- Date of Birth: 05 September, 1973
- Place of Birth: Florence, Italy
Biography
Rose Arianna McGowan is an American actress best known for her role as Paige Matthews in The WB TV series Charmed, and the cult-classic The Doom Generation. She has also appeared in several major Hollywood films, with leading roles in Scream, Jawbreaker, and the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double-feature Grindhouse.
McGowan, the second-eldest of six children (plus two half-siblings), was born in Florence, Italy, the daughter of Terri, an American writer of French descent, and Daniel McGowan, an Irish-born artist. Daniel McGowan ran an Italian chapter of the Children of God to which both he and his wife held membership until 1978. McGowan spent her early childhood amid the group's communes, often traveling Europe with her parents. Through her father's art contacts in Italy, McGowan became a child model and appeared in Vogue Bambini and various other Italian magazines. Her parents returned to the United States when she was 10, when they divorced. She subsequently relocated to Oregon and then Gig Harbor, Washington, where she also met childhood friend actor Rey-Phillip Santos. McGowan did not speak English until she moved to the U.S. McGowan's formative years were spent with her father in Seattle, Washington, attending Roosevelt High School and Nova Alternative High School. At the age of 15, she officially emancipated herself from her parents. McGowan pursued a possible career in the film industry during her late teens, and also enrolled in a beauty school as a back-up.
McGowan made her first appearance in a Hollywood film with a bit role in the 1992 Pauly Shore comedy Encino Man. Her role in the 1995 black comedy The Doom Generation brought her to the attention of film critics, and she received a nomination for "Best Debut Performance" at the 1996 Independent Spirit Awards. McGowan was subsequently cast in a supporting role in the 1996 hit horror film Scream. McGowan spent the majority of the 1990s appearing in a variety of independent films, including roles in Southie, Going All the Way, and Lewis & Clark & George. In 1997, she appeared in the critically acclaimed short Seed, directed by San Francisco-born filmmaker Karin Thayer, and played opposite Peter O'Toole in the 1998 film adaptation of the Dean Koontz novel Phantoms. Notably, McGowan also starred in the 1999 comedy Jawbreaker, where she played a high school student who tries to cover up a classmate's murder. That role earned McGowan a nomination for Best Villain at the 1999 MTV Movie Awards. In 2001, McGowan was cast as Paige Matthews in the popular The WB television series Charmed, as a replacement lead actress after Shannen Doherty's departure from the show. She was offered to be a producer after the seventh season, but turned it down. The series ended its run on May 21, 2006. In May 2005, McGowan portrayed actress/singer Ann-Margret in Elvis, a Golden Globe-winning CBS mini-series about the life of Elvis Presley. That same year, she lent her voice to the video game Darkwatch as a femme fatale named Tala. The game was published by Capcom for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. In 2006, McGowan had a brief role in Brian De Palma's Academy Award-nominated film The Black Dahlia. The following year, she starred in the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double-feature Grindhouse, released on April 6, 2007. Cast in utterly divergent roles, McGowan appears in both portions of the film, as go-go dancing Cherry in Planet Terror, and as Pam in Death Proof. McGowan attended the 60th Annual Cannes Film Festival to promote Death Proof along with Robert Rodriguez, Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms, Zoe Bell, and Quentin Tarantino. According to Variety, McGowan has signed on to play B-movie staple Susan Cabot in the upcoming film Black Oasis. Director Stephan Elliott (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) has penned and will direct the film based on a Premiere article by John H. Richardson. Shooting will begin fall 2007.
