Alicia Silverstone

Biography of Alicia Silverstone

Alicia Silverstone was born on October 4, 1976 in San Francisco, California. She is an American actress. She gained notoriety in the 1990s through the film Clueless and as Batgirl in Batman & Robin and through her appearances in three music videos for the band Aerosmith.

Silverstone's first role was an appearance in the eleventh episode of the fifth season of the television series The Wonder Years in 1992 as Jessica. She had her first film role in the film The Crush a year later. To circumvent child labor regulations, Silverstone successfully applied for legal independence at the age of 15. She received two MTV Movie Awards for the film. It was at this awards ceremony that she caught the attention of Steven Tyler, the lead singer of the rock band Aerosmith, which earned her roles in three of the band's video clips - on the songs Cryin', Amazing and Crazy. In the latter video, she starred alongside Liv Tyler, the singer's daughter.

Alicia Silverstone had her acting breakthrough in 1995 with the comedy Clueless, In which she became the typical example of the Californian teenager. In the same year she was also seen in the novel adaptation The Babysitter.

In 1997 she played Batgirl in the fourth Batman film Batman & Robin alongside George Clooney. The film received mostly bad reviews and Silverstone was awarded the negative Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress. She also had a starring role in the comedy Excess Baggage alongside Benicio del Toro and Christopher Walken. For the first time she was also active as a producer. In 1999, she starred opposite Brendan Fraser in the romantic comedy Blast from the Past.

In 2000, she starred in the Shakespearean adaptation of Love's Labors Lost (directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh). In the film, she also had to sing and dance. From 2001 she lent her voice to the cartoon character Sharon Spitz in the series Braceface and received a nomination for the Emmy television award in 2002.

In 2002 she made her Broadway debut as Elaine Robinson in the play The Graduate opposite Kathleen Turner. A year later she played the lead role of a young lawyer in the series Miss Match. The series received good reviews and Silverstone was nominated for a Golden Globe, however it was not a success and was canceled after one season. In 2004 she starred opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar in the hit comedy Scooby Doo 2 and in 2005 played a hairdresser in Beauty Shop.

In 2006, Silverstone starred as Jack Starbright in Stormbreaker alongside Ewan McGregor and Mickey Rourke. The film is based on the novel The Mystery of Port West by Anthony Horowitz from the Alex Rider book series. In 2008, she had a cameo in the comedy Tropic Thunder.

From 2009 to 2010 she was on stage for the play Time Stands Still. The piece and Silverstone's performance were well received. In 2010 she left the play to focus on her film career. Her role as Mandy was recast with Christina Ricci.

In 2010, she played a teacher in the teen comedy The Art of Getting By. In the same year she shot the vampire film Vamps alongside Sigourney Weaver, which, however, only found its way into the cinema two years later.This is her second film since Clueless, directed by Amy Heckerling. She also starred alongside Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Garner in the drama Butter, which was also released in American cinemas in 2012.

In 2012, Silverstone had a recurring role on the series Suburgatory alongside fellow Clueless star Jeremy Sisto. In 2013, she directed the series pilot HR. Silverstone took on the role of former beauty queen Laurel in Ass Backwards (2013). The comedy was screened at a number of film festivals in 2013.

For years, Silverstone has been one of the prominent faces of PeTA campaigns promoting animal rights and veganism. In 2007, for example, she appeared naked in a commercial and on posters for the animal welfare organization, and in 2016 she again had herself photographed naked for a campaign against wearing wool. Silverstone has been a vegan since 1998 and was named PeTA's Sexiest Female Vegetarian in 2004.

In June 2005 she married Christopher Jarecki, singer of the music group S.T.U.N.The couple lived in Los Angeles and had a son in May 2011 and divorced in 2018.