Rachael Leigh Cook was born on 4 October 1979, in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA, to mother JoAnn, a cooking instructor and weaver, and father Thomas H. Cook, a social worker and former stand-up comedian, of Italian descent. She is an actress, voice artist, producer and former model, most famous for her role in films “She’s All That” and “Josie and the Pussycats”, and in the television series “Into the West” and “Perception”.
A famous actress, how wealthy is Rachel Leigh Cook? Sources state that Cook has acquired a net worth over $1.5 million, as of mid-2016. Her wealth has mostly been established during her acting career.
Rachael Leigh Cook Net Worth $1.5 Million
Cook was educated at Clara Barton Open School, Laurel Springs School and Minneapolis South High School. She started her career as a child print model when she was ten years old, appearing in Target ads and on Milk-Bone boxes.
She made her feature film debut in 1995, appearing as Mary-Ann Spier in the film adaptation of the popular children’s book series “The Baby-Sitters Club”. Her next memorable appearance was as Becky Thatcher in the film “Tom and Huck”, in the same year. 1997 saw Cook taking the lead role of 15-year-old rape victim Emma Baker in the television film “Country Justice”, while also appearing in the film “The House of Yes” and in another TV film “True Women”. Her net worth was already well established.
Cook came into the national spotlight appearing in the 1998 PSA ad This Is Your Brain on Drugs, simulating how the brain is affected by heroin, by smashing eggs with a frying pan and destroying the kitchen. Several film roles followed in 1998, however, her breakthrough role came the following year, when she was cast as the nerd-turned-high-school sweetheart Laney Boggs in the hit romantic comedy “She’s All That”, which is considered the most financially successful film of her career. Cook’s performance brought her several teen-oriented awards, and considerably added to her net worth. The same year she appeared in the Elijah Wood film “The Bumblebee Flies Anyway” and in several episodes of the television series “Dawson’s Creek”.
After taking several film roles in 2000 and 2001, such as in the Sylvester Stallone film “Get Carter” and Ashton Kutcher’s “Texas Rangers”, Cook was cast as Josie McCoy in the 2001 musical comedy film “Josie and the Pussycats”, gaining additional fame. She went on to appear in the films “29 Palms”, “Scorched”, “11:14” and “American Crime”. In 2005 she joined the cast of Spielberg’s miniseries “Into the West” as Clara Wheeler, and also had a recurring role in the series “Las Vegas”.
2007 was also a productive year for Cook, as she appeared in the films “Descent”, “Nancy Drew”, “The Final Season” and “Blonde Ambition”. In the years since, she has made a number of film and television appearances, including the films “The Lodger”, “Falling Up”, “Vampire”, “The Family Tree” and “Red Sky”. As for the television, she had a recurring role as school teacher Abigail Lytar in the 2008 series “Psych” and as an FBI agent Kate Moretti in the series “Perception” which aired from 2012 to 2015. All have contributed to her wealth.
Cook has also done various voice-over roles; she voiced the character of Chelsea Cunningham in the 2000 animated film “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” and the series “Batman Beyond”, and of Tifa Lockhart in the 2005 animated film “Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children”. She has had recurring voice-over roles in the series “Robot Chicken” and “Titan Maximum”, while also providing the voice for several video games, including “Yakuza”, two “Kingdom Hearts” and three “Star Wars:The Old Republic” games, significantly improving her wealth. Cook has also been the owner of a production company, Ben’s Sister Productions.
Aside from her involvement in films and television projects, Cook has also appeared in music videos, such as in New Found Glory’s “Dressed to Kill” and Daniel Powter’s “Love You Lately”. She was the cover girl for the USA issue of FHM magazine in 2000, and was listed as one of “102 Sexiest Women in the World” by Stuff magazine.
Speaking about her private life, Cook has been married to actor Daniel Gillies since 2004. The couple has two children and the family resides in Los Angeles.
In 2011, the Obama administration selected the actress as an advocate for Arts and Education in the Champions for Change program. The following year she began awarding scholarships to children and youth, helping them to pay for various school programs and fees.
YoungStar Awards (1997), Teen Choice Awards (1999), Kids' Choice Awards, Young Hollywood Awards, Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Western Heritage Awards (2006)
Nominations
MTV Movie Awards (1999), Teen Choice Awards (2001)
Movies
"The Baby-Sitters Club" (1995), "Texas Rangers" (2001), "The Hairy Bird" (1998), "She's All That" (1999), "Josie and the Pussycats" (2001), "Stealing Paradise" (2011), "Psych" (2008-2010)
TV Shows
“Dressed to Kill”, “Love You Lately”, "Into the West (2005), Perception" (2012-2015), "Robot Chicken" (2006-2014), "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children", "Star Wars: The Old Republic" (2013-2014)
You know, we have to take these characters who, granted, have their separate personalities but, on a lot of levels, are pretty two-dimensional and make them into people with flaws, with insecurities.
