She Was 'All That' And Then She Wasn't. What Happened To Rachael Leigh Cook?
- Video: YouTube
As Becky Thatcher, She Lived Every Tween's Dream Of Kissing JTT
In one of her earlier rolls on the big screen, Cook played Becky Thatcher in the 1995 Disney adventure-comedy film, Tom and Huck. Cast alongside Brad Renfro and rising tween heartthrob Jonathan Taylor Thomas, the film tells the story from a classic Mark Twain novel about two boys who witness a slaying in a cemetery late at night.
However, what people remember most about this film is the scene in which the characters played by a young Cook and JTT become engaged while flirting on a bridge, and then proceed to kiss, leaving its mark on a generation of JTT fans.
- Photo: Miramax Films
Her Role In 'She's All That' Skyrocketed Her To Heartthrob Status
Most fans of Cook fell for her not for her role in Tom and Huck, but after her starring turn in a film released some four years later. Cook dove headfirst into her romantic comedy career with her role in the 1999 film She’s All That, where she plays Laney Boggs, an awkward but charming high school art student, alongside the already well-established teen heartthrob Freddie Prinze Jr., who plays the film’s leading jock.
Anyone who is familiar with the film no doubt gets Sixpence None the Richer’s song “Kiss Me” stuck in their head immediately upon reminiscing. But aside from the plethora of teen rom-com clichés, this role without a doubt landed Cook a highly coveted spot among the other teen heartthrobs of the '90s - whether she wanted it or not.
- Photo: New Found Glory / YouTube
In The Early '00s, She Was A Music Video Vixen And CovergirI
After quickly rising through the ranks of teen heartthrob success after her role in She’s All That, Cook found herself at a bit of a professional crossroads. Success had brought her a number of new acting opportunities that could have continued to lead her up in the ranks of rom-com heartthrob-dom, but she opted out.
Despite loving romantic comedies and being a “complete romantic at heart,” Cook made a conscious choice not to pursue further roles in the genre. After having worked on the less-than-successful film Josie and the Pussycats alongside the indie film icon Parker Posey, she was inspired to take on roles in edgier, smaller films. One such role was in the '00s New Found Glory music video for “Dressed to Kill,” in which she plays the punk girl next door whom the male protagonist has his eye on.
In addition to these less mainstream roles, Cook found herself as a cover girl for FHM magazine’s March/April 2000 print issue. She also landed herself the No. 26 slot in Stuff magazine’s 2002 “102 Sexiest Women in the World” issue.
- Photo: Psych / USA
In Reality, She Never Went Away - She Just Pivoted To TV
After her strategic turn away from her big-screen romantic comedy career track, Cook set her sights instead on television. Cook quickly landed roles on a number of TV series, including Lt. Jodi Yanarella on the short-lived sci-fi series Titan Maximum, and then as Abigail Lytar on the comedy crime show Psych.
She then transitioned more into made-for-TV movies, with roles in comedy films like Nevermind Nirvana and the thriller Stealing Paradise. Though none of these brought her nearly the level of notoriety that She’s All That did, they did manage to slowly direct her career back toward what she loved doing most - romance films.
- Photo: Summer in the Vineyard / The Hallmark Channel
She Has Finally Embraced Rom-Coms Again
After her career-launching role in She’s All That, Cook essentially disappeared from the romantic comedy world for over a decade. She explained in an interview:
I am a complete romantic at heart. A total wimp for whom the world often feels like too much. I love romantic movies with every part of my being... As soon as I had options in my career, I almost immediately swung my career [toward edgy, smaller films]. The problem with that being, I was not being true to who I really am: someone who is not "cool." Someone who is very soft at their core. Someone who is thrilled to bring you a love story.
Cook officially began making her way back toward romantic films in 2016 with the Hallmark Channel’s made-for-TV movie, Autumn in the Vineyard. Since then, she has become a Hallmark Channel staple, having starred in a number of films, including Frozen in Love and the Christmas romance film, A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas.
Cook Met Her Husband At A Bar In Los Angeles
In 2003, a few years after her intentional pivot away from the world of rom-coms, Cook found herself in a new kind of romance. While out at a bar in Hollywood with friends, Cook met actor Daniel Gillies, who would later star in The Vampire Diaries.
