Amanda Peet

Amanda Peet grew up in New York with her older sister and their parents; Charles, a lawyer; and Penny, a social worker. She made an unconventional stage debut at the age of three, when she jumped onto the stage during a play. Yet, despite this early start, she later studied acting more as a hobby than anything else. She studied history at Columbia University, where a drama professor convinced her to audition for acting teacher Uta Hagen, with whom she later went on to study for a four-year period. During this time, she participated in the off-Broadway revival of Clifford Odets's "Awake and Sing." She supported herself during the audition phase of her career by working as a waitress and with the residual checks she received from a Skittles candy commercial. Perseverance and hard work paid off, and, in 1995, she was cast in a guest-starring role on the hit series "Law & Order" (1990). Her feature film debut came in 1995 with the movie Animal Room (1995). For a while afterward, Amanda continued to find steady work but also found herself appearing in a depressingly large number of indie films that were never picked up for distribution. She did, however, meet her boyfriend Brian Van Holt on the set of indie movie Whipped (2000). Her turn as the ditzy hit-woman with the heart of gold in the hit comedy The Whole Nine Yards (2000), opposite Bruce Willis, took her from supporting role status to leading lady. That same year she was voted one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by "People" Magazine.

Gallery

Movie		Character	Year
	Playing by Heart	Amber	1998
	One Fine Day	Celia	1996
	The Whole Nine Yards	Jill St. Claire	2000
	Takedown	Karen	2000
	Trust Me		0000
	The Whole Ten Yards	Jill	2004
	Identity	Paris	2003
	The X-Files: I Want to Believe	ASAC Dakota Whitney	2008
	Gulliver's Travels	Darcy Silverman	2010
	Igby Goes Down	Rachel	2002
	Syriana	Julie Woodman	2005
	Identity Thief		2013
	Battle for Terra	Maria	2007
	The Way, Way Back	Joan	2013
	2012	Kate Curtis	2009
	The Ex	Sofia Kowalski	2007
	A Lot Like Love	Emily Friehl	2005
	Griffin and Phoenix	Phoenix	2006