Dancing Mattress Productions: Halloween celebrity crush: Lauren German

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This Halloween-themed celebrity crush has appeared in a few horror films and starred in the short-lived spooky TV drama Happy Town.

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Name: Lauren German (images | Web site | Twitter)
Hometown: Huntington Beach, Calif., according to her Wikipedia profile.
Best Known For: Lauren starred in Hostel: Part II, a film I haven't seen because I find the whole "torture porn" genre completely unappealing. She also appeared in the Jessica Biel-fronted remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, after having auditioned for the lead role. And she has a lead role in a French apocalyptic thriller The Divide, which was bought by an American distributor after debuting at SXSW this spring and so (in theory) might see eventual release.

On television, as stated above, she starred in the short-lived ABC horror drama Happy Town (which also featured fellow crush Amy Acker) and has more recently guest-starred on Human Target and Memphis Beat. Past work included the Mandy Moore film A Walk to Remember.
Humble Beginnings: After doing some stage work, Lauren made her screen debut in the Julia Stiles-Freddie Prinze Jr. "chick flick" Down to You, followed by a more prominent role in A Walk to Remember.

After shooting a few pilots that remained unsold, as well as guest roles on the increasingly wanna-see Going to California and the celebrity crush central casting factory that was MTV's Undressed, Lauren landed a fairly big role in The WB's Lone Ranger revival -- which didn't go to series but did air as a TV-movie.

Maxim ranked Lauren #47 in its "Hot 100
of 2002" supplement, IMDB states.
So, at least 44 people bribed judges.

She was also in the cast of the UPN's short-lived Sex, Love & Secrets along with Denise Richards and Eric Balfour -- initial order of 13 episodes cut to eight, only four of which actually aired.
Obligatory Edgy Stuff: IMDB notes that she did her own stunts in Hostel: Part 2.
Why Ye Olde Podcaster Likes Her: I liked Happy Town, flaws and all. But it wasn't an ABC show, even a post-Desperate Housewives ABC show. (See also: The Gates, with fellow crush Marisol Nichols.) If it had landed on Sci-Fi, it might have had a chance at success; see Haven, starring Emily Rose and based so loosely on Stephen King's The Colorado Kid that it could easily be a wholly original series. Lauren was the main draw for Happy Town, a haunted and haunting beauty with a warm smile and smoldering beauty.

In A Midsummer Night's Rave.

Here's hoping that her appearances on Human Target and Memphis Beat -- and the film The Divide -- hope her land a bigger gig that sticks around a while.
TV and Web Series Credits: Hawaii Five-0, season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * Memphis Beat, season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * Human Target (2010), season 2: "Kill Bob" (Amazon | iTunes) * Happy Town (2010) (Amazon | iTunes) * Sex, Love & Secrets (Amazon | iTunes) * Going to California: "A Little Hard in the Big Easy" (Amazon | iTunes) * 7th Heaven, season 5: "Apologize" (Amazon | iTunes) * Undressed, season 3 (Amazon | iTunes)