Last Kiss Baby

Background:

"Living in different cultures helped me work out who I was going to be, separate from where I came from." Jacinda Barrett.

Model turned actress Jacinda Barrett got her first big break on television as a cast member of MTV's “The Real World: London” in 1995. And after several TV guest spots, the Australian-born, who owns all-American good looks and convincing accent, made a crossover to mainstream success in the film industry. She scored significant roles in such films as Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), The Human Stain (2003), Ladder 49 (2004), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), Ripley Under Ground (2005) and Poseidon (2006). She also stars in the soon-to-be released films The Last Kiss and School for Scoundrels.

The 5' 10'' tall and slim former model, with long honey blonde hair and a freckled, fresh-faced appearance, was chosen by People magazine as one of the “50 Most Beautiful People in the World” in 1997. She was romantically linked to actor Chris Hardwick (born on born November 23, 1971) and is now happily married to actor Gabriel Macht.


Aussie Girl

Childhood and Family:

In Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Jacinda Barrett was born on August 2, 1972. Her father is an airport firefighter father and her brother, Michael Barrett, is studying to be a pastor. The aspiring actress first studied drama at Kenmore State High School in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, before she left her homeland for Europe and went to British Academy of Dramatic Art in Oxford, England.

On December 29, 2004, Jacinda married American actor Gabriel Macht (born January 22, 1972). He is the son of actor Stephen Macht (of the TV series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" fame) and appeared in 2004 independent film A Love Song for Bobby Long opposite John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson. Jacinda recently bought a house on Queensland’s lush Sunshine Coast, so she can be closer to her family and friends.

“My brother’s at the Gold Coast and my friends are still in Brisbane but when I’m home, for a month they’ll come up and visit and stay with me and it’s a house.” Jacinda Barrett.


The Real World

Career:

"I remember doing a shoot in San Diego and the photographer said to me, 'Don't think, just be a model.' And I remember saying under my breath, 'Don't tell me not to think'." Jacinda Barrett (on her modeling years).

At age 17, the 5' 10'' tall and slim, freckled and fresh-faced blonde left her homeland Brisbane for Europe to find job as an international model. Six years later, she had a big time when she scored first television break as a cast member on the fourth season of MTV's reality program “The Real World,” which took place in London, England. On the long-running show, she is best remembered for buying a dog named Legend and then refusing to properly house-train it, which upset the other cast members.

After the show, Barrett honed her acting skills at the British Academy of Dramatic Art in Oxford, England. She eventually landed on her first big screen role in 1997, in Campfire Tales, alongside Christine Taylor, Christopher Masterson and Ron Livingston. In the four-story urban legends film, Barrett starred as Heather Wallace in the segment "The Locket."

Barrett followed it up with the next year’s films Immaculate Springs and Art House. On the small screen, she was spotted as a guest in several shows, including in the comic-based "Night Man," the syndicated classic fantasy series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" (played sorceress Medea), UPN’s short-lived comedy "Guys Like Us" (opposite series star and then-boyfriend Chris Hardwick), Fox's grim, suspenseful series "Millennium" and the teen sit-com starring Selma Blair, "Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane" (had a recurring role as Lisa, the beautiful senior dating unlikely suitor Duncan). She also starred on the short-lived NBC drama "Wind on Water" in 1998 and could be seen starring in Sean Cooney's 8-minute comedy film 24-Seven in 1999.

Entering the new millennium, Barrett still struggled through TV appearances. She could be seen in Sam Shepherd-penned TV movie See You in My Dreams (starring Aidan Quinn and Marcia Gay Harden), the WB's ensemble drama "D.C." (as the impulsive and ambitious Finley Scott ) and appeared as Holly Cameron in several episodes of TNT original show, "Bull." She eventually returned on the big screen and dropped her Australian accent for a role in the 2000 slasher film Urban Legends: Final Cut, a sequel to 1998's Urban Legend. In John Ottman-directed film, Barrett shared the screen with Jennifer Morrison, Matthew Davis, Hart Bochner, Joseph Lawrence and Anson Mount.

After costarring as one of James Cromwell's three daughters in CBS drama series "Citizen Baines" (2001), Barrett’s acting career leaped forward, thanks to film director Robert Benton who cast her as Anthony Hopkins' first sincere love in his adaptation of Philip Roth's best-selling novel, The Human Stain (2003), which also stars fellow Aussie actress Nicole Kidman. She subsequently nabbed another significant role as Joaquin Phoenix's love interest in Jay Russell's fictional firefighter film post the September 11, 2001 attacks, Ladder 49 (2004; also starring John Travolta).

More notable roles rolled in. Barrett portrayed Rebecca, the lesbian assistant to Colin Firth's Mark Darcy, in the box-office hit romantic comedy Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004; starring Renée Zellweger) and as Tom Ripley's (played by Barry Pepper) rich wife Heloise Plisson in Roger Spottiswoode's adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel, Ripley Under Ground (lensed in 2004, but has not been released yet).

More recently, Barret was cast in Wolfgang Petersen's Poseidon, playing Maggie James, a young mother struggling to escape a capsized luxury ocean liner with a group of passengers. The remake of the classic disaster film The Poseidon Adventure, based on the novel by Paul Gallico, which also stars Kurt Russell and Josh Lucas, unfortunately received mixed to negative reviews with critics and became a summer flop.

Barrett commented: “It’s Wolfgang’s movie more than the actors, I feel. But honestly I don’t really get into it because I have no control over it. I’ve never watched the box office of things until recently when I realized how much money it makes also has a massive bearing on the actors because no matter how great your movie is if it doesn’t make a lot of money it doesn’t help you in the long run. But I try not to get into all that stuff because it’s really zero I can do about it.”

After Poseidon, Barrett continued to appear in several high visibility projects. She played Jon Heder's longtime crush, Amanda, in Todd Phillips' remake of a 1960 British comedy film, School for Scoundrels. The film, also starring Billy Bob Thornton, will be released on September 29, 2006. She also portrayed Zach Braff's pregnant girlfriend, Jenna, in Tony Goldwyn's drama comedy The Last Kiss (alongside Casey Affleck and Rachel Bilson), based on the 2001 Italian film L' Ultimo Bacio. It will be released on September 15, 2006.

“I had no reluctance at all to do it, because I knew that they’d make it something different. Beyond that, as an actor, I knew that this is such a dream role, they had such great people attached and I loved Tony Goldwyn.” Jacinda Barrett (on her role in The Last Kiss).

Next, Barrett will play one of Gogol’s (played by Kal Penn) love interest in director Mira Nair's The Namesake, based upon the novel of the same name by Bengali author Jhumpa Lahiri. The romantic drama comedy will receive a limited release in the United States on March 9, 2007.

Awards:
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