Cook remembers first seeing him talking with a costume designer she had once worked with, making it a good opportunity for them to meet. Cook and Gillies began dating, and within five months, the pair had become inseparable. In 2004, when Cook was 24, they got married.
- Photo: Broken Kingdom / Under The Milky Way
Cook And Gillies Led Adjacent Acting Careers And Even Collaborated On A Film
After the couple got together in 2003 and were married on August 8, 2004, they both supported one another’s pursuit of acting, though they took very different routes. While Cook took her skills to television, acting both in made-for-TV films and shows, Gillies’s acting career eventually set him on the path toward directing his own film.
In 2012, the Showtime film Broken Kingdom was released, which was directed by Gillies and starred Cook. Though the film didn’t get much attention, it was an opportunity for the couple to collaborate on a creative project together.
- Photo: Racheal Leigh Cook / Twitter
After Spending Nearly A Decade Together, Cook And Gillies Chose To Start A Family
Because Cook and Gillies got married when they were so young and not long after they first met, they chose to take their family planning particularly slow in an effort to support one another’s career growth and travel together.
After spending nine years working and gaining more stability in their acting careers, the two decided that they were ready to grow their family. In early 2013, Cook announced that she was pregnant, and by September, the couple’s daughter Charlotte Easton Gillies was born. Shortly after her birth, Gillies tweeted, "It’s a girl. The tiny new empress of my everything. She’s Immaculate. We’re delirious."
Within two years of the birth of their daughter, Cook and Gillies welcomed their son Theodore Vigo Sullivan Gillies to the family.
- Video: YouTube
After Almost 15 Years Together, Cook And Her Husband Announced Their Separation
In a June 13, 2019, Instagram post, both Cook and Gillies unexpectedly announced that they would be separating. Having until then been seen as an example of a successful Hollywood couple, fans and reporters alike were met with confusion and shock at the announcement. Though no specifics were given regarding the reason behind their separation, the post they shared did ask for people’s discretion as they work through the details:
With deep gratitude for every year we have spent together and the thousands of beautiful memories shared, we have mutually decided to separate as a couple.
This decision isn’t one we have come to easily or lightly. We love and respect each other as parents, people and artists and look forward to maintaining the best parts of our relationship for many years to come.
Your discretion in this matter is kindly requested for the sake of our children during this time of transition. Thank you to those of you who are already aware; for your tremendous compassion and understanding.
Lots of love, Rachael and Daniel.
Both Cook and Gillies remain dedicated to maintaining happiness in the family they've built together and are reportedly on good terms with one another. Cook said of her soon-to-be ex-husband: "He's hopelessly devoted to them and we're going to get through this together. He's an amazing person and I still consider him my very best friend and we'll make it one way or another."
Cook Works With An Animal Rescue Organization And Adopted One Of Her Own Dogs From Puerto Rico
Outside of her acting career, Cook has also been an advocate on behalf of numerous animal rescue efforts. Once, when she and Gillies were on a trip to Puerto Rico together, they came across a small pack of puppies abandoned on the side of the road. After having pulled over and found that there was no mother or owners there to care for the puppies, Cook swept them up and not only insured that they were all adopted out to good families, but also adopted one of them herself, which she named Hudson.
She has also done work with organizations like Rally to Rescue, a program that “raise[s] awareness and funds for pet rescue organizations nationwide.” Cook loves working with small pet rescue organizations and has rescued all of her family's pets, including Hudson and their two cats.
- Video: YouTube
In 2017, Cook Starred In A Remake Of Her 1997 Anti-Controlled Substance Commercial
In 1997, shortly before attaining her She’s All That fame, Cook starred in an anti-controlled substance PSA commercial popularly known as “This is your brain on drugs.” In the commercial, Cook notably destroys an egg (your brain) with a frying pan (controlled substances) in an effort to drive home the message that taking controlled substances will wreck your brain.
Then, in 2017, the Drug Policy Alliance teamed back up with Cook to film a more accurate, updated version of the commercial which - using the same egg-frying pan motif as before - aimed instead at driving home the message that the policies and impact of the War on Drugs have not been effective and instead have targeted poor and young people of color across the US, leading to further issues of mass incarceration and devastated communities.