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Once I tried highlighting my brother's hair, but I think I mixed it wrong. It was as if someone poured kerosene on his head.
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I always say that even if this were the worst movie in the world, I'd do it again because it was such a good time.
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On Josie and the Pussycats (2001); I'm learning to play guitar. It's very difficult, but I'm determined to do it right so I don't make anybody mad.
You wouldn't recognize me from one project to the next.
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Acting just sort of happened and I found that I loved it. It was such a challenge.
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Sometimes I'm just a disaster! Other times it seems like I'm one of the most normal people I know.
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Hours fly by while I'll just be in my apartment, and somehow it will be messy later. I'll clean it up and eat cereal and watch Ricki Lake and call friends I haven't talked to.
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When I came into the business, things changed a lot, and my life was in a real state of flux.
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My height was never a factor.
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I would love to work with Rosario Dawson & Tara Reid again. We were a team on the set of Josie and the Pussycats (2001), our chemistry was great from the first day of filming & you don't really expect that when you work with new people. I still call them everyday, like sisters to me!
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I'd love to do a sequel. Even if it was 'Ernest Goes to Mars 3'- if these girls were in it, I'd do it in a minute". [Referring to Josie and the Pussycats (2001) in an interview she gave to TV Guide (Issue #2505, 31 March 2001; article title "What's new, Pussycats? by Josh Rottenberg)]
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I'm not small, I'm space-efficient.
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Fact
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Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 35, a son named Theodore Vigo Sullivan Gillies on April 4, 2015 in Los Angeles at 5 am weighed in at 8 lbs., 14 oz., and measured 20.5 inches. Child's father is her husband, Daniel Gillies.
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Gave birth to her 1st child at age 33, a daughter named Charlotte Easton Gillis on September 28, 2013. Child's father is her husband, Daniel Gillies.
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(August 14, 2004) Married her boyfriend Daniel Gillies after less than a year of dating.
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With Kal Penn, appeared at Keene State College on November 3rd to campaign for Barack Obama. [November 2008]
Her dream role is Kate Nolan from "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn".
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Did a school senior paper entitled "Politics, Shmolotics, and 10 other reasons I'll never be President".
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Has a toothbrush collection at her parents' home in Minneapolis.
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Has two cats at home in Minnesota named Beau and Skippy.
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Had little interest in modeling by the time she was 15 and tried to focus more on school of which she became fonder.
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Owns a Sports utility vehicle.
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Her guitar teachers were Fast Freddie & Phil X.
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Was considered for the role of Rogue in the X-Men movies but turned the part down due to having work with CGI costumes and effects. The role then went to Anna Paquin, Rachael's fellow co-star from She's All That (1999).
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After reading 'R. Lee Fleming Jr''s script for She's All That (1999) Rachael began to like the storyline more and more, soon after she was asked to play the role of Laney Boggs. She decided to take the lead role.
Ranked #26 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002).
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There is a Minneapolis rock and blues band called "Budding Hollywood Starlet" that is named in honor of her and other budding Hollywood starlets.
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Her mother was a cooking instructor and is currently a weaver.
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In early 2001, she met actor Ryan Reynolds and the two immediately hit it off. However, she had to fly to England shortly after to film Blow Dry (2001). Ryan ended up suprising her, pulling out of his filming schedule and following her all the way to London. It was a success and they ended up dating for a year.
Noisy underground British artist 'Firexit' has created two songs especially for Rachael Leigh Cook. The two songs are called 'This is for Rachael Leigh Cook' and a rare acoustic track called 'Dear Rachael'. In a interview, Gareth Gerrard (aka Firexit) was asked about the songs, he replied "Rachael is everything, I love her very much".
Owns her own production company called Ben's Sister Productions.
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Was in a memorable anti-drug commercial where she smashes an egg with a frying pan ("this is your brain on heroin") and proceeds to trash the room with the frying pan ("this is your family, friends, career, etc."). Arguably one of the few effective anti-drug spots ever made.
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Was a student of the Laurel Springs School, a school for young actors who can't attend a more regular school due to time commitments.
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Is a vegetarian.
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Was a print model for 5 years before becoming an actress.