ebert wrote that he saw Cuthbert's character as "quite the most unpleasant character I have seen in some time."

The View London said: "Cuthbert is surprisingly good, too – aside from being drop dead gorgeous, she also proves herself a capable comic actress in the Cameron Diaz mould".

Cuthbert won two nominations for the MTV Movie Awards for Best Kiss and Best Breakthrough Performance.

Subsequently, Cuthbert appeared in the lead role in the drama The Quiet (2005) and the horror Captivity (2007).

This role, along with Are You Afraid of the Dark?, 24 series and House of Wax, established her as a scream queen.

From 2011 to 2013, Cuthbert starred as Alex Kerkovich in the three seasons of the ABC comedy Happy Endings.

In 2013, Maxim magazine named her "TV's most beautiful woman".

Elisha Cuthbert was born in Calgary, Alberta, the daughter of Kevin, an automotive design engineer and Patricia, a housewife.

She grew up in Greenfield Park, Quebec.

From 2016 to 2020, she had a recurring role as Abby Phillips on the Netflix series The Ranch, before becoming a main cast member in the series' second season.

She received praise for her performance on the Canadian comedy series Jann (2020), being nominated for the Canadian Screen Awards for Best Performance in a guest role.

Cuthbert has appeared in numerous magazines, such as Maxim, Complex, and FHM.