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Rachael Leigh Cook

b. 1979

American actress and model

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About Rachael Leigh Cook

Born 1979. Rachael Leigh Cook is an American actor, voice actor, film actor, television actor, producer and model.

Rachael Leigh Cook (born October 4, 1979 the most financially successful film of her career. In 2000, she starred opposite Elijah Wood in the well-received The Bumblebee Flies Anyway. She took the lead role in 2001's Josie and the Pussycats, which turned out to be a box office failure, although it has since become a cult classic.

In 2000, she was the cover girl for the U.S. March/April issue of FHM. She also starred in the music video for New Found Glory's 2000 single "Dressed to Kill". In 2002, she was ranked No. 26 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World". In 2003, she starred in the film 11:14 as Cheri. She also appeared as a main cast member in the 2005 television miniseries Into the West produced by Steven Spielberg. In 2006, she appeared in the music video for Daniel Powter's "Love You Lately".

In 2007, Cook was seen in the big screen adaptation of Nancy Drew. She played the female lead in the independent sports drama The Final Season. She has appeared in numerous episodes of the Seth Green comedies Titan Maximum and Robot Chicken. In 2008, she guest-starred as Abigail Lytar in two third-season episodes of the USA Network series Psych. She reprised the role in the following season.

In February 2010, Cook signed on to play the female lead role in Fox TV's comedy pilot Nirvana. She had a role in the Western horror film Vampire, the English-language feature debut of Japanese director Iwai Shunji. In 2012, Cook signed on to play the female lead role in the TNT crime drama series Perception opposite Eric McCormack. She starred in the independent film Broken Kingdom, which was directed by her husband Daniel Gillies. She also appeared in a Funny or Die sketch with Chad Michael Murray.

Cook starred in the Hallmark Channel original film Summer Love in 2016. In the same year, she starred in another Hallmark film, Autumn In the Vineyard, followed by its sequel Summer in the Vineyard in 2017. 2017 also saw Cook develop, star and executive produce the Hallmark Channel film Frozen in Love, which was broadcast in January 2018 as part of the channel's 'Winterfest' season of programming.

Cook provided the voice for Chelsea Cunningham on the Kids' WB animated series Batman Beyond and in the animated film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Cook voiced Tifa Lockhart in the video games Kingdom Hearts II, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, as well as the film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. In 2011, she voiced the character of Jaesa Willsaam in the MMO game, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Cook's latest voice-over role is for the video game Yakuza in which she voices the role of Reina. In 2020 Cook appeared in the fifteenth season of Criminal Minds playing the role of Max in the final episodes of the series.

Cook owns her own production company, Ben's Sister Productions (in reference to her younger brother Ben Cook). She produced and starred in the film Love, Guaranteed, which debuted on Netflix on September 3, 2020.

Public service Cook first gained national attention in 1997, when she was featured in an updated This Is Your Brain on Drugs public service announcement (PSA) television advertisement, in which she proceeds to destroy a kitchen with a frying pan.

In June 2012, she began to award a small scholarship to students between ages 14 and 19. The scholarship helps pay for career classes, mentoring programs, and other school fees.

In 2017, Rachael Leigh Cook reprised her "This Is Your Brain on Drugs" role twenty years later for a PSA by the Drug Policy Alliance critiquing the war on drugs and its alleged contribution to mass incarceration, societal racism and poverty. The ad was posted to YouTube on April 20, 2017, in recognition of 4/20.

Personal life Cook married New Zealand-Canadian actor Daniel Gillies on August 8, 2004, saying: "We got engaged after dating for maybe five months and we got married a couple of months after that". They have two children: a daughter born in September 2013 and a son born in April 2015. The couple separated in June 2019 and divorced in 2021.

As of July 2025, Cook has been dating American actor, Brandon Routh.

Cook is a vegetarian.

Filmography

Film

Music videos

Video games

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
South High School
Also known as
Rachel Leigh Cook

Family & relationships

Spouse
Daniel Gillies

People in Rachael Leigh Cook's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Rachael Leigh Cook's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Rachael Leigh Cook?

American actress and model

When was Rachael Leigh Cook born?

Rachael Leigh Cook was born on 4 October 1979 in Minneapolis.

What is Rachael Leigh Cook's occupation?

Rachael Leigh Cook is an actor, voice actor, film actor, television actor, producer and model.

What nationality is Rachael Leigh Cook?

Rachael Leigh Cook is American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Rachael Leigh Cook

· Wikidata: Q232101

· DBpedia: Rachael Leigh Cook

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Rachael Leigh Cook. https://biography.guide/rachael-leigh-cook/

MLA: "Rachael Leigh Cook." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/rachael-leigh-cook/.

Chicago: "Rachael Leigh Cook." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/rachael-leigh-cook/.

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