McGowan used to live in Seattle, Washington, but currently resides in Los Angeles, California. She was in a very public three and a half-year relationship with rock musician Marilyn Manson, and often appeared with him at celebrity events in extremely provocative clothing, such as the chain-mail transparent dress and thong she wore to the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. McGowan later ended their two-year engagement over "lifestyle differences." She has since gone on to have relationships with fellow actor Kip Pardue, TV personality Ahmet Zappa, and Men's Health magazine editor David Zinczenko. Prior to the release of Grindhouse, there was speculation that McGowan was dating Mexican-American director Robert Rodriguez. In May 2007, it was reported that they confirmed their relationship while appearing hand-in-hand at the Cannes Film Festival. On October 12, 2007 it was announced by Zap2it.com that McGowan was engaged to Rodriguez. McGowan has admitted to sleepwalking as a child. "The weirdest spot I ever woke up was a snow bank in Montreal. Now I just speak Italian in my sleep". McGowan is known as an activist for Boston Terriers. She herself has two, Bug and Fester, and has personally donated to various Boston rescues. McGowan reportedly encouraged friends to donate to , and according to BTRN: "Having fallen in love with Bug and Fester, her friends donated generously. It amounted to a considerable contribution, which will go a long way in helping BTRN and the needy volunteers who selflessly give to deserving Bostons." McGowan and her friend Natasha Andres have recently started selling their own line of purse caddies, which are hooks used to hang handbags from tables and chairs in restaurants as an alternative to resting them on possibly unclean floors. Celebrities such as Keira Knightley, Carmen Electra, and Virginia Madsen have been known to use the caddies. According to an article in the New York Post, McGowan suffered serious injuries in a car accident early in 2007. Riding as a passenger, her car was struck by another vehicle and the force of the impact drove her eyeglasses into her face. McGowan is quoted as saying, "I didn't realize I was hurt until I put my hand to my face and felt the flap of skin. My glasses had sliced me under my eye." After obtaining the services of a plastic surgeon, McGowan is reported to be suffering no long-lasting consequences from the incident. Of her acting method, she has said "I'm not really one of those people who goes and writes some big backstory and agonizes over characters... For me personally, it's just kind of more instinctive. But I don't have kind of an acting background. I fell into it accidentally". As a victim of sexual assault, McGowan continues to lead discussions on the subject among campus groups. On her right shoulder, Rose used to have a distinctive tattoo of a woman. The design comes from a painting that Rose's Grandfather had painted on the side of his WWII plane. The tattoo clearly shows Rose's love for the 40's, and glamorous women from that period. Rose McGowan's style is also very much like actresses from Black and White movies. Although Charmed make-up artists attempted to cover the tattoo in most episodes, they were sometimes unable to cover it completely and you could just about see the outline. Her tattoo was on show in some of her films, for example Jawbreaker, in which she played bad girl Courtney Alice Shayne. During 2004 Rose decided to have her tattoo removed. Although it's still slightly visible, its no longer the bold trademark tattoo it was. Rose McGowan also has some piercings. She has both ears pierced, and her belly button.
McGowan, the second-eldest of six children (plus two half-siblings), was born in Florence, Italy, the daughter of Terri, an American writer of French descent, and Daniel McGowan, an Irish-born artist. Daniel McGowan ran an Italian chapter of the Children of God to which both he and his wife held membership until 1978. McGowan spent her early childhood amid the group's communes, often traveling Europe with her parents. Through her father's art contacts in Italy, McGowan became a child model and appeared in Vogue Bambini and various other Italian magazines. Her parents returned to the United States when she was 10, when they divorced. She subsequently relocated to Oregon and then Gig Harbor, Washington, where she also met childhood friend actor Rey-Phillip Santos. McGowan did not speak English until she moved to the U.S. McGowan's formative years were spent with her father in Seattle, Washington, attending Roosevelt High School and Nova Alternative High School. At the age of 15, she officially emancipated herself from her parents. McGowan pursued a possible career in the film industry during her late teens, and also enrolled in a beauty school as a back-up.
