Amanda Peet and her older sister were raised by their parents, Charles [a lawyer] and Penny [a social worker], who later divorced. Born and bred in New York, it could be said that the five-foot-six beauty was destined for showbiz, when at the age of three she jumped onstage during a play. Perhaps it was this fleeting taste of showmanship that prompted her to pursue the performing arts later in her teens. Whatever the case, she was on her way to what would eventually turn out to be a lucrative career. Interestingly, unlike many of her colleagues, Amanda began studying acting more as a hobby than anything else. But she soon discovered she had a real knack for the thespian way. Apparently she wasn't the only one who felt that way. It was while she was majoring in history at Columbia University, that a drama professor convinced her to audition for acting teacher Uta Hagen, with whom she would later go on to study with for a four year period; during which time, she participated in the off-Broadway revival of Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing.
      Voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the World 2000 by People Magazine, Amanda supported herself during the audition phase of her career by waitressing and with the residual checks she received from a Skittles candy commercial she had nabbed.
      Perseverance and hard work paid off when in 1990 she was cast in a guest-starring role on the hit series Law And Order, playing a kidnap victim who later falls for her abductor. Her feature film debut came in 1995 as the girlfriend of a troubled teen's bestfriend in the movie Animal Room. For a while after, Amanda continued to find steady work, but also found herself appearing in a depressingly large number of indie films that were never picked up. It was her turn as the dippsy hit-woman with the heart of gold in the hit comedy The Whole Nine Yards opposite Bruce Willis, that took her from supporting role status to leading lady. Perhaps her wish to star alongside her idol, Meryl Streep, will yet come to pass.
      Whatever the role, it can be said Amanda has always managed to add her own creative spices along with a generous dash of her winning charisma.
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