Rachael Leigh Cook (born October 4, 1979 the most financially successful film of her career. In 2000, she starred opposite Elijah Wood in the well-received The Bumblebee Flies Anyway. She took the lead role in 2001's Josie and the Pussycats, which turned out to be a box office failure, although it has since become a cult classic.
In 2000, she was the cover girl for the U.S. March/April issue of FHM. She also starred in the music video for New Found Glory's 2000 single "Dressed to Kill". In 2002, she was ranked No. 26 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World". In 2003, she starred in the film 11:14 as Cheri. She also appeared as a main cast member in the 2005 television miniseries Into the West produced by Steven Spielberg. In 2006, she appeared in the music video for Daniel Powter's "Love You Lately".
In 2007, Cook was seen in the big screen adaptation of Nancy Drew. She played the female lead in the independent sports drama The Final Season. She has appeared in numerous episodes of the Seth Green comedies Titan Maximum and Robot Chicken. In 2008, she guest-starred as Abigail Lytar in two third-season episodes of the USA Network series Psych. She reprised the role in the following season.
In February 2010, Cook signed on to play the female lead role in Fox TV's comedy pilot Nirvana. She had a role in the Western horror film Vampire, the English-language feature debut of Japanese director Iwai Shunji. In 2012, Cook signed on to play the female lead role in the TNT crime drama series Perception opposite Eric McCormack. She starred in the independent film Broken Kingdom, which was directed by her husband Daniel Gillies. She also appeared in a Funny or Die sketch with Chad Michael Murray.
thumb|180px|Cook in 2018
Cook starred in the Hallmark Channel original film Summer Love in 2016. In the same year, she starred in another Hallmark film, Autumn In the Vineyard, followed by its sequel Summer in the Vineyard in 2017. 2017 also saw Cook develop, star and executive produce the Hallmark Channel film Frozen in Love, which was broadcast in January 2018 as part of the channel's 'Winterfest' season of programming.
Cook provided the voice for Chelsea Cunningham on the Kids' WB animated series Batman Beyond and in the animated film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Cook voiced Tifa Lockhart in the video games Kingdom Hearts II, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, as well as the film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. In 2011, she voiced the character of Jaesa Willsaam in the MMO game, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Cook's latest voice-over role is for the video game Yakuza in which she voices the role of Reina. In 2020 Cook appeared in the fifteenth season of Criminal Minds playing the role of Max in the final episodes of the series.
Cook owns her own production company, Ben's Sister Productions (in reference to her younger brother Ben Cook). She produced and starred in the film Love, Guaranteed, which debuted on Netflix on September 3, 2020.
Public service
Cook first gained national attention in 1997, when she was featured in an updated This Is Your Brain on Drugs public service announcement (PSA) television advertisement, in which she proceeds to destroy a kitchen with a frying pan.
In June 2012, she began to award a small scholarship to students between ages 14 and 19. The scholarship helps pay for career classes, mentoring programs, and other school fees.
In 2017, Rachael Leigh Cook reprised her "This Is Your Brain on Drugs" role twenty years later for a PSA by the Drug Policy Alliance critiquing the war on drugs and its alleged contribution to mass incarceration, societal racism and poverty. The ad was posted to YouTube on April 20, 2017, in recognition of 4/20.
Personal life
Cook married New Zealand-Canadian actor Daniel Gillies on August 8, 2004, saying: "We got engaged after dating for maybe five months and we got married a couple of months after that". They have two children: a daughter born in September 2013 and a son born in April 2015. The couple separated in June 2019 and divorced in 2021.
As of July 2025, Cook has been dating American actor, Brandon Routh.
Cook is a vegetarian.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" |1995
|'
|Mary Anne Spier
|
|-
|Tom and Huck
|Becky Thatcher
|
|-
|1996
|Carpool
|Kayla
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1997
|'
|Young Jackie-O
|
|-
|Country Justice
|Emma Baker
|
|-
|The Eighteenth Angel
|Lucy Stanton
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1998
|All I Wanna Do
|Abigail "Abby" Sawyer
|
|-
|'
|Dolores
|
|-
|Living Out Loud
|Teenage Judith Moore
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1999
|'
|Vera Johnson
|
|-
|She's All That
|Laney Boggs
|
|-
|'
|Cassie
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |2000
|Sally
|Beth
|
|-
|Get Carter
|Doreen Carter
|
|-
|Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
|Chelsea Cunningham
|Voice; direct-to-video
|-
| rowspan="5" |2001
|Antitrust
|Lisa Calighan
|
|-
|Blow Dry
|Christina Robertson
|
|-
|Texas Rangers
|Caroline Dukes
|
|-
|Josie and the Pussycats
|Josie McCoy
|
|-
|Tangled
|Jenny Kelley
|
|-
|2002
|29 Palms
|The Waitress
|
|-
| rowspan="5" |2003
|Bookies
|Hunter
|
|-
|Scorched
|Shmally
|
|-
|'
|Ruthie
|
|-
|11:14
|Cheri
|
|-
|Tempo
|Jenny Travile
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2004
|Stateside
|Dori Lawrence
|
|-
|American Crime
|Jesse St. Claire
|Direct-to-video
|-
|2005
|Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
|Tifa Lockhart
|Voice
|-
|2011
|Stealing Paradise
|Amanda Collier
|TV movie
|-
|2012
|Left to Die
|Tammi Chase
|TV movie
|-
|2012–2015
|Perception
|Kate Moretti
|Main cast
|-
|2014
|'
|
|TV movie
|-
| rowspan="2" |2016
|Summer Love
|Maya Sulliway
|TV movie
|-
|Autumn in the Vineyard
|Frankie Baldwin
|TV movie
|-
|2017
|Summer in the Vineyard
|Frankie Baldwin
|TV movie
|-
|2018
|Frozen in Love
|Mary Campbell
|TV movie
|-
| rowspan="3" |2019
|Valentine in the Vineyard
|Frankie Baldwin
|TV movie
|-
|A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas
|Willow Petersen
|TV movie
|-
|Liza on Demand
|Rachael Leigh Cook
|Episode: "New Year's Eve: Part 1"
"New Year's Eve: Part 2"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2020
|Criminal Minds
|Maxine
|2 episodes
|-
|Cross Country Christmas
|Lina
|TV movie
|-
|2021
|Tis the Season to Be Merry
|Merry Griffin
|TV movie
|-
|2023
|Rescuing Christmas
|Erin
|TV movie
|-
|2025
|Sisterhood Inc.
|Megan
|TV movie
|-
|2026
|Caught by Love
|Annie Collins
|TV movie
|}
Music videos
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#B0C4DE;"
! Year
! Title
! Artist
|-
|1999
| "Kiss Me"
| Sixpence None the Richer
|-
| 2001
| "Dressed to Kill"
| New Found Glory
|-
| 2006
| "Love You Lately"
| Daniel Powter
|-
|2013
|"The UniCorps Wants You!"
|Team Unicorn
|-
| 2017
| "Young Dumb & Broke"
| Khalid
|-
|}
Video games
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" |2005
|Yakuza
|Reina
|
|-
| Sally
| New York International Independent Film & Video Festival
| Best Actress
|
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 2001
| Herself
| Young Hollywood Awards
| Superstar of Tomorrow – Female
|
|
|-
| Josie and the Pussycats
| Teen Choice Awards
| Film – Choice Actress
|
|
|-
| 2006
| Into the West
| Western Heritage Awards
| Television Feature Film <small>(Shared with cast)</small>
|
|
|}