Sophie Monk

With her start in the auspicious world of reality television, Australian beauty Sophie Monk's career aspirations were across the board. Fortunately for Monk, who put stock in her own versatility, she moved up from the reality pop star of the Aussie band, Bardot, to a solidified Hollywood up-and-comer in films like "Click" (2006) in a matter of years. With a persona that hearkened back to the great, voluptuous screen idols to which her early work alluded, it seemed only a matter of time before her name, much as did her predecessors, would end up on the new "It" girl.

Sophie Charlene Akland Monk was born on Dec. 14, 1979 in England. When she was young, her family relocated to Queensland, Australia, where her parents raised her and siblings Angelique, Lucy and Ben. Even as a girl attending St, Hilda's School, Monk had a habit of telling her teachers about her big plans for the future. She had a penchant for singing and performing early on, but it was not until she hit her teens, that a full-fledged music career opportunity presented itself.

While still in school at Helensvale High, she came across a casting call for female singer-dancer hopefuls. Following up, she ended up auditioning for "Popstars," a local reality documentary series being produced for Channel 7. The talented Monk bested several thousand girls to make it onto the show, which aimed to find five members for its fledgling pop group, Bardot. During her audition, Monk, who worked at Warner Brothers Movie World as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, memorably sang Monroe's rendition of "Happy Birthday Mr. President." When the show was over, Monk had made the cut and Bardot signed with Warner Brothers records.

Bardot's first album, simply entitled Bardot, was released in 2000 and featured the number one single "Poison." At the time, the group members had less of a presence in shaping the image, with hit-makers who had worked with the likes of Kylie Minogue penning the tracks. But by the second album, Play It Like That, released in January 2002, the members, including Monk, were finding their input more integral to the creative process. Two subsequent singles, "A.S.A.P." and "Love Will Find a Way" cracked Australia's mainstream Top 20 charts.

Following the second album, the group fractured amidst rumors of Monk's impending solo career. Months later, Warner Brothers dropped Bardot and the group split up, but Monk quickly found an opportunity to translate her performing skills and visibility into acting. She was in demand by local television producers as a host of different types of programs, but Monk found that she wanted to stretch beyond the persona Bardot had cultivated. Furthering the Marilyn Monroe connection, film director Peter Bogdanovich went insofar as to tap her to play the legendary blonde in ABC's telefilm, "The Mystery of Natalie Wood" (2004), which began filming in Australia in January 2003 and aired in March of the following year. By March 2003, Monk began her solo music career with the album Calendar Girl. The album peaked at #35 on the charts but quickly dropped down the charts.

By 2005, Monk was living in Sydney when she told her skeptical friends and family that she was ready to try her hand at a full-fledged acting career in Los Angeles. Heading to the U.S. in April, it was not long after her arrival in Hollywood before she began landing and acing auditions. In that first month, she was working on the pilot for Fox's "Pool Guys," a California comedy that was shot that month but never developed into a series. Monk carried on, quickly snagging two film roles that another former pop music figure, American model-actress Carmen Electra, was also auditioning for. Though Electra still appeared in the first project, the comedy spoof "Date Movie" (2006), the role of the Paris Hilton-esque Andy that was originally her first choice of roles, went to the fresh-faced Monk. Filming began in August of 2005, two months before a second project went into production. In the second film, "Click" (2006), Monk appeared as the very sexual secretary Stacy opposite one of Hollywood's premiere comic actors, Adam Sandler. That year, Monk had fully arrived when gossip magazines began buzzing about her romance with British movie action hero Jason Statham.

She was now making waves in Hollywood. By February of 2006, Monk had graced the cover of American magazine GQ, cementing her status as both an actress and "It" girl to watch. "Click" was big hit, grossing well over a $100 million dollars when it was released in July 2006, and was followed by the release of "Date Movie" in August. Monk had no time to waste, however. Before both films had even come out, she had won a plum role in writer-director Daniel Waters' long-awaited return to big screen satire, "Sex and Death 101" (2007). As "Click" was entering theaters, she was segueing into the filming of Warner Brothers' "Spring Breakdown" (2008) opposite "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ) veterans Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch. Armed with a new recording contract, Monk was recording new songs for the comedy's soundtrack, with plans to create a new album of material. Closing out the whirlwind year, Monk got engaged during Christmas of 2006 to her longtime boyfriend and tabloid favorite, Benji Madden, guitarist of American rockers, Good Charlotte.