Who are some of young Hollywood’s Jewish bachelors and bachelorettes? Take a look.
By RUTH BELOFFMila Kunis 370(photo credit: REUTERS)Emmanuelle Chriqui Emmanuelle Chriqui (Reuters)Emmanuelle Chriqui was born in Montreal, Canada, to Jewish parents from Morocco.Her family moved to Toronto when she was two. At 10, Chriqui appeared in a McDonald’s commercial. She then moved to Vancouver and guest starred in series such as Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Forever Knight, Once a Thief and PSI Factor: Chronicle of the Paranormal.Her first Hollywood role was in Detroit rock City (1999). But her breakout performance was in the 2000 film Snow Day, in which she played the foxy Claire Bonner. In 2006 she appeared in the music video titled Lips of an Angel by rock band Hinder.Chriqui starred in several films and in 2000 was nominated for a DVD Exclusive Award as Best Actress for her performance in 100 Girls.In 2005 she starred in the film Adam and Eve.She increased her visibility by playing Sloan on the TV hit series Entourage and by starring opposite Adam Sandler in the film You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008).Rashida Jones A familiar face to TV fans, Rashida Jones played the role of Ann Perkins in the Rashida Jones (Reuters)TV sitcom Parks and Recreation, Louisa Fenn in the drama Boston Public, and Karen Filippelli in the sitcom The Office.Jones was born in 1976 in Los Angeles, the daughter of media mogul, producer and musician Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton (The Mod Squad). Her father is of African- American and Welsh ancestry, and her mother is Ashkenazi of Russian origin. Jones was raised Reform and attended Hebrew school. As an adult, she practices Judaism and says she goes to synagogue on the High Holy Days.
Jones graduated from Harvard University in 1997, where she studied religion and philosophy.At Harvard, she was a member of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals and the Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club.She made her acting debut in the 1997 TV miniseries The Last Don, based on the novel by Mario Puzo. She has appeared in such films as Decoding Annie Parker, Celeste and Jesse Forever, Our Idiot Brother, The Muppets, The The Social Network and I Love You, Man.Mila Kunis Actress Mila Kunis has a gift for comedy and drama, spanning the range Mila Kunis (Reuters)between playing the perky Jackie Burkhart on the TV sitcom That ’70s Show and the malevolent Lily in the movie thriller Black Swan, for which she was nominated for several awards.Milena Markovna Kunis was born in 1983 to a Jewish family in Chernivtsi, Ukraine. To escape the anti-Semitism there, her family moved to California when Kunis was seven.Her mother, Elvira, is a physics teacher, and her father, Mark, is a mechanical engineer.Kunis’s first role was a character named Melinda in the 1995 film Make a Wish, Molly. From there, she skyrocketed into big-budget films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008. She has since starred or co-starred in such films as The Book of Eli, Friends with Benefits and Ted.In 2012 she was named Sexiest Woman Alive by Esquire magazine. The dark-haired beauty has been quoted as saying, “Blondes definitely do not have more fun. Trust me.”Michelle TrachtenbergMichelle Trachtenberg was born in 1985 in New York City. Her mother is Russian Jewish, and her maternal grandparents live in Israel. She and her Michelle Trachtenberg (Reuters)mother moved to Los Angeles, while her father remained in NYC.Trachtenberg grew up in Brooklyn and started her acting career young. She began appearing in commercials at age three. She continued to act and dance through her school years, making regular television appearances from the age of 10. She landed a recurring role in the children’s TV show The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1993) and starred in Harriet the Spy (1996).But it was her role as Buffy’s sister Dawn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1997 that brought her to worldwide attention, all before she was 18.On TV, she had a role in All My Children and Gossip Girl. Her roles in film include EuroTrip, 17 Again and Ice Princess.In 2011, Trachtenberg ranked No. 27 on the 2011 Maxim list of Hot 100 women.Dianna AgronActress Dianna Agron may be most familiar to television audiences as Dianna Agron (Reuters)cheerleader Quinn Fabray in the hit TV series Glee.Dianna Agron was born in 1986 in Savannah, Georgia, to parents Ronald and Mary Agron.Her father’s family is from Russia. Their original surname, Agronsky, was changed when they immigrated to the US and arrived at Ellis Island in the early 1900s.Agron grew up in a middle-class family in Savannah before moving to Texas and later San Francisco, due to her father’s career as a general manager for the Hyatt hotel chain.She spent a lot of time performing. She began dancing at the age of three, focusing mainly on jazz and ballet, and later began hiphop dancing. She also performed on stage, appearing in many local musical theater productions.After graduating from high school with honors, she decided to pursue an acting career and began appearing in commercials and TV shows, such as CSI:NY, Numb3rs, Veronica Mars and Heroes. In 2009, she won the role of Quinn in Glee. Since the premiere of the show, she and her fellow cast members have received critical acclaim for their performance.In addition to her work