Halloween celebrity crush: Kaylee DeFer

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This Halloween crush co-starred in Kevin Smith's horror film-as-political satire Red State. She's also guest-starred on Ghost Whisperer (not scary, but supernaturally related) and done voice work on Family Guy (whose ongoing existence horrifies me).

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Name: Kaylee DeFer (images | Web site | Twitter)
Hometown: Tucson, Ariz., according to her Wikipedia profile.
Best Known For: Kaylee has co-starred in a few short-lived series over her career but probably hit her key to fame when she debuted late in season 4 of Gossip Girl in a Single White Female-ish plotline. (She joins the cast full-time in season 5, helping soften the blow of losing Connor Paolo and fellow crush Jessica Szohr. Taylor Momsen left, too, but no great loss there.)

She also co-starred in Kevin Smith's Red State. Earlier work included the WB drama The Mountain (with a pre-Gossip Girl Penn Badgely -- whether they worked together a lot, I dunno) and the Fox sitcom The War at Home.

Humble Beginnings: IMDB says she started appearing in musical theater productions when she was 8, landing the lead role of Kim in Bye Bye Birdie in her high school years. After heading to Los Angeles in 2003, she landed a regular role on the Andy Richter sitcom Quintuplets in 2004.

Other TV guest appearances include CSI: Miami, court drama Shark, this year's development-hell escapee sitcom Friends With Benefits, and the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (where she shared a steamy kiss -- and a flash-forward life as parents -- with fellow crush Rachel Bilson, and there ain't nuthin' wrong with that). Film work also includes the Nick Cannon movie Underclassman and fellow crush Alison Lohman's Flicka remake.

Not the Not the Courteney Cox Factor: Kaylee's profiles at IMDB and Wikipedia don't list any music video appearances, but she did model for the cover of the band Reeve Oliver's 2007 album Touchstone Inferno (Amazon | iTunes).
Why Ye Olde Podcaster Likes Her: Besides being shapely and gifted with an intense gaze, her Gossip Girl turn allowed her to really stir things up in her first story arc. She played a trouble maker quite well, and it should be fun to see what else she has to offer.
Film and TV-movie Credits: True Love Waits (pre-production) (Amazon | iTunes) * Darkroom (post-production) (Amazon | iTunes) * Mattie (completed) (Amazon | iTunes) * In My Pocket (Amazon | iTunes) * Red State (Amazon | iTunes) * Ghosts/Aliens (2010 TV-movie) (Amazon | iTunes) * Flicka (2006) (Amazon | iTunes) * The Powder Puff Principle (2006 short) (Amazon | iTunes) * Underclassman (Amazon | iTunes)
Voice Work: Family Guy, season 7: "Tales of a 3rd Grade Nothing" (Amazon | iTunes)

With Blake Lively on Gossip Girl.

TV and Web Series Credits: Gossip Girl, season 5 (Amazon | iTunes) * Friends With Benefits: "The Benefit of Mentors" (Amazon | iTunes) * Gossip Girl, season 4 (Amazon | iTunes) * How I Met Your Mother, season 6: "Big Days" (Amazon | iTunes) * CSI: Miami, season 8: "Getting Axed" (Amazon | iTunes) * Bones, season 5: "The Gamer in the Grease" (Amazon | iTunes) * Ghost Whisperer, season 4: "This Joint's Haunted" (Amazon | iTunes) * Shark, season 2: "Shaun of the Dead" (Amazon | iTunes) * The War at Home, season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * The War at Home, season 1 (Amazon | iTunes) * Listen Up (2004): "Inky Dinky Don't" (Amazon | iTunes) * The Mountain (2004) (Amazon | iTunes) * Quintuplets (2004) (Amazon | iTunes) * North Shore (2004): "Secret Service" (Amazon | iTunes) * Drake & Josh, season 2: "Guitar" (Amazon | iTunes)