Portia de Rossi

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Portia de Rossi
Portia de Rossi as Lindsay Bluth Fünke in Arrested Development
Birth name	Amanda Lee Rogers
Born	January 31, 1973 (age 34) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Spouse(s)	Mel Metcalfe (divorced), Ellen DeGeneres
Notable roles	Nelle Porter in Ally McBeal Lindsay Bluth Fünke in Arrested Development

Portia de Rossi, born Amanda Lee Rogers on January 31, 1973, is an Australian actress who is best known for her role as lawyer Nelle Porter on the television series Ally McBeal, and as Lindsay Bluth Fünke on the television series Arrested Development.

1 Personal
2 Career
3 Selected Filmography
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Personal

Born in Melbourne, Victoria, de Rossi was raised in Grovedale, a suburb of Geelong. As a child she modeled for print and TV commercials. She took the name Portia de Rossi at a young age:

“

When I was 15, I changed it legally. In retrospect, I think it was largely due to my struggle about being gay. Everything just didn’t fit, and I was trying to find things I could identify myself with, and it started with my name. I picked Portia because I was a Shakespeare fan (Portia is the character in The Merchant of Venice). De Rossi because I was Australian and I thought that an exotic Italian name would somehow suit me more than Amanda Rogers. When you live in Australia, Europe is so far away and so fascinating, so stylish and cultured and sophisticated.^[1]

”

An extremely gifted student, she left the lecture theaters of the Melbourne Law school to pursue an acting career. She supports Locks of Love a group that makes wigs for children with medical hair loss.

De Rossi, who was once married for two years to documentary filmmaker Mel Metcalfe, is openly gay. From 2000 to 2004, de Rossi dated singer Francesca Gregorini, daughter of actress Barbara Bach and stepchild of Ringo Starr. Portia dodged media questions about her sexual orientation and the relationship during this period. Portia was rarely pictured with Gregorini in public.

In a September 2005 magazine interview with The Advocate, de Rossi said that most of her family and Ally McBeal cast mates learned she was gay because of tabloid pictures of de Rossi and Gregorini in 2001.^[1] The couple broke up in late 2004 as de Rossi began dating comedian Ellen DeGeneres. In 2005, de Rossi officially came out and opened up about being gay in interviews with Details and The Advocate.

Portia de Rossi was named number 64 in Stuffs 100 Sexiest Women, 31 in Femme Fatales Sexiest Women of 2003 list, 24 in Maxims 100 Sexiest Women List in 2004 and in late 2006, the magazine Blender listed her as one of the hottest women of film and TV. ^[2]

[edit] Career

Her first significant role was as a young, impressionable model in the 1994 film Sirens. She soon moved to Los Angeles and had guest roles on TV shows before landing a role in Scream 2.

She garnered international attention when she joined the main cast of Ally McBeal playing regular lawyer Nelle Porter in 1998. She remained with the show until its end in 2002.

In 2001 she starred in Who is Cletis Tout? with Christian Slater. From 2003 to 2006, de Rossi starred as Lindsay Bluth Fünke on Fox Television's critically acclaimed series Arrested Development.

She was Strongly Considered to play Christina Ricci's role in Black Snake Moan co-starring Samuel L. Jackson

It has been rumored that she in consideration to play Catwoman in the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight. It has not been announced that she had been cast or even if Catwoman will be in the film.