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Bilson was born in LA, California to
a Jewish American father, writer/director/producer Danny Bilson, and a
Philadelphia-born Italian American mother, sex therapist Janice Stango.
Her father comes from a show business family; her great-grandfather,
George Bilson, was the head of the trailer department at RKO Pictures,
while her Brooklyn-born great-grandmother, Hattie Bilson, was a
screenwriter and her grandfather, Bruce Bilson, is a film director.
Bilson's parents divorced during her childhood, and in 1997, her father
remarried Heather Medway, an actress and the mother of Bilson's
half-sister Hattie (born December 19, 2001).
Bilson has been noted as having a "self-destructive, rebellious period"
during her teen years. When she was thirteen, she and a group of her
brother's friends were involved in a car accident, a head-on collision
with another car. As a result, Bilson was unconscious for a few days, had
a scar above her right eye, and sometimes suffers from migraines and
memory loss; she has stated that the experience "changed" her, encouraging
her to "stop... getting into trouble" and stopping her from "going down
that road".
Bilson graduated from Walter Reed Middle School in 1996 and from Notre
Dame High School in 1999. During her time at Notre Dame, she appeared in
productions of Bye Bye Birdie, Once Upon a Mattress and The Crucible, and
appeared on stage together with Katharine McPhee, who attended the same
school and would later be a finalist on American Idol.
Bilson attended Grossmont College in San Diego, but dropped out after one
year, taking her father's advice to pursue a professional acting career
and making several appearances in commercials, including advertisements
for Raisin Bran and Pepto-Bismol. She made her screen acting debut in
early 2003, appearing in episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 8 Simple
Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, and in the short film, Unbroken.
Bilson was subsequently cast in The O.C., which debuted in August of 2003.
Her character, Summer Roberts, was initially intended to appear in only a
few episodes, but became a series regular after a successful run, as
Bilson's on-screen romance with Seth Cohen (Adam Brody) became a noted
aspect of the series.
Bilson with Adam Brody on The O.C.As a result of the success of The O.C.,
Bilson has become well-known among teenage audiences. At the 2005 Teen
Choice Awards, Bilson collected three awards - "Choice Hottie Female",
"Choice TV Actress (Drama)" and "Best Onscreen TV Chemistry" (jointly won
with Adam Brody). In 2005, Maxim magazine named her sixth in their annual
"Hot 100 List"; in 2006, the publication awarded her #14. The UK edition
of FHM Magazine named her 28th in the 2006 100 Sexiest Women in the World
list, while the US Edition Ranked her 77th in 2005. Bilson was also named
one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in 2006 People magazine.
Bilson's first film role was in The Last Kiss, a romantic comedy/drama
also starring Zach Braff and Jacinda Barrett. In the film, which opened on
September 15, 2006, Bilson plays a college student who seduces Braff's
character. Bilson had long wanted to work with Braff, having admired the
film Garden State, which he directed and starred in. A body double was
used for the film's sexual scene between Bilson and Braff's characters, as
Bilson specified that she "feel really strong[ly]" about not appearing in
a nude scene. One review of the film noted that Bilson played the role
with "surprising depth", although another critic described her role as
"Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction as an airhead valley girl with a hot
bod".
Bilson has stated that she prefers acting in feature films to appearing on
television, and that she would like the kind of roles "that Natalie
Portman and Scarlett Johansson are offered". She has specified that though
she is "grateful" for the success of The O.C., she feels that the show "is
over" and that she is "ready to move on" to film roles. In September of
2006, unconfirmed reports surfaced that Bilson was linked to star in a
film version of the comic book character Wonder Woman; Bilson has stated
that these reports were untrue. These reports spawned solely from a Wonder
Woman costume she wore in an episode of The O.C.
In late 2006, Bilson was cast in the role of Millie in Doug Liman's
thriller Jumper, as the replacement for actress Teresa Palmer; Bilson
began filming the role in October of that year. The film is scheduled for
a February 2008 release. Rachel will also appear in friend Josh Schwartz's
new NBC comedy, Chuck.
Bilson began dating her The O.C. co-star, Adam Brody in 2003. In 2005,
Brody gave Bilson a pit bull, Penny Lane, as a birthday present. The
couple later adopted another dog, Thurmen Murmen. The two split in
December 2006. She is close friends with Mischa Barton.
Rachel Bilson has been recognized by several media sources as being a
"fashion junkie" She has described herself as having a "vintage" sense of
style, and noted Kate Moss and Diane Keaton as inspirations. Bilson enjoys
watching television game shows, especially Jeopardy!, and has stated that
if she were not acting, she would be a pre-school teacher. Her favorite
designers are Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and Chanel. Bilson has turned
down requests to appear seminude in magazines, specifying that she feels
that her body "is sacred" and "not there for the whole world to see".
However, she has been featured in Stuff magazine. She currently resides in
Los Angeles, California. |
