IntroductionName : Amanda Peet
Date of Birth : 11 January 1972
Place of Birth : New York, USA
Height : 5' 6
Education : Friends Seminary, New York;
Columbia University, New York.
Nationality : American
Profession : actor
Claim to Fame : as Jacqueline Jack Barrett in the WB series Jack & Jill (1999)
Biography :
Amanda Peet was born on 11 January 1972 in New York, USA. She was born to Charles, a lawyer, and Penny, a social worker. Amanda was born to be the part of the showbiz world and be a star one day. this was quite evident fro incident when she jumped onstage during a play. She started to work for her career from the tender age of eight. She started taking lessons in acting.
After graduating from Manhattan Friends High School, a Quaker institution, she went to Columbia University. She knew acting was her future. It was while she was majoring in history at Columbia University, that a drama professor convinced her to audition for acting teacher Uta Hagen, with whom she would later go on to study for a four year period; during which time, she participated in the off-Broadway revival of Clifford Odets' "Awake and Sing".
Meanwhile she moved on to her ow apartment. To support her living she started working as a waitress. She began serving at restaurant diners while struggling to make it. Along with this the commercial for the Skittles candy,supported her for more than two years with its $75,000 in residual returns.
Her small screen presentation includes "One Life to Live", a two-episode guest role on NBC's "Law & Order" in 1995 and an appearance the following year in "The Single Guy". But prior to her regular starring turn in The WB's twentysomething romantic comedy series "Jack & Jill" (1999-2001), Peet's best-remembered TV role was likely that of Lanette, one of Jerry's especially demanding girlfriends-of-the-week on a 1997 episode of NBC's monumentally popular sitcom "Seinfeld". That same year, she gave a disarming performance as the hippie-like Julia, a young concerned teacher and temporary guardian of abused child "Ellen Foster" (Jena Malone) in the moving CBS TV-movie adaptation of Kaye Gibbons' novel. Before taking on the role of New York City's somewhat unpolished new arrival Jacqueline 'Jack' Barrett on "Jack & Jill", she disappeared from the small screen for some time while undertaking film projects.
She filmed a featured role in the independent drama "Grind", starring Billy Crudup and Adrienne Shelly. The film wouldn't see release until 1997, so film audiences weren't introduced to the actress until her memorable supporting role as Jennifer Aniston's sister in 1996's "She's The One". The following year, Peet took on a featured role in the independent ensemble comedy "1999", set at a New Year's Eve party, and the went on to appear as Donnie Wahlberg's jilted ex-girlfriend in the gritty Boston-set drama "Southie" (1998). She impressed as co-star of the independent "Origin of the Species" and cut a surprisingly strong and sympathetic figure as an actress and aerobics instructor who is diagnosed with HIV in the formulaic drama "Touch Me" (both 1998). Peet would next take a small and uncharacteristically malicious role as the bewitched Sean Patrick Flanery's former girlfriend in the 1999 Sarah Michelle Gellar starrer "Simply Irresistible". Her busy filming schedule from 1998 on led to a spate of late 1999-early 2000 releases featuring the young up and comer. Among them was "Body Shots", a "Rashomon"-inspired ensemble piece chronicling different takes on a wild night by a group of eight young partyers. While the film was disappointingly executed, Peet's performance as the down-to-earth Jane (again opposite Flanery) made the character especially relatable, and gave audiences a peek at her notable acting capabilities.
"Isn't She Great?" (2000), brought her a new line of success. It starred Bette Midler as the popular novelist and socialite, and Nathan Lane. She was also featured alongside Skeet Ulrich and Russell Wong in the fact-based computer hacker thriller "Takedown" (lensed 1998). Not forsaking smaller independents, Peet acted in the suicide-themed black comedy "Jump" (premiered at the 1999 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival), and had a starring turn as a Nina, a blonde beauty vying with another captivating Nina (Cara Buono) for the affections of a writer ("Body Shots" co-star Ron Livingston) in the acclaimed 1999 festival-run feature "Two Ninas". Something of a fixture on the independent film scene, Peet later starred in "Whipped" (2000), playing a woman simultaneously carrying on relationships with three self-absorbed playboys, much to their surprise. While the film itself performed dismally, Peet met her boyfriend Brian Van Holt on the set. Despite its independent status, "Whipped" was given a solid amount of mainstream marketing, and Peet was praised for a game performance in the face of an admittedly weak script.
After her small role in "Isn't She Great", Peet was finally recognized by critics and audiences alike in "The Whole Nine Yards" starring as a dental hygienist with mob ties opposite Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry. Though the film itself did not fare particularly well, Peet was praised for holding her own against Hollywood heavy-hitter Bruce Willis, which certainly didn't hurt her when it came time to audition for "Saving Silverman", which placed her opposite Jason Biggs while he was still reeling from the success of "American Pie".
In 2002, Peet played a considerably less vicious wife in "Changing Lanes" with Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson, and won no small amount of praise for her performance as the heroin-addled mistress of Kieran Culkin's character's godfather in "Igby Goes Down". Peet would go on to star opposite film veterans Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson in Nancy Meyers' "Something's Gotta Give", in which she stars as Nicholson's scandalously young girlfriend, as well as James Mangold's psychological thriller "Identity" with John Cusack.
In 2004, Peet is slated to appear in the sequel to "The Whole Nine Yards" (aptly titled "The Whole Ten Yards", and act alongside Josh Brolin, Chloe Sevigny, and Gene Saks in a yet unnamed Woody Allen feature.
