Celebrity crush: Rose Byrne

Sorry I didn't get a revised entry up Wednesday; family matters and writing ate up the time. Today's entry features an actress currently appearing on DirecTV's Damages and seen in theaters this summer in X-Men: First Class.

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Name: Rose Byrne (images -- some NSFW | Web site | Twitter -- not verified)
Hometown: The Sydney suburb of Belmain, Australia, according to her Wikipedia profile. Though she's of Scottish and Irish ancestry.
Best Known For: Rose's most prominent work since coming to the United States has come on the cable drama Damages -- which began on the FX channel before going to satellite carrier DirecTV this year. She's also found some of her biggest theatrical movie success this year, co-starring in the comedy Bridesmaids and the superhero film X-Men: First Class alongside fellow celebrity crush Jennifer Lawrence.

Humble Beginnings: At age 15, Rose made her film premiere in a movie called Dallas Doll. Numerous Australian TV roles followed before she turned 18, not listed below. Early film works in her adult years included Two Hands with co-star and fellow Australian Heath Ledger.

Other works of more prominence in America, prior to her American breakthrough role in Damages, include playing an aide to Natalie Portman's Padme Amidala in Star Wars: Episode II; appearing alongside Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, and Diane Kruger in the swords-and-sandals epic Troy; working with future Doctor Who star David Tennant and Peter O'Toole in a TV retelling of Casanova; and the horror sequel 28 Weeks Later.

She's also appeared in the science fiction thriller Knowing and the comedies I Love You Too and Get Him to the Greek in between seasons of Damages.
The Courteney Cox Factor: Rose has appeared in multiple music videos and was featured on an EP cover for Australian musician Alex Lloyd (who's featured her in at least two of his videos).

Why Ye Olde Podcaster Likes Her: Though Rose is sometimes too skinny for my likes -- and she's always thin -- when she's not, she reminds me of the best of fellow crushes Shiri Appleby, Reiko Aylesworth, and Marisol Nichols. I think it's the eyes and the mouth. But I also admire the intense acting ability she's shown on Damages, which is always excellently performed even when the plots at times strain credibility.

Seriously, she can act -- few actors or actresses of any age can hold their own against Glenn Close, but she manages it marvelously. And her work in the 2009 drama Adam -- the story of a cognitively normal woman falling for a man with Asperger syndrome -- was amazing to behold.

Film and TV-movie credits: Logan's Run (2012 -- rumored) (Amazon | iTunes) * X-Men: First Class (Amazon | iTunes) * Bridesmaids (Amazon | iTunes) * Insidious (Amazon | iTunes) * Get Him to the Greek (Amazon | iTunes) * I Love You Too (Amazon | iTunes) * Knowing (Amazon | iTunes) * Adam (2009) (Amazon | iTunes) * The Tender Hook (Amazon | iTunes) * Just Buried (Amazon | iTunes) * 28 Weeks Later (Amazon | iTunes) * Sunshine (2007) (Amazon | iTunes) * The Dead Girl (Amazon | iTunes) * Marie Antoinette (2006) (Amazon | iTunes) * The Tenants (Amazon | iTunes) * Wicker Park (2004) (Amazon | iTunes) * Troy (Amazon | iTunes) * Take Away (Amazon | iTunes) * The Rage in Placid Lake (Amazon | iTunes) * Monster (2003 -- uncredited, according to Wikipedia, but absent from IMDB credits) (Amazon | iTunes) * The Night We Called It a Day (Amazon | iTunes) * I Capture the Castle (Amazon | iTunes) * City of Ghosts (Amazon | iTunes) * Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (Amazon | iTunes) * Heaven (2002 short) (Amazon | iTunes) * The Pitch (2001 short) (Amazon | iTunes) * The Goddess of 1967 (Amazon | iTunes) * My Mother Frank (Amazon | iTunes) * Two Hands (1999) (Amazon | iTunes) * The Date (1999 short) (Amazon | iTunes)

Musical work: Get Him to the Greek soundtrack (Amazon | iTunes)
Music videos: "1,000 Miles" by Alex Lloyd (iTunes) * "Black the Sun" by Alex Lloyd (iTunes) * "I Miss You" by Darren Hayes (iTunes) * "Sweets" by M. Craft (iTunes)
TV and Web series credits: Damages, season 5 (2012) (Amazon | iTunes) * Damages, season 4 (Amazon | iTunes) * Damages, season 3 (Amazon | iTunes) * Damages, season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * Damages, season 1 (Amazon | iTunes) * Casanova (2005 mini-series) (Amazon | iTunes) * Murder Call, season 3: "Still Life" (Amazon | iTunes) * Heartbreak High, season 7 (Amazon | iTunes) * Big Sky, season 2: "A Family Affair" (Amazon | iTunes) * Wildside, season 1 (Amazon | iTunes)