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 French mother and Irish father were members (known by the names Barkos and Sapphron). 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 early education consisted of limited home schooling, primarily from her mother, though like many children in the group she received an emphasis on reading from a very young age. McGowan has claimed that even early on she was adamantly "un-hippy" and never bought into the cult's lifestyle.
When she was 10, her father left with another of the group's members, and her mother brought her and her five siblings (Rose being the second oldest) to the United States, settling in Eugene, Oregon (at which point Rose wasn't yet able to speak English). Her parents divorced and Rose went to live with her grandmother in Gig Harbor, Washington, bouncing between her mother and father.
At age 15, Rose left 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 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 film, The Doom Generation, and cast McGowan 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 her career.
Subsequently, she landed a role in the big-budget, Wes Craven thriller, Scream (1996), which was a surprise hit. McGowan quickly gained a reputation for playing brassy, bitchy and often violent characters, and adding to this she began a very public romance with shock-rocker Marilyn Manson (aka Brian Warner). The two 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
"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, 1997-03-01
"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." — Daily Bruin: Rose McGowan screams for more horror in 'Phantoms', 1998-01
"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, 1998-09-01
"All these weirdo people were always running around naked. I remember seeing a lot of legs, but not a lot of faces." — Maxim: Wild Rose!, 1999-03-01
"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
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)