McGowan made her first appearance in a Hollywood film with a bit role in the 1992 Pauly Shore comedy Encino Man. Her role in the 1995 black comedy The Doom Generation brought her to the attention of film critics, and she received a nomination for "Best Debut Performance" at the 1996 Independent Spirit Awards. McGowan was subsequently cast in a supporting role in the 1996 hit horror film Scream. McGowan spent the majority of the 1990s appearing in a variety of independent films, including roles in Southie, Going All the Way, and Lewis & Clark & George. In 1997, she appeared in the critically acclaimed short Seed, directed by San Francisco-born filmmaker Karin Thayer, and played opposite Peter O'Toole in the 1998 film adaptation of the Dean Koontz novel Phantoms. Notably, McGowan also starred in the 1999 comedy Jawbreaker, where she played a high school student who tries to cover up a classmate's murder. That role earned McGowan a nomination for Best Villain at the 1999 MTV Movie Awards. In 2001, McGowan was cast as Paige Matthews in the popular The WB television series Charmed, as a replacement lead actress after Shannen Doherty's departure from the show. She was offered to be a producer after the seventh season, but turned it down. The series ended its run on May 21, 2006. In May 2005, McGowan portrayed actress/singer Ann-Margret in Elvis, a Golden Globe-winning CBS mini-series about the life of Elvis Presley. That same year, she lent her voice to the video game Darkwatch as a femme fatale named Tala. The game was published by Capcom for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. In 2006, McGowan had a brief role in Brian De Palma's Academy Award-nominated film The Black Dahlia. The following year, she starred in the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double-feature Grindhouse, released on April 6, 2007. Cast in utterly divergent roles, McGowan appears in both portions of the film, as go-go dancing Cherry in Planet Terror, and as Pam in Death Proof. McGowan attended the 60th Annual Cannes Film Festival to promote Death Proof along with Robert Rodriguez, Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms, Zoe Bell, and Quentin Tarantino. According to Variety, McGowan has signed on to play B-movie staple Susan Cabot in the upcoming film Black Oasis. Director Stephan Elliott (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) has penned and will direct the film based on a Premiere article by John H. Richardson. Shooting will begin fall 2007.
McGowan used to live in Seattle, Washington, but currently resides in Los Angeles, California. She was in a very public three and a half-year relationship with rock musician Marilyn Manson, and often appeared with him at celebrity events in extremely provocative clothing, such as the chain-mail transparent dress and thong she wore to the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. McGowan later ended their two-year engagement over "lifestyle differences." She has since gone on to have relationships with fellow actor Kip Pardue, TV personality Ahmet Zappa, and Men's Health magazine editor David Zinczenko. Prior to the release of Grindhouse, there was speculation that McGowan was dating Mexican-American director Robert Rodriguez. In May 2007, it was reported that they confirmed their relationship while appearing hand-in-hand at the Cannes Film Festival. On October 12, 2007 it was announced by Zap2it.com that McGowan was engaged to Rodriguez. McGowan has admitted to sleepwalking as a child. "The weirdest spot I ever woke up was a snow bank in Montreal. Now I just speak Italian in my sleep". McGowan is known as an activist for Boston Terriers. She herself has two, Bug and Fester, and has personally donated to various Boston rescues. McGowan reportedly encouraged friends to donate to , and according to BTRN: "Having fallen in love with Bug and Fester, her friends donated generously. It amounted to a considerable contribution, which will go a long way in helping BTRN and the needy volunteers who selflessly give to deserving Bostons." McGowan and her friend Natasha Andres have recently started selling their own line of purse caddies, which are hooks used to hang handbags from tables and chairs in restaurants as an alternative to resting them on possibly unclean floors. Celebrities such as Keira Knightley, Carmen Electra, and Virginia Madsen have been known to use the caddies. According to an article in the New York Post, McGowan suffered serious injuries in a car accident early in 2007. Riding as a passenger, her car was struck by another vehicle and the force of the impact drove her eyeglasses into her face. McGowan is quoted as saying, "I didn't realize I was hurt until I put my hand to my face and felt the flap of skin. My glasses had sliced me under my eye." After obtaining the services of a plastic surgeon, McGowan is reported to be suffering no long-lasting consequences from the incident. Of her acting method, she has said "I'm not really one of those people who goes and writes some big backstory and agonizes over characters... For me personally, it's just kind of more instinctive. But I don't have kind of an acting background. I fell into it accidentally". As a victim of sexual assault, McGowan continues to lead discussions on the subject among campus groups. On her right shoulder, Rose used to have a distinctive tattoo of a woman. The design comes from a painting that Rose's Grandfather had painted on the side of his WWII plane. The tattoo clearly shows Rose's love for the 40's, and glamorous women from that period. Rose McGowan's style is also very much like actresses from Black and White movies. Although Charmed make-up artists attempted to cover the tattoo in most episodes, they were sometimes unable to cover it completely and you could just about see the outline. Her tattoo was on show in some of her films, for example Jawbreaker, in which she played bad girl Courtney Alice Shayne. During 2004 Rose decided to have her tattoo removed. Although it's still slightly visible, its no longer the bold trademark tattoo it was. Rose McGowan also has some piercings. She has both ears pierced, and her belly button.