Biography of Alicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone is an American model and actress. She shot to fame in the 1990s. She won the American Comedy Award for "Funniest Actress" and multiple MTV Movie Awards for her iconic role in "Clueless" (1995), plus appeared in music videos for rock legends Aerosmith. Though she stepped back from frequent film work in the 2000s, the 2020s saw her return to the spotlight with starring roles in "The Lodge" and "Reptile."
Childhood, Youth, Family
Alicia Silverstone was born in the fall of 1976 in San Francisco, California. She was the youngest of three kids born to Didi Radford, a former flight attendant, and Monty Silverstone, a real estate investor.Her half-siblings were David, who became a Hollywood set designer, and Kezi, who moved to London to pursue rock music.
Her father, a native of Britain, came from a very religious Jewish family. Her mother was born in Scotland and converted to Judaism before becoming Mrs. Silverstone.
Shortly before Alicia's birth, the family moved from Britain to the USA. Growing up, Alicia was constantly correcting people on how to pronounce her name, especially during her time at San Mateo High School.
Her strict Jewish upbringing didn't stop Alicia from dreaming of an acting career. At the age of five, she convinced herself that her real mother was pop star Olivia Newton-John.
One day, she climbed onto the coffee table and put on an elaborate dance performance to Olivia's hit "Physical" for her family. When her parents disapproved of the performance, Alicia simply declared, "You're aliens."
That's when her parents decided to channel all that energy into creative outlets. Alicia's career kicked off when she was just six years old. Her dad snapped some photos, sent them to agents, and before long she was booking commercials.
At 11, Silverstone made the conscious decision to become vegetarian, later explaining:
A boy at my school tried to kill creatures in the pond. When I tried to stop him, he said, 'You eat animals,' as if that meant I had no right to try to save something that might end up on my plate later. The hypocrisy of my actions became crystal clear at that moment. I decided—no more meat. When I first started working with two organizations supporting anti-factory farming, vegan advocacy, and humane education, my choice to become a vegan became even more apparent. I realized that veganism is the only diet that can change the world.
Acting Career
Following her small debut role as Jessica in the TV series "The Wonder Years," which premiered in 1988, Silverstone transitioned into films.In 1993, Alicia landed the lead role of Adrian Forrester in the psychological thriller "The Crush," where she portrayed a troubled young girl obsessed with an adult man. While critics weren't impressed by her character, she captivated her target audience—teenagers. The role earned her the 1994 MTV Movie Award for "Best Villain" and "Breakthrough Performance."
During production, Alicia became an emancipated minor to get around child labor laws that would have restricted her work schedule. At 15, she gained financial independence and freedom from her parents.
"The Crush" also caught Aerosmith's attention, leading to her starring role in their "Cryin'" music video, which became MTV's number one video of all time. She then appeared in the videos for "Crazy" and "Amazing."
Her skyrocketing career meant she never finished school, especially after her starring role in Amy Heckerling's "Clueless" launched her to superstardom. Her character, Cher, was the complete opposite of her role in "The Crush"; this time, she played a wealthy, naive, but sweet girl from Beverly Hills looking for love. The film was a massive box office hit that wowed both audiences and critics, proving Alicia's star power and bankability.I don't feel like a dream girl, but I think it's really cute. Part of me probably wishes I got that kind of attention in real life. Because in real life, I'm a weird, goofy girl who just hangs out with her dog. I hate being called 'that Aerosmith chick'!
She was crowned Woman of the Year and became the poster child for Hollywood's new generation of stars. She signed a contract with Columbia TriStar worth $10 million and landed the coveted role of Batgirl in "Batman & Robin" (1997). Additionally, as part of the package, she secured a three-year first-look deal for her production company, First Kiss Productions.
The first film released by First Kiss was the 1997 action film "Excess Baggage," starring Silverstone alongside Benicio Del Toro and Christopher Walken. The film flopped, but her starring role in the comedy "Blast from the Past" opposite Brendan Fraser briefly boosted her profile before her career started to cool off.
Silverstone returned to the spotlight in the 2010s, starring in the horror comedy "Vamps," the dramedy "Butter," the fantasy "Gods Behaving Badly," and the family comedy "Who Gets the Dog?" with Ryan Kwanten, where they battle over custody of a beloved pet. She also joined forces with Sam Worthington in the thriller "The Killing of a Sacred Deer," where they take on contract killers.
