Piper Perabo This talented just-turned-thirty actress has a somewhat unusual name, and is not averse to taking unusual roles as well. Piper Perabo, the blonde beauty with a million-dollar smile, is a film actress hailing from Dallas, Texas, although she spent the majority of her early years in New Jersey. She was born to parents, George William Perabo and Mary Charlotte Ulland, on October 31, 1976, and has two brothers, Noah Perabo and Adam Perabo, who are also noted actors. After high school, Perabo decided to study acting in university, and in 1998 she graduated from Ohio University with her bachelor of fine arts in acting, summa cum laude. That same year, Perabo appeared in her first film, Single Spaced, as the Giant Squid. In 1999, she starred in her first major role in Whiteboyz as the girlfriend of white rapper “wannabe,” played by Danny Hoch. Whiteboyz also featured Dash Mihok and Mark Webber. She also played That Girl in Knuckleface Jones, a short film by Todd Rohal.
The following year, Perabo managed to snag a number of notable roles including FBI agent Karen Sympathy, alongside Robert De Niro, Rene Russo, and Jason Alexander in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and as aspiring songwriter Violet “Jersey” Sanford in the bartending hit Coyote Ugly, a role for which Perabo had to take lessons in piano, guitar, voice, and even bartending. Coyote Ugly also featured model Tyra Banks in one her more well-known roles, Adam Garcia, Maria Bello, and John Goodman, as well as LeAnn Rimes starring as herself. Since her Rocky and Bullwinkle and Coyote Ugly days, Perabo has appeared and starred in a few independent, low-budget, and lesser-known films, such as the lesbianesque independent Canadian flick Lost and Delirious, as well as She Gets What She Wants, which was originally titled Slap Her…She’s French, and was released as such in Europe two years earlier. Perabo also took the minor role as the oldest daughter in Cheaper by the Dozen in 2003, which starred Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Tom Welling (from Smallville), and Hilary Duff. Perabo reprised the role in 2005’s sequel as well. More recently, in 2003, Perabo has been featured in The I Inside, with Ryan Philippe and Sarah Polley; George and the Dragon and Perfect Opposites both in 2004; The Cave, Edison, in which she appeared in a minor role alongside stars Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, and Justin Timberlake; and the short film Good Morning Baby all in 2005.
In 2006, she was seen in 10th & Wolf and also snagged the female lead in The Prestige, alongside actor veterans Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and Michael Caine. Perabo will be seen in 2007’s Because I Said So as one of Diane Keaton’s character’s daughters, along with Lauren Graham as the oldest daughter, and Mandy Moore as the youngest. YUDDY |
