Claire Forlani Biography / Pictures

Claire Forlani (born 1 July 1972) is a British actress of Italian-English descent.

Biography

Claire was born in Twickenham in London, the daughter of Barbara (née Dickinson), who was English, and Pier Forlani, a music manager from Ferrara, Italy. At the age of eleven, Claire entered the Arts Educational School in London, where she began to study acting. During her six years at the school, she also studied dance, which led to performances on stage in The Nutcracker and Orpheus in the Underworld.

Forlani's parents moved to San Francisco in 1993, in order to allow for wider casting opportunities in Hollywood films. Subsequently, Claire was cast in the television mini-series J.F.K.: Reckless Youth and the film Police Academy: Mission to Moscow. In 1995, she played the supporting role of Brandi Svenning in Kevin Smith's Mallrats. In 1996, Claire appeared in a supporting role as Sean Connery's daughter in the blockbuster action movie The Rock. She continued to appear in both widely released and smaller-budget films. Claire was cast in the 1998 film, Deep Rising, but, due to creative conflicts, left the set during the first few days of filming. That same year, she starred with Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black, her most financially successful film. She then appeared in Antitrust, a thriller released in January 2001 to mixed reviews. Claire was the new face of L'Oréal in 2001. She has been ranked Ranked #51 (2000) and #89 (2001) in Stuff magazine's 100 Sexiest Women, #85 (2001) in FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women and was slotted in Loaded's Hot 100 Babes. In 2003, she co-starred with Jackie Chan in The Medallion.

In Autumn 2006, Claire joined the cast of CSI: New York in a recurring role as a medical examiner, Dr. Peyton Driscoll. In February 2007, Claire portrayed Tori Bodeen in the movie version of Nora Roberts's bestselling book Carolina Moon. She has recently been in successful movies such as Flashbacks of a Fool, where she filmed beside Daniel Craig.

Claire has dated actors Benicio del Toro, John Cusack (between 1997 and 1998), Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves and Ben Stiller (between 1998 and 1999). In June 2007, Claire married actor Dougray Scott.