Kate Bosworth

Born: 2 January 1983
Where: Los Angeles, California, USA

As a 14-year-old champion horse-rider she kicked off her film career on a whim when she sent casting directors a Christmas card photo in lieu of a professional headshot.

Her experience had been limited to singing at county fairs and a school production of Annie...but she landed her first acting role in The Horse Whisperer.

Credited as Catherine Bosworth, she played the ill-fated best friend of Kristin Scott Thomas' daughter.

After finishing school, she featured as the bratty sister of the protagonist in the children's film The Newcomers.

Bosworth made her TV debut on high school series Young Americans (the only real-life student acting in the show) and had a small part in Denzel Washington's footie film, Remember The Titans.

In 2002, she starred in female surfing movie Blue Crush and appeared in the cast of an edgy film adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis' The Rules of Attraction.

Her personal life also came under the spotlight when she was linked to Val Kilmer, her co-star in the brutal drama Wonderland.

In 2004, she starred in the comedy Win A Date With Tad Hamilton and played Sandra Dee opposite Kevin Spacey's Bobby Darin in Beyond The Sea.