- published: 10 Aug 2013
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Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meaning "high" or "noble". For example, the element bre means "hill"; which could be transferred to mean "eminence" or "exalted one". The name is quite popular in Ireland, on account of Brian Boru, a 10th-century king of Ireland. The name was also quite popular in East Anglia during the Middle Ages. This is because the name was introduced to England by Bretons following the Norman Conquest. Bretons also settled in Ireland along with the Normans in the 12th century, and 'their' name was mingled with the 'Irish' version. Also, in the north-west of England, the 'Irish' name was introduced by Scandinavian settlers from Ireland. Within the Gaelic speaking areas of Scotland, the name was at first only used by professional families of Irish origin. It was the fourth most popular male name in England and Wales in 1934, but a sharp decline followed over the remainder of the 20th century and by 1994 it had fallen out of the top 100. It retained its popularity in the United States for longer; its most popular period there was from 1968–1979 when it consistently ranked between eighth and tenth.
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress and singer. After several stage roles, Hathaway appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She came to prominence after playing Mia Thermopolis in the Disney film The Princess Diaries (2001) and in its 2004 sequel. Since then, Hathaway has starred in dramatic films such as the 2005 movies Havoc and Brokeback Mountain. She has also starred in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006 and in Becoming Jane (2007) as Jane Austen and also in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Rises (2012) as Selina Kyle/The Cat, and Interstellar (2014).
In 2008, she won several awards for her performance in Rachel Getting Married, also earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. In 2010, she starred in the box office hits Valentine's Day, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, and Love and Other Drugs and won an Emmy Award for her voice-over performance on The Simpsons. In 2011, she had a voice role in the animated film Rio. In 2012, she portrayed Selina Kyle/Catwoman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises and Fantine in Tom Hooper's Les Misérables. Her performance in the latter earned her rave reviews and several accolades, including the Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award, the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress, producer, and businesswoman. She is the daughter of actor John Aniston and actress Nancy Dow. Aniston gained worldwide recognition for portraying Rachel Green on the popular television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), a role which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. The character was widely popular during the airing of the series and became recognized as one of the 100 greatest female characters in United States television.
Aniston has played the female protagonist in a number of comedies and romantic comedy films. Her box office hits include Bruce Almighty (2003), The Break-Up (2006), Marley & Me (2008), Just Go with It (2011), Horrible Bosses (2011) and We're the Millers (2013), each of which have grossed over US$200 million in worldwide receipts. Her most critically acclaimed roles were in The Good Girl (2002), for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, and the drama Cake (2014), for which she received nominations for the Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. Her other films include Along Came Polly (2004) and He's Just Not That Into You (2009). In 2008, she co-founded the production company Echo Films.
Natalie Portman (born Neta-Lee Hershlag; Hebrew: נטע-לי הרשלג; June 9, 1981) is an actress, film producer and film director with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was in the 1994 action thriller Léon: The Professional, opposite Jean Reno, but mainstream success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (released in 1999, 2002 and 2005).
Born in Jerusalem to an Israeli father and American mother, Portman grew up in the eastern United States from the age of three. She studied dancing and acting in New York, and starred in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace while still at high school on Long Island. In 1999, Portman enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology, alongside her work as an actress; she completed a bachelor's degree in 2003. During her studies she starred in a second Star Wars film and opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull in 2001.
Portman starred in the 2004 drama Closer, appeared in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith the following year, and won a Constellation Award for Best Female Performance and a Saturn Award for Best Actress for her starring role in the political thriller V for Vendetta (2006). She played leading roles in the historical dramas Goya's Ghosts (2006) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), and also appeared in Thor (2011) and its 2013 sequel. In 2010, Portman starred in the psychological horror film Black Swan. Her performance received widespread critical acclaim and she earned her first Academy Award for Best Actress, her second Golden Globe Award, the SAG Award, the BAFTA Award and the BFCA Award in 2011.
Taylor Michel Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American actress, musician and model. She is known for portraying the character of Jenny Humphrey on the CW television series Gossip Girl (2007–12) and Cindy Lou Who in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). She fronts the rock band The Pretty Reckless.
Taylor Momsen was born on July 26, 1993, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents are Michael and Collette Momsen and she has a younger sister, Sloane Momsen, who is also an actress. She has Russian ancestry. She was raised Roman Catholic and attended Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School for elementary school and later Herbert Hoover Middle School in Potomac, Maryland. She studied dance at the Center of Creative Arts in St. Louis.
Momsen was signed with Ford Models at a young age: "My parents signed me up with Ford [Modeling] at the age of 2. No 2-year-old wants to be working, but I had no choice. My whole life, I was in and out of school. I didn’t have friends. I was working constantly and I didn’t have a real life." She began acting professionally at three years of age in a 1997 national commercial for Shake 'n Bake. She was then cast in The Prophet's Game.