Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan
Rose Jane McGowan (born September 5th, 1973 in Florence, Italy) is an American actress.
McGowan was raised in Italian communes of the Children of God/The Family, of which her parents were members. Her father was a leader of the cult's Italian chapter.
Like actors Joaquin and River Phoenix, who were also raised in the cult, McGowan grew up, in her words, "singing for money on the streets". Her education in the Children of God consisted of limited home schooling, primarily from her mother. Rose has said that even early on she was adamantly "un-hippy" and has never bought into that lifestyle.
When McGowan was ten, her father left with another of the group's members, and her mother brought Rose and her five siblings (Rose was the second oldest) to the United States, settling in Eugene, Oregon. Upon relocating, not only was McGowan unable to speak English, but it is claimed she had yet to see a movie.
Five years later, Rose left home to live on her own, supporting herself with several odd jobs which she often had to lie about her age to get. Living on her own also meant being forced to live on the streets for a short time, but despite this she later attended art and beauty school before heading to Los Angeles, where she had a chance encounter with director Gregg Araki. Araki was busy casting his Sundance entry, The Doom Generation, and cast Rose as the lead, despite the fact that the only acting experience she could claim at that point was a bit part in the 1992 Encino Man. The Doom Generation was a 1995 Sundance Film Festival entry, and although it received lukewarm reviews, it was enough to launch Rose's career.
Subsequently, she landed a role in the big-budget thriller, Wes Craven's Scream (1996), which was a surprise hit. McGowan quickly gained a reputation for playing brassy, bitchy and often violent characters, and adding to this reputation she began a very public romance with shock-rocker Marilyn Manson (aka Brian Warner). McGowan and Manson were engaged in February of 1999, but McGowan ended it two years later over "lifestyle differences".
In 2001, she was cast as Paige Matthews in the hit television series Charmed.
Rose McGowan on the Children of God
"Like many things, I'm sure they started out with good intentions. Meanwhile they're all having sex with each other and going out and getting men drunk and luring them into the cult. They call it Flirty Fishing. Gross. A lot of kids disappeared. I could be sweeping Ghadaffi's doorstep right now." — The Face: Rising Vamp
"All these weirdo people were always running around naked. I remember seeing a lot of legs, but not a lot of faces." — Maxim: Cover Girl: Rose McGowan, 1999-03
"I don't remember so much their ideology, but I don't think they were even very clear on that. Mostly, I think it's funny, but I have a perverse sense of humor. Anyway, you don't know it's not the white picket fence until someone points it out. [...] Actually, for me it was kind of idyllic." — E! Online: Q&A with Rose McGowan, 1999-03
"There was a lot of things that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me even at a very young age. I just had a really skeptical eye because I didn't buy it and because obviously a lot of stuff that I saw going on was very different from what was being preached. I don't really buy into forced belief systems." — Bruin: Rose McGowan screams for more horror in 'Phantoms', 1998-01
"My father ran the Italian chapter, and from the outside it would be considered strange, but if you grow up in it, it's normal. I suppose all children are at the mercy of their parents, and whatever trip they happen to be on, and my parents were tripping pretty hard." — Interview magazine: A Rose is a Rose is a Rose McGowan, 1997-03
Filmography
- The Black Dahlia (2006) (filming)
- "Elvis" (2005) (mini) TV Series
- Vacuums (2002)
- "Charmed" (1998) TV Series
- The Killing Yard (2001) (TV)
- Monkeybone (2001)
- Strange Hearts (2001)
- The Last Stop (2000)
- Ready to Rumble (2000/I)
- Sleeping Beauties (1999)
- Jawbreaker (1999)
- Devil in the Flesh (1998)
- Southie (1998)
- Phantoms (1998)
- Lewis & Clark & George (1997)
- Nowhere (1997)
- Going All the Way (1997)
- Seed (1997)
- Scream (1996)
- Kiss & Tell (1996)
- Bio-Dome (1996)
- The Doom Generation (1995)
- Encino Man (1992)
