| BIOGRAPHY
At one point, it would have been hard to define Paris Hilton.
"Career heiress" doesn't cut it; nor does "party
girl" or "high-ranking socialite-cum-model-cum-actress,"
and "American royalty" was arguably too dramatic a label
for a woman whose true breakout role cost less to film than a
night in a budget room at the neighborhood Hilton hotel. Luckily,
as lackluster economies are wont to do, the early 2000s looked
toward the financial elite and borrowed heavily from Lifestyles
of the Rich and Famous in hopes of creating a new rush of money
envy. Enter MTV Cribs, The Osbournes, Rich Girls, VH1's The Fabulous
Life, and Paris Hilton, celebutante.
Heiress of hotel guru Conrad Hilton, Paris became famous for
possessing the ingredients of fame, albeit minus the resumé.
As she grew skinnier, blonder, wilder, and richer, society joyfully
embraced her as gossip fodder and allowed her to adopt a movie-star
mystique while waiving the irksome requirement of having starred
in an actual movie. This is not to say Hilton has no film credits
to her name; in 2001, she landed a cameo role as herself in Ben
Stiller's Zoolander and later stretched her acting chops to play
a rowdy clubber in The Cat in the Hat (2003). Unfortunately for
Hilton, her small role in James Cox's crime thriller Wonderland
that same year was overshadowed by a larger role in an explicit
homemade sex video, which her ex-boyfriend promptly sold to the
salivating Internet hoards.
Interestingly enough, the ensuing lawsuit and barrage of negative
publicity did nothing but bolster the ratings of The Simple Life,
a reality show starring Hilton and fellow heiress Nicole Richie.
The series chronicled Hilton and Ritchie's reactions to the pitfalls
of "simple" living, such as holding a job and shopping
in outlets that don't stock haute couture. While the show could
never quite decide who the novelty was -- the ridiculous rich
girls or "hayseed" townsfolk -- The Simple Life was,
nonetheless, a huge success.
Still basking in the warmth of paparazzi camera flashes across
the globe, Paris Hilton continued looking to further her acting
career. She took on her biggest role to date in 2004's Nine Lives,
a straight-to-video supernatural thriller directed by newcomer
Andrew Getty.
|
FILMOGRAPHY
• Raising Helen (2004)
• Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat (2003)
• Nine Lives (2002)
• Wishman (1992) |
