Say Anything

Background:

British actress Ione Skye got her start in modeling before getting into acting. In 1986, she made a favorable debut as Clarissa in Tim Hinter’s dark drama, River’s Edge, in which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award. However, she did not score a big break until Cameron Crowe cast her in the starring role of high school heartthrob Diane Court in Say Anything (1989). Three years later, she gave an impressive turn as the wayward older daughter in Allison Anders’ 1992 Gas Food Lodging. She also has had lead or second lead roles in such films as A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988), The Rachel Papers (1989), Dream for an Insomniac (1996), Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five (1998), Return to Babylon (2004), as well as has appeared in films like Guncrazy (1992), But I’m a Cheerleader (1999), Dry Cycle (2003), Fever Pitch (2005), The Lather Effect (2006) and, more recently, David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007). The fruitful player also has acted in several television films, including Girls in Prison (1994) and The Perfect Mother (1997), and series such as “Twilight Zone” (2002) and “Arrested Development” (2005).

As for her private life, the 5’ 5” former fashion model dated Anthony Kiedis, the member of Red Hot Chili Peppers, when she was 16. The bond, however, ended due to problems resulting from Kiedis’ frequent drug use. She married Adam Horovitz, a rapper/singer ‘Ad Rock’ of the popular musical and legendary hip hop group Beastie Boys, from 1991 to 1999. She left her first husband for model Jenny Shimizu (reportedly dated in 1999). Skye married her second husband, David Netto, in 2001, but divorced in 2004, after having a daughter.

“I was so happy to fall in love with an interior decorator! You know, he just moves things around at night or whenever, and it’s just amazing; it just completely changes.” Ione Skye



Peyote

Childhood and Family:

Ione Skye Leitch was born on September 4, 1971, in Hertfordshire, England, to Scottish folk singer Donovan Leitch and Jewish American model Enid Karl. After her parents divorced, she went on to live with her mother in San Francisco, California and Connecticut. She graduated from Hollywood High in Los Angeles, California.

In 1991, Ione, whose nickname is Peyote, was married to musician-actor Adam Horovitz, the son of playwright-director Israel Horovitz. After appearing together in Cityscrapes: Los Angeles (lensed in 1994, shown at festivals in 1996), the couple divorced in 1999. In March 2001, she married David Netto, but the marriage ended in separation in 2004. Ione and his second husband share a daughter name Kate.


River’s Edge

Career:

England-born, America-raised Ione Skye started modeling when she was 2. Her modeling photographs caught the eye of director Tim Hunter, who cast her in his unwelcoming drama River’s Edge (1986), opposite Crispin Glover and Keanu Reeves. Her fine acting brought the teenaged Skye a Young Artist nomination for Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama. Following the auspicious debut, she was seen in many film and television productions.

Skye made her miniseries debut with a part as the Emperor’s younger sister, Pauline, in ABC’s “Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story” (1987). She returned to the big screen as the blemished affluent girl Denise in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988), starring River Phoenix in the title role, before delivering one of her best leading performances to date, as high school heartthrob Diane Court, in Cameron Crowe’s bittersweet romantic comedy Say Anything (1989), opposite John Cusack. The same year, she costarred with Dexter Fletcher in the comedy The Rachel Papers.

After significant roles in the drama Mindwalk (1990, starred Sam Waterston), the based-on-play TV film It’s Called the Sugar Plum (1991) and an appearance as Rob Lowe’s girlfriend in the Mike Myers-Dana Carbvey comedy Wayne’s World (1992), she offered a bright costarring turn as the impolite older daughter in the Allison Anders-directed Gas Food Lodging (1992), which also co-starred her brother, actor-producer Donovan Leitch, and had her first regular role in the ABC short-lived medieval adventure “Covington Cross” (1992), as Eleanor Grey. She continued to take on roles in many movies, including Guncrazy (1992, starred Drew Barrymore), Cityscrapes: Los Angeles (1994), Girls in Prison (1994, TV, with Anne Heche), Allison Anders’s segment of Four Rooms (1995), the romantic-comedy Dream for an Insomniac (1996, played an aspiring actress), The Perfect Mother (1997, TV), One Night Stand (1997), the independent comedy drama Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five (1998, starred as the former girlfriend Gabby), Jump (1999), Mascara (1999) and the little-seen and critically panned But I’m a Cheerleader (1999). Meanwhile, in 1996, Skye made her directorial debut, co-directed comedy short Bed, Bath and Beyond with Andrew Durham and Sofia Coppola.

Entering the new millennium, Skye was cast as Nadia Wickham in the short film The Good Doctor (2000), opposite James Coburn, Catherine in the comedy Free (2001), Miss Highrise in the awful drama/music Southlander: Diary of a Desperate Musician (2001) and mama in the 13-minute short Chicken Night (2001). After a guest spot in the UPN series “Twilight Zone” (2002), as Melina Kroner, she supported Marisa Coughlan and Samuel Ball for the comedy Dry Cycle (2003), had a second lead opposite Maria Conchita Alonso in the indie-drama Return to Babylon (2004) and played the daughter of Blythe Danner in the made-for-TV film Back When We Were Grownups (2004). In 2005, the actress was featured as one of Drew Barrymore’s best friends in the comedy Fever Pitch, jointly directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly. She also appeared as Mrs. Veal in an episode of television series “Arrested Development” (2005).

The dark-haired performer appeared in the comedy The Lather Effect (2006), as Zooey, and starred as Megan Saunders in the crime-made-for-TV film 12 Hours to Live (2006). More recently, she had an uncredited part in the David Fincher thriller Zodiac (2007). The movie starred Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith, Mark Ruffalo as Inspector David Toschi, Anthony Edwards as Inspector William Armstrong and Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery.


Awards:
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