Kristin Kreuk Biography / Pictures

Kristin Kreuk is a Canadian actress, born December 30 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her father is of Dutch ancestry and her mother is of Chinese ancestry. Her first role was in a Canadian television soap opera, Edgemont. She began an advertising campaign as a model for Neutrogena in 2002, and appeared in a made-for-TV movie adaptation of Snow White.

Biography

By December 2003 she was still in Edgemont, and also playing the part of Lana Lang in the television series Smallville.

Kristin was planning to study either psychology, environmental science, or forensic science at Simon Fraser University when a casting director for the CBC TV series Edgemont ringed up Eric Hamber  Secondary School, looking for an exotic-looking girl to play the part of a Chinese Canadian, Laurel Yeung on the Vancouver-shot show. Although she is not a Chinese Canadian in reality, she is considered an Eurasian. But many Eurasian or multiracial actors don't mind playing other races. Kreuk, who had no previous experience in acting other than musicals at her high school, was convinced to audition for the role by her drama teacher. Much to her surprise, she won the part.

After shooting the first season of Edgemont (a teen soap opera set at a Vancouver-area high school) and getting herself an agent, Kreuk landed the lead role of Snow White in a TV movie entitled Snow White: The Fairest of Them All. The film, shot in Vancouver, also starred actress Miranda Richardson. It aired on ABC on March 17, 2002.

After Snow White, Kristin Kreuk's agent sent an audition tape to movie screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who at the time were putting together the cast of a show they had created for the WB Network entitled Smallville. The program (which was slated to be shot in Vancouver) was to revolve around the life of teenager Clark Kent, alias Superboy. Gough and Millar called Kreuk to the WB's studios in Burbank, California to audition for the role of Clark Kent's pre-Lois Lane love, Lana Lang. Originally, Kreuk was not so sure about auditioning for the Lana role, as the character was to be a popular, gorgeous cheerleader and so she assumed that the part would be that of a shallow "idiot". However, upon reading the "graveyard scene" from the pilot, she was so impressed that when she was offered the role, she immediately accepted it.

The executives at Neutrogena decided to make her the cover girl for their new worldwide ad campaign; in this regard Kreuk followed in the footsteps of fellow teen stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Mandy Moore.

In 2003, Kristin Kreuk wrapped up her role on Edgemont. She was also tapped for her first feature film role in the summer of 2003; she made a cameo appearance in the movie Eurotrip, starring Scott Mechlowicz and Michelle Trachtenberg. The film, shot in Prague, Czech Republic, also featured cameos by Matt Damon and Lucy Lawless. It debuted in theatres on February 20, 2004.

In the summer of 2004, Kristin Kreuk joined the cast of the Sci Fi Channel miniseries Legend of Earthsea, starring Shawn Ashmore and Danny Glover and based on the novels by Ursula K. Le Guin. Her character, Tenar, is the pupil of High Priestess Thar of the Tombs of Atuan (played by Isabella Rossellini) and also the love interest of Ashmore's character. The two-part miniseries, filmed in Vancouver, was directed by Rob Lieberman and co-produced by Lawrence Bender of Pulp Fiction fame. It aired on December 13, 2004.

In early 2005, Kristin Kreuk signed on to the cast of the independent feature film Partition, set to begin shooting in Vancouver and Chandigarh, India in May of that year. She will be playing the role of Naseem, a vulnerable 17-year-old girl whose world is shattered by the trauma of the Partition of India in 1947, but falls in love with ex-British Indian Army officer Gian Singh (played by Jimi Mistry). Neve Campbell also stars in the film, which is directed by Vic Sarin and is a co-production between Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Facts and stats Kristin Kreuk

• Height: 5'4" (163 cm)
• Hair: Dark Brown
• Ethnicity: Dutch, Chinese, Indonesian
• Eyes: Hazel
• She is a Capricorn
• Born and raised in Vancouver, BC
• Spokesmodel of Neutrogena
• Ranked #67 on the 2005 Maxim Hot 100 list
• Voted #24 in FHM's 100 S--iest Women list [2003]
• Ranked #71 in FHM's S--iest Girls of 2002 poll, American edition. [June 2002]
• Ranked #10 in FHM's 100 S--iest Girls of 2002 poll, U.K. edition. [June 2002]
• Was initally planning to go to university for forensic studies.
• Attended Eric Hamber Secondary School