The Classic Liberal Blog

It's Infamous Rule 5 Saturday, of "How to Get a Million Hits on Your Blog in Less Than a Year!"

If you're not reading The Other McCain, you're not paying attention! I'm just sayin' ... as he says, "Everybody Likes a Pretty Girl!" Who can argue with such wisdom? This week brings you, Rule 5 Super Fox Rose McGowen!

Rose Arianna McGowan (36-24-35) was born on September 5, 1973) in Florence, Italy, to American parents Daniel and Terri McGowan, and is the second-eldest of six children (plus two half-siblings).

Her father Daniel was the leader of a chapter of the Children of God cult until 1978. So, Rose spent her early childhood amid the group's communes, traveling Europe with her parents.  Through her father's art contacts in Italy, McGowan became a child model and appeared in Vogue Bambini and various other Italian magazines.

At 10 years old, Rose McGowen moved with her father to Washington State after her parents divorced, not able to speak a word of English.  During her formative years with her father in Seattle, Rose attended Roosevelt High School and Nova Alternative High School.  At age 15 and now fluent in English however, Rose legally emancipated herself from her parents.  She then moved to Oregon and then to Gig Harbor, Washington.

Her first role was a bit part in the Pauley Shore movie Encino Man (1992), but her break out performance was as "Amy Blue" in The Doom Generation (1995), which earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination for a role that Jordan Ladd was originally slated to play. Then she teamed up with Pauley Shore again in Bio Dome (1996), and went blonde for a role in Scream (1996). She was nominated for an MTV movie award for her role in Jawbreaker (1999), playing a snooty high school student who tries to cover up a classmate's murder.

McGowen has appeared in many independent films during her career.  These roles include Southie, Going All the Way, and Lewis & Clark & George. In 1997, she appeared in the critically acclaimed short Seed, directed by San Francisco-born filmmaker Karin Thayer, and played opposite Peter O'Toole in the 1998 film adaptation of the Dean Koontz novel Phantoms.

In May 2005, McGowan portrayed actress/singer Ann-Margret in Elvis, a Golden Globe-winning CBS mini-series about the life of Elvis Presley, as well as lent her voice to the video game Darkwatch as a femme fatale named Tala.  In 2006, McGowan had a small role in Brian De Palma's Academy Award-nominated film The Black Dahlia.

In 2007, Rose McGowen starred in the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double-feature Grindhouse. Cast in utterly divergent roles, McGowan appears in both portions of the film, as go-go dancing Cherry Darling in Planet Terror, and as Pam in Death Proof.  Also in 2007, McGowan was cast in Fifty Dead Men Walking. Originally titled Man on the Run, filming started later in October 2007 in Northern Ireland, and went on until December 2007.

According to Variety, McGowan signed on to play B-movie staple Susan Cabot in the upcoming film Black Oasis. Director Stephan Elliott (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) has penned and will direct the film based on a Premiere article by John H. Richardson.  Elle Magazine originally reported that Rose McGowan has been signed to play the title role in the future remake of Barbarella by Robert Rodriguez, fending off strong competition from other actresses including Sienna Miller.  The film is said to involve close friend Quentin Tarantino as a member of the crew.

In June 2008, USA Today reported that McGowan had been signed to play the title role in a third project with Robert Rodriguez (who takes on the role of the film's producer), known as Red Sonja, based on the comic book character of the same name.  Red Sonja was inspired by a character named Red Sonya (with a "y") originally created in 1934 by Robert E. Howard. Rodriguez described the protagonist as "whip-smart...sexy and extremely strong."