Stu's Hunt Down
Name: Rachael Leigh Cook Claim to Fame, Minnesota: ONE OF US. Born in Minneapolis, Cook attended both Clara Barton Open School and Minneapolis South. Claim to Fame, Everywhere Else: Cook came to fame in the late '90s, first in this PSA about heroin abuse where she wreaks havoc with a frying pan, then as the female lead in the Freddie Prinze, Jr., vehicle (the late '90s, everybody!) She's All That, in which we're asked to believe that she's homely because she's an art student who wears glasses. It also asked us to believe that the student body would break into a synchronized dance to Fatboy Slim's The Rockafeller Skank (the late '90s, everybody!) at the prom. Perhaps worst of all, it popularized that galactically annoying Sixpence None The Richer song. Needless to say, my wife loves this movie. Cook would go on to star in Josie and the Pussycats and a plethora of other film and television projects. Just What Does This Have to Do with Sports, Dude: um, she was in a movie called Texas Rangers. Although I haven't seen it, I'll assume it's about the meteoric rise and tragic fall of Toby Harrah. Where She Is Now: Cook has a recurring role on the USA Network's Psych and has a couple movies awaiting release. She lives in Los Angeles and is married to actor Daniel Gillies. Wiki says she frequently visits her family here in Minnesota, and I have no reason to doubt that. Is She on Twitter: yes! It's a Verified Account and everything. And unlike other celebrity accounts, there appears to be a human being with a functioning brain behind it. ONE OF US. Glorious Randomness: in light of Wednesday's Big Lebowski discussion, please enjoy this description of Tara Reid, that film's Bunny Lebowski and Cook's co-star in Josie and the Pussycats, from critic Nathan Rabin: "Reid has the world's smallest range: She's qualified to play everything from a dullard to a half-wit to someone who's, quite frankly, not terribly bright." My apologies to all the fans of Taradise who take offense to that statement.
