Early life
Cuthbert was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the daughter of Patricia, a homemaker, and Kevin, an automotive design engineer. She has two younger siblings, Jonathan and Lee-Ann and grew up in Greenfield Park, near Montreal, Quebec. In 2000, she graduated from Centennial Regional High School and moved to Los Angeles at the age of seventeen to pursue an acting career.

Early career
When she was seven, Cuthbert started modeling for various lines of children's clothing and also became a foot model. She made her first televised appearance as an extra in the horror-themed series for children Are You Afraid of the Dark?; she later became a series regular. Cuthbert also co-hosted Popular Mechanics for Kids, which was filmed in Montreal. Her reporting captured the attention of then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, who invited her to visit the White House.

Cuthbert landed her first role in a feature film in the family drama Dancing on the Moon (1997). She appeared in several other Canadian family-themed movies and an airplane thriller, Airspeed. Cuthbert starred in the Canadian television movie Lucky Girl in 2001 and was awarded a Gemini Award for her performance.[citation needed]

Soon after her move to Los Angeles, Cuthbert was cast in the role of Kim Bauer, daughter of CTU agent Jack Bauer in the television series 24. She appeared in the show's first three seasons, but not in its fourth; she guest-starred in only two episodes in the fifth season. She also reprised her role as Kim Bauer in 24: The Game.

2003-2005: Commercial success
Cuthbert auditioned for the role of Mary Jane Watson in the Spider-Man film, but the role went to Kirsten Dunst.

She began her Hollywood film career with small roles in Old School and Love Actually in 2003.

Cuthbert's next film, The Girl Next Door, cast her in her first lead role as an ex-porn star, Danielle, alongside Emile Hirsch. Cuthbert had initial reservations about taking the part, but was persuaded by director Luke Greenfield into accepting. She researched the role, speaking to actual adult actresses from Wicked Pictures and Vivid Entertainment. Upon its release the film received comparisons to Risky Business – although Cuthbert claims her character was not directly based on Rebecca De Mornay's character – and was noted for Cuthbert's sex appeal. Critics were divided; some praised the film for its boldness, while others, notably Roger Ebert, decried it as gimmicky and exploitative. Ebert wrote that he saw Cuthbert's character Danielle as "quite the most unpleasant character I have seen in some time."

In her next big-screen outing, Cuthbert starred with Paris Hilton and Chad Michael Murray in the 2005 remake of the classic horror film House of Wax. Cuthbert, along with the rest of her castmates, was made up to look haggard. In one scene, her character was to attempt to open her mouth while her lips were sealed with glue. For the sake of realism, Cuthbert opted for real superglue over prosthetics. Despite her efforts, House of Wax was largely panned, with critics citing a range of flaws. It was called "notable for having some of the most moronic protagonists ever to populate a horror film," though out of those characters reviews tended to think Cuthbert "fares the best". Others noted Cuthbert as an "exception" playing her role "earnestly" and "fine".

2006-2007: Career transition
Cuthbert's next film project was the indie film The Quiet, which she not only co-starred in but also co-produced and helped finance. She played Nina, a temperamental 17-year-old cheerleader who suffers from sexual abuse. Cuthbert looked to her younger cousin for inspiration as to how to play a teenager. The Quiet, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival and received a limited release in Los Angeles and New York City on August 25, 2006, before expanding regionally on September 1.

Cuthbert appeared in the music video for Weezer's "Perfect Situation" in early 2006, where she played the group's fictional original singer who threw a tantrum that led to Rivers Cuomo, the unlikely roadie, becoming the frontman of the band. Cuthbert also had a small role in Paris Hilton's music video for the song "Nothing In This World".

In 2007, Cuthbert appeared in the film, Captivity, a thriller centered around a fashion model taunted by a psychopath who has imprisoned her in a cellar, a role for which she was nominated for a Razzie award as worst actress.

In He Was a Quiet Man, Cuthbert played Vanessa, a quadriplegic. The film was in limited release in 2007 and release on DVD in early 2008.

2008-present: Current and future projects
Cuthbert is slated to voice Cleo, "the feline daughter of a wealthy kitty litter baron", in Cat Tale, an animated film set in a civilized world of cats and dogs.

For 2008, Cuthbert is scheduled to appear in two films. The first is the family comedy The Six Wives of Henry LeFay with actor Tim Allen, in which she plays his daughter. She will also appear in My Sassy Girl, a remake of a Korean film, starring alongside Jesse Bradford.

She is one of the stars in the Canadian mini-series Guns, due to premiere sometime in 2008.

Cuthbert returns to television with the CBS drama pilot Ny-Lon, playing a New York literacy teacher/record store clerk who embarks on a transatlantic romance with a London stockbroker. The project has since been canceled, and was based on a British series starring Rashida Jones and Stephen Moyer.

Cuthbert will reprise her character Kim Bauer in the seventh season of 24.

Personal life
Cuthbert, who enjoys painting, is an ice hockey fan and Los Angeles Kings season ticket holder. In 2005 she maintained a blog on the NHL web site. She was previously in a relationship with Dallas Stars player Sean Avery and is now dating Calgary Flames hockey player Dion Phaneuf.

She regularly secures a place in FHM and Maxim's annual Top 100 Sexiest/Hottest lists. Her highest ranking was #4 in the 2008 UK Edition of FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World list. She was ranked #14 in 2003, #10 in 2004, #5 in 2005, #22 in 2006, and #10 in 2007. The U.S. Edition ranked her #53 in 2003, #63 in 2004, and #54 in 2006. She was not listed in the U.S. 2005 list. Maxim named her #92 in its 2006 Hot 100 list, and features her in their Girls of Maxim Gallery. As of 2006, Cuthbert has stated that she would refuse to be photographed nude in film roles or magazines, and uses body doubles whenever necessary, specifying that she would "like to keep some things to [herself]". Most recently, Cuthbert was ranked #10 by AskMen.com readers in the list "Top 99 Women of 2007".

Credit: Wikipedia