Shannon Marie Kahololani Sossamon[Shannyn Sossamon Biography (1979-)] (born
October 3,
1978), better known as
Shannyn Sossamon, is an
American actress,
musician,
dancer,
DJ, and former
model. She is perhaps best known for her roles in
A Knight's Tale,
The Rules of Attraction,
40 Days and 40 Nights and
One Missed Call.
Early life
Sossamon was born in
Honolulu,
Hawaii, the daughter of Sherry Sossamon, a
nurse, and Todd Lindberg; her mother later re-married to Randy Goldstein.
Sossamon grew up in
Reno,
Nevada, and attended
Galena High School there. Sossamon is of
Dutch,
English,
Filipino,
French,
German,
Hawaiian, and
Irish descent.
[theage.com.au - The Age] The
y in her first name was an adolescent alteration in 1995. The day after her
high school graduation, Sossamon moved to
Los Angeles to pursue a career in
dance.
[Shannyn Sossamon's 'Call' - Los Angeles Times] After moving to
Los Angeles, Sossamon began to work as a
DJ, booking gigs in local clubs.
Career
Early Career (1998-2001)
At the beginning of her career, Sossamon modeled for various companies including
Sassy Magazine, Unionbay Clothing,
American Eagle Outfitters and
Planned Parenthood. She also appeared in two
television commercials for
Gap and starred in music videos for artists such as
Daft Punk,
The Goo Goo Dolls,
Cher,
Mick Jagger and
DJ Quik. In 1999, Sossamon was discovered by
casting director Francine Maisler, while assisting a friend DJ at
Gwyneth Paltrow's birthday party. After going through several auditions, Sossamon beat out
Kate Hudson[[1]] for the role of 'Lady Jocelyn' and landed the lead female role in the
2001 film
A Knight's Tale opposite
Heath Ledger. The film received generally positive reviews and performed strongly at the box office with a total over $55,000,000.
[[2]]
