It’s a happy 20th birthday to Sara Paxton, of Superhero Movie and, err… Sydney White and Aquamarine? Her hotness increases by several multiplied factors based on the fact that she wears it well… that is to say, doesn’t yet seem fully aware of it.

It’s a happy 32nd birthday to Reese Witherspoon, owner of the most adorable drop-down chin in Hollywood. It’s always interesting to see how young actors and actresses manage the ups and downs of their perilous career track, because not all of them can achieve, or sustain, stratospheric-level success. Witherspoon’s attention-to-detail focus and drive is certainly well chronicled, but there’s another side to her too, though it’s probably been at least somewhat paved over by the necessary caution that becoming a box office superstar breeds. Interviewing her for both Pleasantville and Election, she talked openly about how she had seriously considered giving up acting altogether until 1996’s Freeway came along, costarring Kiefer Sutherland. (Not such a good experience, I guess, 1994’s S.F.W.) And it wasn’t bunk, or spin. It was just the honest sharings of someone who figured, “You know what, I can probably do other things in my life and be just as happy.” I’ll always have a bit of a soft spot for Witherspoon, because she’s not the most obvious or innately gifted actress out there, but she puts in hard time and hard effort, and I can identify with and appreciate that. Her focus and work ethic have helped augment and hone her talent. Plus she has low-key charm and spunk in equal measure, no small feat.

It’s a happy birthday to erstwhile Sweet Valley High star (so I’m told) Brittany Daniel, who turns 32 today, and probably celebrates by sharing a laugh with her twin sister over some sort of naughty bait-and-switch shenanigans the pair engaged in years earlier. Daniel has that hot pro-volleyball chick look going on, and has also shown evidence of nice comedic timing in small screen sitcom guest stints and in movies like Joe Dirt and Club Dread, though the heaving bare bosom of Jordan Ladd in the latter film clouds my memory of citeable specifics. But, umm… nice belt, by the way. Seems practical.

It’s a happy birthday to Brittany Snow, who turns 22 today, and perhaps celebrates by rocking this same, red bra-and-panties set, from John Tucker Must Die. Or maybe there’s new lingerie I don’t know about. At any rate, capitalizing on the Hairspray moment has thus far been tough for Snow, but she’ll be back onscreen in a few weeks in Prom Night (Sony/Screen Gems, April 11), even if that looks mostly like a blink-and-forget-it teen-money-grab affair. After that, the slate is even more iffy. Peter Tolan’s Finding Amanda, with Matthew Broderick and Peter Facinelli, at least sounds like it has the possibility of providing Snow new shadings, though the fact that it’s been hung up for so long after wrapping production doesn’t bode extremely well. An ensemble indie from Tony Kaye, Black Water Transit, has high intrigue value, but could just as easily disappear into the gaping void of one-week releases. I suppose, for right now at least, Snow’s firewall is the more commercial sounding The Vicious Kind, about a guy who falls for the girlfriend his brother brings home for Thanksgiving. Last fall’s Dan in Real Life played that narrative up to the tune of $47 million, so there’s obviously a bit of an audience, though a tweaking of that awful title will have to happen if the shopping mall set is to be at all wooed…

It’s a happy birthday to Jessica Biel, who turns 26 today, and perhaps celebrates by squeezing into the same bra-and-panty set that she rocked in the trailers for the execrable I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. Then again, maybe she just goes to a dog park, eats a Lean Pocket and does some tae bo, I don’t know…

It’s a happy 25th birthday to Shooter babe Kate Mara, who knows how to pack a shotgun and has obviously listened to Poe’s “Angry Johnny.” I’m torn between backing away slowly, honestly, and testing out my powers of cajolement…

It’s a happy 31st birthday to Kerry Washington, who is one of the most thoughtful and articulate young actress interviews out there.

Her work in the Fantastic Four flicks hasn’t necessarily been showcase-type material (check out The Last King of Scotland, or go rent her film debut, the heartbreaking Our Song, if you want to see her at her best), but Washington has showed plenty of range over the past several years, from Ray, The Dead Girl and Chris Rock’s I Think I Love My Wife to a certain gimmicky summer comedy whose name shall not be mentioned. I’ve had the pleasant fortune of talking to her four times, both in person and over the phone, and like Jodie Foster — among a relatively small handful of other actors — within three to five minutes of meeting her you just immediately know Washington could have been successful at any other number of things other than acting. She’s plugged into the world around her, the real world, and also has a wicked sense of humor. If the right indie writer-director took her as his muse, a fabulous project could easily result.

