Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet's first effort of the 2000s was the period piece Quills with Geoffrey Rush and Joaquin Phoenix. Inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade, the actress served as somewhat of a “patron saint” of the movie for being the first big name to back it, accepting the role of a chamber maid in the asylum and the carrier of the The Marquis' manuscripts to the underground publishers. Well-received by critics, the film garnered numerous accolades for Winslet, including nominations for SAG and Satellite Awards. The film was a modest art house success, averaging $27,709 per screen its debut weekend, and eventually grossing $18 million internationally.

moreless

Serena Williams

Serena Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. She is of African American heritage and is the youngest of Oracene's five daughters: half-sisters Yetunde (died September 14, 2003), Lyndrea and Isha Price, and older sister Venus. Her mother raised her five daughters as members of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group. When the children were young, the family moved to the Los Angeles suburb of Compton, where Serena Williams started playing tennis at the age of four. Her father home-schooled Serena Williams and her sister Venus. To this end, Serena Williams was and remains coached by both her parents.

moreless

Trish Stratus

As Trish Stratus spent more time in the ring, her wrestling skills and popularity strengthened. Because of this, Trish Stratus was a one-time WWE Hardcore Champion, three-time "WWE Babe of the Year" and was proclaimed "Diva of the Decade". After nearly seven years in the business, Trish Stratus retired from wrestling on September 17, 2006 after winning her seventh WWE Women's Championship, the most in WWE history.

moreless

Salma Hayek

Salma Hayek is a naturalized United States citizen. She dated actor Edward Norton between 1999 and 2003, and then Josh Lucas in 2003. She is a good friend of Spanish actress Penélope Cruz and co-starred with her in the 2006 film Bandidas. Hayek studied at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. Her brother, Sami Hayek, is a designer with his own line of products at Target and clients that include Louis Vuitton, Brad Pitt, and the Mexican Government.

On March 9, 2007, Hayek confirmed she was expecting her first child with PPR CEO François-Henri Pinault. On September 21, 2007, she gave birth to daughter Valentina Paloma Pinault at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. On July 18, 2008, Hayek and Pinault announced the end of their engagement. They later reconciled and were married on Valentine's Day, 2009 in Paris. On April 25, 2009, they were married a second time in Venice. Salma Hayek is also a practitioner of the martial art Krav Maga.

moreless

Natalie Portman

In June 2003, Natalie Portman graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor's degree in psychology. At Harvard, Portman was Alan Dershowitz's research assistant (he thanks her in The Case for Israel) in a psychology lab. While attending Harvard, she was a resident of the Lowell House and wrote a response letter to the Harvard Crimson that was considered very well-written, in response to an anti-Israeli essay.

moreless

Paris Hilton

Hilton founded Heiress Records, a sub-label of Warner Bros. Records, in 2004 and released her self-titled debut album, Paris, under that label on August 22, 2006. Although the album reached number six on the Billboard 200 for a week, its total sales volume has been low - but the first single "Stars Are Blind" was a top ten hit in 17 countries. Allmusic commented that the album was "more fun than anything released by Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson, and a lot fresher, too." As a whole, critical reception was mixed.

moreless