Catherine Ann "Kate" Bosworth (born January 2, 1983) is an American actress. She made her screen debut in Robert Redford's 1998 film The Horse Whisperer. Bosworth starred in the television series Young Americans, in which she played Bella Banks, though the series was not picked up for another season. She became well known with a leading role in 2002's Blue Crush. The following year, Bosworth played the teenage girlfriend of porn star John Holmes in Wonderland opposite Val Kilmer. In 2004, she portrayed Sandra Dee in Kevin Spacey's Beyond the Sea. Bosworth since appeared in several notable films, including Superman Returns (2006), where she played Lois Lane, and 2008's blackjack drama film 21.
In 2006, Bosworth made media headlines with a dramatically thinner appearance. She became part of a trend of young Hollywood actresses who have debuted thin bodies. The following year, however, photographs indicated that she went back to a healthy weight. In 2008, she became both Calvin Klein Jeans newest model and spokeswoman for Coach newest luxury bags. In her personal life, Bosworth has dated actors Matt Czuchry, from 2000 to 2002 and Orlando Bloom, from 2002 to 2006. She is dating English model turned singer-songwriter James Rousseau.
Early life:
Bosworth was born January 2, 1983 in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Patricia (née Potter), a homemaker, and Hal Bosworth, a former executive for Talbots. She was born with sectoral heterochromia, resulting in a hazel section at the bottom of her right blue eye, while the left is completely blue. After leaving San Francisco at the age of six, Bosworth's family frequently moved around the country because of her father's job. She grew up mainly on the East Coast, spending the rest of her youth in Darien, Connecticut and Cohasset, Massachusetts.
Bosworth has always been interested in a professional career as a competitive horse racer and, by the age of fourteen, she was a champion equestrian. While attending Cohasset High School from which she graduated in 2001, Bosworth learned to speak Spanish and was a member of the National Honor Society; she also played varsity soccer and lacrosse.
Career
Early work:
Bosworth's first film role came after an open casting call in New York for the supporting part of Judith in the 1998 film, The Horse Whisperer. The film's producers needed someone who was already an experienced horse rider, leading to Bosworth's successful audition for the role. The film received positive reception from film critics.
In 2000, she starred in the television series drama Young Americans, in which she played Bella Banks, a well-adjusted small town girl working at a gas station near an elite prep school. The series, however, was canceled. That same year, she had a small part in the film Remember the Titans. In 2001, Bosworth moved to Los Angeles in hopes of obtaining easier access to auditions and better film parts.
Critical success:
The breakthrough role in Bosworth's career came in the 2002 surfing movie Blue Crush, which she prepared for by working out with two separate trainers six hours a day for months in order to add fifteen pounds of muscle to her frame. In his review of the film, Rolling Stone's Peter Travers wrote: "Bosworth is a star in the making, but even she can't outshine the surfing footage, which is flat-out spectacular." The film received positive reviews and grossed $40 million at the United States box office.
Following the success of Blue Crush, Bosworth took on roles in the indie films The Rules of Attraction (2002), and a darker turn in Wonderland (2003) opposite Val Kilmer, where she played the teenage girlfriend of porn star John Holmes. In 2004 she played the lead role in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, opposite Topher Grace. The film was critically and financially unsuccessful. Also in 2004, Bosworth depicted actress Sandra Dee in Beyond the Sea. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle, in review of the film, commented that Kevin Spacey, who played actor Bobby Darin, and Bosworth's courting is "unsettling". The movie received mixed reception, and was a box office disappointment.
The following year, Bosworth portrayed Chali, a Hare Krishna, in the film adaptation of Myla Goldberg's novel Bee Season (2005), about a dysfunctional Jewish family. She has appeared in several Revlon ads and ranked as number 60 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" list. For two years running, she has placed on the Maxim Hot 100 List – number 38 in 2005 and number 8 in 2006.
Worldwide recognition:
After going through many screen tests and competing with other actresses for the role, she was cast as reporter Lois Lane in Bryan Singer's superhero film Superman Returns (2006). She starred along with her Beyond the Sea co-star Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, as well as newcomer Brandon Routh as Superman. The film was a box office success and received mostly positive reviews. Bosworth's performance however, was not well-received among critics; Anthony Lane of The New Yorker, in his review of the film noted, "The new Lois Lane, Kate Bosworth, is not a patch on Margot Kidder, or, for that matter, on Teri Hatcher, in the TV series." San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle felt that Bosworth, at 22-years-old, was too young to portray Lois Lane, and the climax did not "match the potential of the tiring 154 minute long film". Although Bosworth's performance was ambiguously received, she herself loved the experience of working on the movie. As she told Teen Vogue in August 2006, "You know how you have an experience, a time in your life when you feel you've come into your own? When you grow up a bit, and think, Now I get it? [...] That's how I feel. I feel a little bit more complete." Superman Returns was a commercial and critical success. The movie grossed $200 million during its opening weekend in North America and went on to earn $391 million worldwide.
Bosworth starred in the psychological drama called The Girl in the Park with Sigourney Weaver, Alessandro Nivola and Keri Russell. She plays Louise, a troubled young girl taken under Weaver's character's wing. The Girl in the Park was written and directed by Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn in his directorial debut. The film premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, it has since been picked up by The Weinstein Company. Alissa Simon of Variety wrote that Bosworth "tries her best, but her character's too extremely drawn."
Bosworth also filmed 21, an adaptation of the book Bringing Down the House, in early 2007 in Boston, Massachusetts and Las Vegas, Nevada. This film reunites her with co-star Kevin Spacey and director Robert Luketic. 21 garnered mixed reviews, with Joanne Kaufman of the Wall Street Journal concluding, "Very little adds up in 21."
Her next film is the epic The Warrior's Way which she shot in New Zealand alongside Korean star Jang Dong-gun and Geoffrey Rush. The film set for a release in 2009. She has also optioned the film rights to Catherine Hanrahan's novel Lost Girls and Love Hotels, about a young woman looking to escape in Tokyo's seedy nightlife. She will produce the project alongside filmmaker Nadia Connors. She has said about her roles, "I just don't do comfort zones."
In January 2008, Bosworth was named the new face for Calvin Klein Jeans and will be featured in the Calvin Klein Jeans campaign. She also takes on the role of spokesperson for American luxury bag brand Coach in Asia.
Personal life:
Bosworth was accepted to Princeton University in late 2000, but because of continual deferral of her attendance, her acceptance was later revoked. She is also a member of the Appalachia Service Project.
Bosworth dated actor Matt Czuchry, whom she met on the set of their short-lived television series, Young Americans. Their relationship lasted from 2000 to 2002. Then, in late 2002, she began dating actor Orlando Bloom. The two met outside a coffee shop and were introduced to each other by a friend, before meeting again at the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Bosworth and Bloom separated in 2006. Bosworth has been dating British model James Rousseau since September 2006 after meeting him at the Marc Jacobs after party. An aspiring musician, Rousseau wrote the song "To Make You Mine" for her.
In late 2006, Bosworth made headlines with her extremely thin appearance. She became part of a trend of young Hollywood actresses who have debuted new thin bodies. In early 2007, after Bosworth turned up at a charity event and was then photographed vacationing in Hawaii the media took note of her return to a healthy weight.
Bosworth has two cats, Louise and Dusty, and a dog named Lila, whom she adopted while on a 2004 vacation in Morocco. She has noted that although equestrianism is her hobby, she has been unable to practice it, because of the potential risk of injury involved affecting her film career.