It’s a happy 38th birthday to erstwhile “Rollergirl” Heather Graham, who — side salad of crazy or not — has one of those fantastic smiles that makes a guy feel like he’s really got it. It’s a 40th birthday shrug, meanwhile, to Edward Burns, the recent 27 Dresses costar who has somehow graduated to the Daniel Cleaver role in movies despite coming off as a raspy, one-note drip, and having negative charismatic pull. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: if Burns and Luke Wilson were to costar in a buddy cop flick together, the world would likely implode from an audience’s collective yawn. If not, that film would be like The Ring: pay-it-forward deadly.

It’s a happy birthday to low-profile hottie Christine Lakin, who turns 29 today. In regular rotation as a TV guest star, Lakin has had small parts in Georgia Rule, The Game Plan and a few other flicks, but I suppose remains best known from her seven-year run on ABC’s Step by Step. She’s got a plum part, though (relatively speaking), in the forthcoming The Hottie & The Nottie, opposite Paris Hilton; Lakin plays the (really) ugly girl best friend of Hilton’s character — the ugly duckling who undergoes the transformation into the swan. It’s not a great flick by any stretch of the imagination, but Lakin has one really good and emotionally earned scene in particular. No one told her the movie was supposed to be small-fries, apparently.

It’s a happy birthday to Rachel Nichols, who turns 28 today. And what better way to celebrate, really, than with an espresso-like double shot of the fetching starlet?



I’m a stranger to her work on Alias, alas, but Nichols seems to really have a smart sense of how to play a scene to go along with her Northeastern-esque, Abercrombie & Fitch-style hotness. She first made her mark in 2003’s Dumb & Dumber prequel. Small but memorable turns in The Amityville Horror, Shopgirl, and May director Lucky McKee’s Sick Girl follow-up, 2006’s The Woods, gave way to a slightly larger role in Resurrecting the Champ, a starring role opposite Wes Bentley in the thriller P2, and a bit part in Mike Nichols’ Charlie Wilson’s War, with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Too bad, in a way, that she’s been snapped up as part of the ensemble for The Mummy director Stephen Sommers’ update/adaptation of G.I. Joe, planned as Paramount’s summer action tentpole for 2009; it’ll boost her profile, sure, but I’d love to see Nichols instead get the chance to brighten up a romantic comedy.

It’s birthday well wishes to Nicolas Cage, who turns 44 today. And that makes this guy quite happy, don’tcha know?

It’s a happy birthday to Paz Vega, who turns 32 today and looks quite fetching sprawled out across that couch.

She’s best known Stateside for her role as Flor Moreno in James Brooks’ Spanglish, but Vega won a deserved Best Actress Goya Award for her turn in Julio Medem’s erotically charged Sex and Lucia, and was also quite good in Pedro Almodovar’s Talk to Her, Vicente Aranda’s Carmen and Brad Silberling’s 10 Items or Less, opposite Morgan Freeman.

Vega must make a nice initial impression, too; forthcoming, she has a trio of roles for first-time filmmakers. Most notable is a turn as Plaster of Paris in Sin City creator Frank Miller’s planned 2009 solo directorial debut, The Spirit; also on tap are roles in Jada Pinkett Smith’s feature directorial debut, The Human Contract, and opposite Tim Allen, Jenna Elfman and Elisha Cuthbert in Howard Michael Gould’s comedy The Six Wives of Henry Lefay. Hell, if the Spanish invasion looks this good, I’d say open borders are a good thing, Tom Tancredo be damned…

It’s a happy birthday to Sienna Miller, who turns 26 today, on the heels of both her casting in the big screen adaptation of G.I. Joe and the recent DVD release of Interview — and no doubt in advance of some fabulous tabloid relationship that awaits us further down the line, perhaps with Benjamin McKenzie, Colin Farrell or even Colin Hanks.