New Hollywood 2011

Jessica Ann Simpson was born in Abilene, Texas, on July 10, 1980, and grew up in the small town of Richardson. Her life was textbook happy and included her father Joe, who was a psychologist and also served as youth minister in the local Baptist church (he later went on to not only become Jessica's manager, but her sister's manager as well).

With this background, it was only normal for young Jessica to participate in church activities and so she sang in the choir. Such was her gift that at the age of 12, she auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club.

When she reached the finals, she froze and choked completely. Unfortunately, she didn't get the job.

jessica simpson and tommy mottola

She returned to Richardson, Texas, and bit into the Christian music she had been brought up with. Her father Joe (now her manager) took his daughter on the road, where they worked the Christian Youth Conference circuit. Jessica Simpson sang and sold her home-recorded album after performances. This was a winning formula and while she was still in junior high, Jessica was performing with famous gospel acts like Kirk Franklin and Ce Ce Winans.

It wasn't only Christian music fans who got into her music; pop lovers everywhere were being charmed by her voice. This was just the encouragement Jessica needed to pursue a middle-of-the-road pop music career. Sure enough, news of Jessica's success reached important people in the industry. Tommy Mottola of Columbia Records/Sony Music was one of them and he was stunned by Jessica Simpson's voice and skills.

jessica simpson's sweet kisses

Mottola believed Jessica Simpson had the talent to reach mainstream audiences. Still, Jessica Simpson made it clear that she would only be onboard if she could maintain her identity. Luckily, Mottola understood what she believed in and supported her decision.

After signing up with the music giant, her debut album, Sweet Kisses, was released in 1999, giving way to the singles "I Wanna Love You Forever" and "I Think I'm In Love With You." She then hit the road and showed audiences worldwide what the Jessica Simpson craze was all about.

Simpson joined boy band 98 Degrees on its tour and it didn't take long for her to fall in love with one of its members, Nick Lachey. Their budding romance only helped the release of their duet, "Where You Are," off Sweet Kisses.

In June 2001, her sophomore album Irresistible was released. The title track was a smash hit and it went as high as No. 3 on the Top 40 chart. After some remixes, her third album In This Skin was released in August 2003. However, Jessica Simpson's life was about to take a drastic turn.

jessica simpson on mtv's newlyweds

After a short breakup, Jessica and Nick finally got married in October 2002, and the celebrity marriage was rejoiced in gossip columns everywhere. As a result, MTV offered the couple a reality show based on their everyday life as a couple, much like The Osbournes.

The deal was struck and August 2003 marked the debut of Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica. Although the show overshadowed Jessica Simpson's new album, it became an incredible hit and it was picked up for second and third seasons.

Since the world couldn't seem to get enough of their goofy antics, the couple was offered a TV variety special reminiscent of The Sonny and Cher Show.

jessica simpson in the dukes of hazzard

Around the time of her marriage to Nick, Jessica Simpson appeared in three episodes of That '70s Show (between 2002 and 2003) as Kelso's love interest. She also appeared on The Twilight Zone in 2002, all of which led the way for her 2005 big-screen debut wearing sexy "Daisy Dukes" in the film version of The Dukes of Hazzard (costarring Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott). The film coincided with the release of Jessica Simpson's remake of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking." In 2006, she appeared in Dane Cook's film Employee of the Month.

jessica simpson in a public affair

At the dawn of Jessica Simpson's budding film career she and Nick Lachey filed for divorce, which was finalized in June 2005 on the basis of irreconcilable differences. On the heals of her divorce, she released her fifth album, A Public Affair, in 2006.

jessica simpson is no. 47 on 2008 top 99 and no. 70 in 2009 top 99

In 2006, Jessica Simpson started dating musician John Mayer and they were together for over nine months. The couple hooked up at Christina Aguilera's New Year's Eve party and were spotted months later as affectionate as can be at a post-Grammy bash. They split up in May 2007. And in November 2007, Jessica Simpson began dating Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

She signed on to take the lead in two 2008 movies -- The Love Guru and Major Movie Star -- and although both of those movies were critically panned, she has stayed true to her music roots and released a country album, Do You Know.

