Rachael Leigh Cook

Born: October 4, 1979

Where: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

The former model is best known for the role of ugly duckling Laney Boggs in the teen comedy She's All That.

The daughter of a stand-up comedian and cooking teacher, she launched her career as a model aged 10 and appeared in campaigns for Milk-Bone.

She also appeared in a now-famous anti-drug TV spot in which, armed with a frying pan, she trashed a kitchen to show the disastrous effects of heroin.

At 14, her modelling agency sent her to read for the short 26 Summer Street and she moved to LA where she landed a lead role in The Baby-Sitter's Club.

Dividing her time between Minneapolis and LA, she was cast as the younger incarnation of Posey Parker's character in The House of Yes.

In 1999, she landed her big break opposite Freddie Prinz Junior in the Pygmalion themed She's All That.

The following year she played a troubled teen in Sylvester Stallone's lamentable remake of Get Carter but was on firmer ground as a computer programmer in Antitrust.

After the British comedy Blow Dry with Alan Rickman, she played the part of an aspiring rock singer in the live-action version of the cult cartoon series Josie and the Pussycats.

Subsequent outings have included the thriller Tangled and the heist caper Scorched with Woody Harrelson.

However, her choices have not recently been inspired with appearances in the forgettable The Big Empty and My First Wedding.