on Glee, Agron has begun to venture into films. She has appeared in such movies as the musical Burlesque and the action thriller I Am Number Four.In 2010 Agron was named one of People magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People.James FrancoJames Franco was born in 1978 in Palo Alto, California. His mother, Betsy, is of Jewish Russian descent, and his father, Doug, who died in 2011, was of James Franco (Reuters)Portuguese and Swedish descent.To overcome his shyness, Franco ventured into acting. He made his debut in the TV series Freaks and Geeks. In 2001 he played the title role in the TV movie James Dean, which catapulted him to the silver screen. He has appeared in such films as Spider-Man, City by the Sea, Pineapple Express, Nights in Rodanthe, Flyboys and Milk.Franco has a bachelor of fine arts degree in English from UCLA; two MFA degrees in creative writing from Columbia and Brooklyn College; and an MFA in film from New York University. Premiere magazine named him one of the 40 Most Handsome Hollywood Men. And Salon.com dubbed him The Sexiest Man Living and one of the 10 Men Who Might Just Inspire the Rebirth of Jewish Male Cool, along with fellow actors such as Jake Gyllenhaal and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.Andrew GarfieldAndrew Garfield was born in 1983 in Los Angeles to a British mother, Lynn, and an American father, Richard. His family’s surname was originally Garfinkel.Andrew Garfield (Reuters)When he was three, the family moved to Surrey, England. Garfield began acting in youth theater productions when he was at school. At 19, he attended the Central School of Speech and Drama.His first professional roles were on the stage. In 2005 he made his TV debut in the UK in the teen series Sugar Rush, followed in 2005 by some episodes of Dr. Who.On Broadway, Garfield played Biff in Death of a Salesman.In 2010, Garfield played Eduardo in The Social Network and Tommy in Never Let Me Go, two films that brought him to full international attention. He was nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actor in The Social Network. That year, he was cast as the lead in The Amazing Spider- Man, a character he says has been a hero of his since childhood.Joseph Gordon-LevittJoseph Gordon-Levitt was born in 1981 in Los Angeles to parents Jane Gordon and Dennis Levitt. After working for several years as a child actor, he became well known for his role on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996).Prior tJoseph Gordon-Levitt (Reuters)o that, he had already worked steadily in feature films, debuting in A River Runs Through It.Following his work on 3rd Rock, he took time off from acting to attend Columbia University.In the early 2000s, he began taking on a string of intense dramatic roles in indie films such as Mysterious Skin, Brick, The Lookout and Stop-Loss.By 2009, he was considered one of the leading men of indie cinema with his Golden Globe-nominated role in the comedy-drama (55) Days of Summer. In 2010 he established himself as a mainstream star in Inception.Other formidable films include 50/50, The Dark Knight Rises, Premium Rush, Looper and Lincoln.Jake GyllenhaalJake Gyllenhaal was born in 1980 in Los Angeles. His mother and father are producer/ screenwriter Naomi Foner and director Stephen Gyllenhaal. His Jake Gyllenhaal (Reuters)mother is from a Jewish family, and his father’s ancestry includes Swedish and British.He made his movie debut at 11 in the film City Slickers, playing Billy Crystal’s son. He made an impact in the late 1990s and early 2000s in films such as October Sky (1999) and as the title role in the cult phenomenon psychological thriller Donnie Darko (2001).He followed this with roles encompassing many different genres, including the romantic comedy Bubble Boy, The Good Girl, and the science-fiction blockbuster The Day after Tomorrow.He won critical acclaim for his performance in the 2005 drama Brokeback Mountain, for which he was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. He has since appeared in such films as Zodiac, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and Love & Other Drugs.Daniel RadcliffeKnown to movie audiences since 2001 as Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe was Daniel Radcliffe (Reuters)born in 1989 in London, England, to father Alan Radcliffe, a literary agent, and mother Marcia Gresham, who is a casting director. His father is from a Northern Irish Protestant background, and his mother was born in South Africa to a Jewish family.Radcliffe began performing in small school productions. In 1999 he played young David on TV’s David Copperfield. Soon after, he was cast in the title role in the film in Harry Potter and the Sorcer’s Stone. He went on to star in the sequels Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002); Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004); Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005); and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).After signing a contract to make the fifth Harry Potter movie, he was named Britain’s richest teenager, with a £23 million fortune. At 14, he was the youngest non-royal to have an individual portrait displayed in London’s prestigious National Portrait Gallery. In 2008 he was named one of London’s 1,000 most influential people.In 2007, Radcliffe took on his first stage role in the West End play Equus, which received praise from audiences and critics alike.
