Claire Forlani


Actor

About

Birth Place
London, England, GB
Born
December 17, 1971

Biography

With her sensuous lips, high forehead, and piercing eyes, Claire Forlani is a stunning beauty, and the London native, who moved with her family to Northern California just shy of her 21st birthday, has had a quick rise up the pecking order in Hollywood. Forlani made eight films in four years before being chosen for the plum female lead opposite Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins in "Meet Joe ...

Family & Companions

Benicio Del Toro
Companion
Actor. Reportedly dated during filming of "Basquiat" (1996).
John Cusack
Companion
Actor. Dated c. 1997-98.
Ben Stiller
Companion
Actor. Dated c. 1998-99.

Biography

With her sensuous lips, high forehead, and piercing eyes, Claire Forlani is a stunning beauty, and the London native, who moved with her family to Northern California just shy of her 21st birthday, has had a quick rise up the pecking order in Hollywood. Forlani made eight films in four years before being chosen for the plum female lead opposite Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins in "Meet Joe Black" (1998). Her first role of note in a Hollywood film came in 1994's "Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow" in which she played an interpreter for the visiting cops. She went on to play Brandi, the girlfriend to Jeremy London who ditches plans to travel with him in order to appear on a TV dating show in Kevin Smith's uneven "Mallrats" (1995) and had a small but memorable role as Sean Connery's angry daughter in "The Rock" (1996). Julian Schnabel cast the rising star as the waitress-girlfriend of the titular artist in his biopic "Basquiat" (1996) and she subsequently offered a strong turn as the wrist-slashing girlfriend of beat poet Neal Cassady in "The Last Time I Committed Suicide" (1997). The busy actress also co-starred with Rob Morrow and Jake Weber in the romantic drama "Into My Heart/Elements" (1998).

A self-confessed artist with principle, Forlani has been selective in her roles and has not been afraid to walk away from a project. She was fired from the action thriller "Deep Rising" after she refused to make adjustments in her character development to suit director Stephen Sommers' vision. On the small screen, she played a woman who catches the eye of the future president in "JFK: Reckless Youth" (ABC, 1993), and could be seen briefly as a woman in a restaurant in Laura Dern's directorial debut, "The Gift," a short film that aired on Showtime in 1994. Additionally. Forlani portrayed a Victorian era aristocrat who falls for a commoner in the period piece "Basil" (Romance Classics, 1998).

After a small but memorable role in "Mystery Men" (1999), she teamed with Freddie Prinze Jr. for the romantic comedy "Boys and Girls" (2000) and went blonde to co-star in the drama "Anti-Trust" (2001). Forlani toiled in smaller projects for a while, resurfacing in the Polish brothers' art house hit "Northfork" (2003) as one of the townspeople who are about to see their hometown flooded by the arrival of a hydroelectric dam. The actress also made for a comely sidekick/love interest for Jackie Chan in the English language Hong Kong actioner "The Medallion" (2003), and played the wife of iconic golf champion Bobby Jones (Jim Caviezel) in "Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius" (2004). She next appeared in the brutally violent sports drama, "Green Street Hooligans" (2005), playing the sister of an expelled Harvard student (Elijah Woods) who flees to her home in England and is introduced to the underground world of football hooliganism by her brother-in-law (Charlie Hunnam).

Life Events

1991

Acted in two episodes of the British children's series "The Press Gang"

1993

Feature film debut in "Gypsy Eyes"; released on video in USA as "C.I.A. Trackdown"

1993

Made American TV debut in the ABC miniseries "JFK: Reckless Youth"

1993

Moved with family to the Berkeley, California area

1994

Played an interpreter in "Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow"

1995

Had key role as Jeremy London's girlfriend in "Mallrats"

1996

Cast as the love interest of the title character in "Basquiat"

1996

Played Sean Connery's daughter in "The Rock"

1996

Was fired from "Deep Rising"

1998

Played a cheating wife in the drama "Elements/Into My Heart" (released theatrically in 2000)

1998

Played female lead opposite Brad Pitt in "Meet Joe Black"

1999

Co-starred in "Mystery Men"

2000

Starred opposite Freddie Prinze Jr. in the comedy "Boys and Girls"

2001

Had pivotal supporting role in "Antitrust"

2001

Selected as the new face of L'Oreal cosmetics

2003

Co-starred with Samo Hung and Jackie Chan in "The Medallion"

2004

Cast as the wife of golf legend Bobby Jones, played by Jim Caviezel in the film "Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius"

2005

Portrayed Elijah Wood's sister in "Green Street Hooligans" a film about the underworld of British football hooliganism

2006

Joined the cast of "CSI: NY" (CBS) as the investigative team's new medical examiner, Dr. Peyton Driscoll

2006

Cast in Uwe Boll's "Dungeon Siege"

2007

Co-starred with Jamie Bell in the Scottish drama "Mister Foe"

Family

Pier Forlani
Father
Music manager. Italian.
Barbara Forlani
Mother
English; died of cancer in October 1998.

Companions

Benicio Del Toro
Companion
Actor. Reportedly dated during filming of "Basquiat" (1996).
John Cusack
Companion
Actor. Dated c. 1997-98.
Ben Stiller
Companion
Actor. Dated c. 1998-99.

Bibliography