Do You Know has become a hit on the country charts, but during her tour supporting the album she started getting criticized in the tabloids for having gained weight. What started out as a petty observation escalated into a full-on media battle, leading to numerous emotional appearances for Jessica while she battled the criticism about her curves.

Despite the scrutiny and because of all her hard work and penchant for staying in the spotlight, the beautiful and curvaceous Jessica Simpson ranked at No. 70 on AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2009 list. In the summer of 2009, Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson ended their relationship.

jessica simpson is "sexual napalm"

After coming in at No. 82 on AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2010, Jessica Simpson was set to make her return to the spotlight with the March premiere of her VH1 docu-series The Price of Beauty, about the lengths women go to around the world to meet their respective culture's standard of beauty. For better or for worse, Simpson's ex-boyfriend John Mayer beat her to the punch when he told Playboy magazine in an interview that Simpson was "sexual napalm." Simpson responded to Mayer's remarks on Oprah by saying that, she doesn't “want people to know how [she’s] in bed.” Fair enough.

You'd never guess that Emma Watson spent the first five years of her life in Paris, thanks to her upper-crust British accent. When her parents, both British lawyers working in France, divorced in 1995, Emma moved with her mother Jacqueline and younger brother Alex to Oxfordshire, England. While growing up, the aspiring actress learned to sing, dance and act at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts.

emma watson gets cast in harry potter and the sorcerer's stone

Emma Watson starred in a number of school plays from age six to nine, but no films of the Hollywood variety. In fact, she had no films at all on her resume. When casting began for the film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Emma's theater teacher directed casting agents to the budding actress. Eight auditions later and Watson, along with her then-future castmates Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, landed the leading roles that would soon change the course of their lives. Sure, that might sound cliche, but when you're nine years old and you star in the highest grossing film of the year, life takes you by the hand and says, "Guess what, you're not going to be like anyone else you've known up until this point. Take a mental picture now and brace yourself."

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone went on to make $975 million worldwide, en route to becoming one of the most lucrative movies of all time. Emma Watson reclaimed her role as bookworm Hermione for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). How many people get to watch not only themselves but their character grow up on camera?

emma watson and teen vogue

Along the way, Emma Watson has been featured on the cover of Teen Vogue a total of three times, acted with luminaries like Richard Harris and Gary Oldman and has become a regular on the talk show circuit. In 2007, she starred in the fifth installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

emma watson in harry potter and the half-blood prince

After lending her voice to the animated flick The Tale of Despereaux, which costarred Dustin Hoffman, Sigourney Weaver and Matthew Broderick, Emma Watson began Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which came out in July of 2009. Prior to the opening of The Half-Blood Prince, the Potter flicks had already taken in over $4.5 billion worth of ticket sales.

emma watson finishes filming the harry potter series

Emma Watson recently wrapped up filming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (out in 2010) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (out in 2011). Where will you see her post-Potter? University, most likely. "Until something comes along that I feel as strongly about as I did Hermione -- like, I felt that it was life or death -- I don't want to act again," says the young actress who plans to study English literature and art at an Ivy League school this fall.

emma watson and burberry

Emma Watson won't be completely out of the limelight any time soon, and not just because Harry Potter films will be in theaters until 2011. Emma will star in Burberry's Fall/Winter 2009, shot by none other than world-renowned photographer Mario Testino.

Gaining more and more attention as a style icon, one of Emma Watson's favorite fashion houses is Chanel and, given that she herself admits she has enough money never to work again, we can understand why. The actress had the opportunity to meet Chanel's head honcho, the eccentric Karl Lagerfeld, when he recently photographed her for French magazine. "I'd met Karl a few times before, at parties or something where we really couldn't talk," says Emma. "But this was a dream come true." Yes, she gets to call him "Karl."