ELISHA CUTHBERT

Date of Birth
30 November 1982, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Birth Name
Elisha Ann Cuthbert

Nickname
Leesh

Height
5' 2½" (1.59 m)

Mini Biography
Elisha was born in Canada and grew up in Montreal, Quebec. Her father is an automotive design engineer and her mother a homemaker. She has a younger brother and sister. As a child, Elisha was a foot model for children's clothing.

She attended Centennial Regional High School and graduated in 2000. She was interested in acting and her first appeared on the television show "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" (1991) in 1996, and became a regular in the role of Megan in 1999. Elisha also co-hosted Popular Mechanics for Kids for 3 years. In 2001, she won a Gemini Award for her performance in the Canadian television movie Lucky Girl, Canada's equivalent of an Emmy.

At age 17, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career. Soon after arriving, she won her breakthrough role in the television series "24" (2001).

Trivia
While trotting the globe as a correspondent for the award-winning series "Popular Mechanics for Kids" (1997), she caught the eye of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and was invited to Washington for a meeting with her.

Was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada but later moved and grew up in the Greenfield Park district, in Longueuil (south shore of Montreal), Quebec, Canada.

Is a former foot model.

Speaks French as a result of growing up in Montreal.

Dislikes flying so much that she has certain rituals she must do: like always board the plane with her right foot first. (From an April 2004 appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (1993).).

[June 2004] Engaged to longtime boyfriend Trace Ayala, best friend and personal assistant to Justin Timberlake. Broke off her engagement to Trace Ayala in November 2005.

Ranked #57 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women In The World" (2002).

Ranked #5 in FHM 100 Sexiest Women (2005).

She left Canada at the age of 17 to move to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career. Had a deadline of 6 weeks. By the end of the 5th week was given the role of Kimberley Bauer on Fox's "24" (2001).

Received Paris Hilton's autobiography and Paris Hilton's perfume by her House of Wax (2005) co-star Paris Hilton for Elisha's 22nd Birthday.

Loves to visit the beach, but is unable to tan because of her fair skin.

Both her mother and brother play on Hockey Teams in Canada.

She's a huge hockey fan and has season tickets to the Kings. She also writes a blog for NHL.com called 'Hollywood Hockey Thoughts'.

She has a younger brother, Jonathan, and a younger sister, Lee-Ann

Parents are Kevin and Patricia Cuthbert

Named #54 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).

Ranked #25 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list.

Auditioned but lost the lead role to Kirsten Dunst in Spider-Man (2002).

Ranked #4 in FHM 100 Sexiest Women (2008).

Ranked #6 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list.

Former boyfriend Sean Avery was suspended for six games then kicked off the Dallas Stars for a crude remark he made about the romance between Cuthbert and Dion Phaneuf. (December 2008).

Ranked #65 on the 2011 Maxim list "Hot 100" women.

Ranked #33 in the 2010 FHM UK list of "100 Sexiest Women in the World".

Engaged to Dion Phaneuf [September 3, 2012].


Personal Quotes
"I feel like I'm one of the Simpsons". (she will have to stick with the same wardrobe all season on the Fox series "24" (2001)).

I believe not giving up on doing things.

I was lucky," (in Los Angeles) "I found what I wanted to do when I was 11.

"I don't ever want to be doing the same sort of thing, I never want to be typecast, because I have way too much to give to be sort of, to always be the hot chick in the movie." (Referring to The Girl Next Door (2004)).

I definitely believe in fate. And I believe what you put in is what you get in return. That's the way it's worked for me. As for the big picture - there's some sort of plan.

"I just went with my gut feeling and thought that if I care this much about what I'm doing, then maybe there are opportunities elsewhere and I'd be stupid not to give it a try." (when asked about moving from Montreal to L.A. at 17)

"I remember just sort of thinking I'm not going to get to do this too, too often, so I just went crazy and threw alcohol around. I was acting ridiculous and screaming at everybody and throwing a fit." (about her performance in the Weezer's video)

With friends and family in Montreal, it's always in the back of my mind. I like going back. I miss the nightlife. It's such a great city. I've been a lot of places in the world, and I'm sure I'm biased because I grew up there, but I love it.

At the time, "Sex and the City" (1998) was in its prime and I remember thinking, "God, those girl are so lucky! They got to wear all these different outfits and I'm stuck in the same thing for ten months".

I'm very mellow. I think if I hadn't become an actress, I would've lived the simple life. You know, get married and sit on my porch.

I'm a huge fan of video games and comic books. I'm not die-hard or anything, but I definitely appreciate the art in it, which is really cool.

[on Kiefer Sutherland] He taught me not to read anything in the media or on the Internet. He's definitely a long-time mentor to me.

[on 24] From the beginning you could tell that it was something really different and it was 10 years of my life. I went from being an 18-year-old girl to a woman.

I'm not knocking 24, but after playing a character like Kim, you can't help wanting to do something completely different. The criticism didn't hurt me. I wasn't writing the story lines, I was just doing the best job I could.

[on the difference between playing comedy and drama] In drama, you coast along your own plot line and know where your character is going.

Off set, I'm always dancing and acting like an idiot. I'm kind of goofy and do stupid things. Am I comic genius? I don't know. But I can be funny.