Shannyn Sossamon

Born: October 1979
Where: Hawaii, USA

Sossomon first caught the eye of a casting director while DJ-ing at a birthday party for Gwyneth Paltrow.

Six auditions later Sossamon, who claims French, Hawaiian, Dutch, Irish, Filipino and German origins, landed the part of Jocelyn in A Knight's Tale.

After growing up in Reno, Nevada, a 17-year-old Sossamon left high school after graduation and headed to Los Angeles for a career as a dancer.

Alternating between attending Dance Unlimited and amateur DJing, she was asked to help out a friend by spinning the discs at Paltrow's party.

She was spotted by The Usual Suspects casting director Francine Maisler who introduced her to A Knight's Tale director Brian Helgeland.

She went on to play the lead opposite Josh Hartnett in 40 Days and 40 Nights and appear in Roger Avary's adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel Rules of Attraction.

In 2002, she starred in the thriller The Sin Eater alongside A Knight's Tale co-star Heath Ledger.

Subsequent outings included the serial killer thriller Chasing Ghosts and Shane Black's noirish comedy thriller Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

She memorably played a ghost alongside Patrick Fugit in the suicide comedy Wristcutters: A Love Story and appeared in the Cameron Diaz/Kate Winslet rom-com The Holiday.

Recent work includes the horror-thriller Catacombs and the Japanese horror remake One Missed Call.