Rose McGowan

Rose Arianna McGowan (born September 5, 1973) 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 is currently the co-host of TCM's film-series program, The Essentials.

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 is also a co-host with Robert Osborne on TCM's film-series program The Essentials, on which a classic Hollywood film is shown every week.


TomC