Silverstone starred with Diane Keaton and Jane Fonda in the comedy "Book Club," and with Riley Keough and Richard Armitage in the film about religious fanatics, "The Lodge." In 2017, she appeared in the independent drama "The Killing of a Sacred Deer," directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, alongside Barry Keoghan.
In 2020, Alicia starred in two films: the remake of the cult classic 1983 teen musical "Valley Girl" and the melodrama "Sister of the Groom," playing lead roles Julia Richman and Audrey respectively. That same year, she starred in the film "Bad Therapy."
In 2023, the actress played Hildy in the mystical horror film "Perpetrator." She worked with Benicio Del Toro and Justin Timberlake in the detective thriller "Reptile," though the film received mixed reviews.
Personal Life of Alicia Silverstone
In 1995, Alicia admitted she had a crush on actor and musician River Phoenix: "I never met him, but I wanted to marry him. If we ever got stuck in an elevator, all I'd want to do is make him fall in love with me," she confessed.In 1996, there were rumors about Alicia's relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio. The actor denied everything, but the rumors spread quickly.
In 2005, Silverstone married her longtime friend, Christopher Jarecki, the lead singer of the punk band STUN. Before their wedding, the couple lived together for about eight years, sometimes breaking up but always returning to each other. They lived together and started an organic garden while caring for a whole menagerie of stray dogs at their Los Angeles home.
During the modest wedding, Silverstone and Jarecki exchanged vows while standing barefoot on the beach, and at midnight, the couple's friends and family gathered around a bonfire to celebrate the happy day by singing The Beatles songs and eating vegan burgers.
In May 2011, Alicia gave birth to her only son, whom they named Bear Blu.
In 2018, Alicia filed for divorce.
They still deeply love and respect each other and remain very close friends, but mutually decided to separate after 20 years together. They have a son, whom they will continue to co-parent, Silverstone's representative said when they announced their split in February.
Alicia Silverstone Now
In 2024, the horror comedy film "Krazy House" was released. Alicia's partner on set was comedian Nick Frost. Besides that, Silverstone was involved in the fantasy comedy "Y2K," where the lead roles were played by young actors Jaeden Martell and Rachel Zegler.<Interesting Facts
- Her contract includes a strict no-nudity clause. For nude scenes, she requires a body double. When she starred in the stage version of "The Graduate," she insisted on wearing underwear for the famous scene. The producers had to allow it because otherwise, she would have left the show. But when asked by British magazine Radio Times, "Is it true you like gardening in the nude?" she said, "Yes, it's true. It's very hot in Los Angeles. I also love swimming and jumping on the trampoline naked."
- She helped make belly button piercing popular in the '90s: in the "Cryin'" music video, her character gets her belly button pierced. This was actually done on set.
- The first commercial young Alicia appeared in was for Domino's Pizza.
- In 2000, the Plain English Campaign awarded Alicia Silverstone the annual Foot in Mouth Award for her "baffling verbal statement":
I think the film Clueless was very deep. I think it was deep in the way that it was very light. I think lightness has to come from a very deep place if it's true lightness.
- During the filming of "Clueless," she adopted an old stray dog, named him Samson, and kept him on set.
- Sometimes Alicia turned down offered roles, and sometimes she was rejected. In 1994, she could have played Valerie Malone in "Beverly Hills, 90210" but turned it down, and the role went to Tiffani Thiessen. She was rejected for the lead role in "My Father the Hero" because producers said she was "too heavy." The part eventually went to Katherine Heigl.
- By the time filming of "Excess Baggage" wrapped up, Alicia was six months pregnant.
- Her favorite film, she said, was "Love's Labour's Lost," where she played the Princess who dances all the time:
What touches and excites me won't necessarily be a box-office hit. ...I think, in terms of box office, barely anyone watched it. But I still think it's the greatest movie, and I don't care if anyone else likes it. I watched it in seven different countries, and audiences left the theater dancing. I think that's an amazing thing.
- As a vegetarian and eco-activist, Alicia participated in campaigns. She protested against the release of the Dolls of the World Spanish Barbie, launched in 2000. The doll was dressed in a toreador costume and accused of justifying animal cruelty. Mattel relented and discontinued the doll.