Actor Ryan Phillippe started his career in a television soap opera before eventually moving into cinema. However until finding his feet in cinema he was nest known for marrying actress Reese Witherspoon.After moving through high school with a talent for sport he became interested in an acting career. He was later spotted by a casting agent and began attending auditions.Phillippe began his career in ABC's drama One Life to Live as Billy Douglas, the first gay teenager in a daily soap.He stayed in the soap from 1992 - 1993 before moving on to other television shows and small movie parts including Crimson Tide with Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington.His breakthrough movie role came in 1997 when he was cast alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. in horror I Know What You Did last Summer.The slasher film was a commercial hit grossing $125 million and Phillippe became more widely known due to the role.

He stayed with the teen movie going on to reunite with Gellar in Cruel Intentions, which also starred Reese Witherspoon.

A tale of betrayal centring on two wealthy, manipulative teenage stepsiblings from Manhattan's uppercrust. It's summer break, and Kathryn has been dumped by her beau, Court Reynolds, for the innocent Cecile. Desperate to get even, Kathryn challenges Sebastian to ruin Cecile by deflowering her, thus humiliating Court by delivering Cecile to him as damaged goods. Sebastian has pretty much 'had' all of the girls in New York City up to this point, and he's gotten a bit bored of it all. Though this is too easy a conquest for him, he obliges. He sets his sights on a higher challenge--the headmaster's daughter, Annette, who recently wrote an article in 'Seventeen' Magazine about how she intends to stay pure until she marries her boyfriend. Sebastian bets Kathryn that he can seduce the chaste and pristine Annette. Kathryn believes it impossible, and agrees to the wager, and if Sebastian succeeds, Kathryn must give him a night of unbridled pleasure, something he's wanted since their parents got married. The film was not a big hit making just $39 million, however it did surpass it $11 million budget.

In 2001 he joined the all star cast of Gosford Park as Henry Denton an American actor researching a part.

The film was a critical success and was nominated for a string of Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.

In recent years Phillippe has been picky over his film roles going on to work in some critically acclaimed pictures.

In 2005 he landed the role of Officer Tommy Hanson in Crash. A Brentwood housewife and her DA husband. A Persian store owner. Two police detectives who are also lovers. A black television director and his wife. A Mexican locksmith. Two car-jackers. A rookie cop. A middle-aged Korean couple. They all live in Los Angeles. And in the next 36 hours, they will all collide. A provocative, unflinching look at the complexities of racial conflict in America.

The film was both a critical and commercial success hit grossing over $98 million, it was made on just a $6.5 million budget.

It was nominated for six Oscars and was the surprise winner of Best Picture, having lost out to Brokeback Mountain at every other awards ceremony.

He followed this up in 2006 starring in war picture Flags of our Fathers, directed by Clint Eastwood, which followed the journey of the United States Marines who lifted the flag at the battle of Iwo Jima.

Phillippe starred as Navy Corpsman John Bradley and was described as the actor's best performance to date.

Next was Breach, based on the real-life story of FBI operative Eric O'Neill. Chris Cooper (Adaptation) gives a remarkable performance as complicated and bitter FBI agent Robert Hanssen in Breach. Hanssen is a computer specialist who, after 25 years of service, is put under surveillance as a suspected sex offender.

Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe, Crash) is the ambitious young upstart they put on the job, assigning him to pose as Hanssen's new clerk in order to win his trust and keep an eye on his every move.

Eric is dismayed to be put on such low-priority detail, accustomed as he is to investigating high-profile terrorism suspects.

His reluctance is multiplied as he gets to know the subject of his inquiry; Hanssen is at first harsh towards his young secretary, but as he opens up, Eric gets to know and respect him as a family man of strong Catholic faith.

Soon, however, Hanssen is infiltrating Eric's personal life and causing problems between him and his wife, Juliana (Caroline Dhavernas, Hollywoodland), and just when Eric is about to give up the case, he discovers that it is much bigger than he ever imagined.

Eric finds himself in the middle of an investigation into the biggest security breach in U.S. history, forcing him to resort to dramatic and ingenious tactics in order to bring down the suspect.

The film was met very well critically with praise in particular for the performances from Phillippe and Chris Cooper.

Phillippe's latest project is was movie Stop Loss that tackles the issue of men being forced back into service in Iraq.

We will next see Phillippe star in Franklyn which is currently in post production.

Stop Loss is released 25th April

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

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