Born September 5, 1973.. Known early in her career for such movies as The Doom Generation and Scream, she's had a resurgence in popularity recently with the TV show Charmed, as the fourth sister brought in when Prue died, and her dual roles in Grindhouse. You know, with the machine-gun leg?
This actress contains examples of...[]
- Acting for Two: Played two different characters in Grindhouse, Pam (the blond party girl) in Death Proof and Cherry Darling (the go-go dancer) in Planet Terror. Notable in that three other actors from Planet Terror played the same characters briefly in Death Proof, as well as two other actors playing different characters like her.
- Actor Allusion: Her one scene in the film Nowhere was with her Charmed sister Shannen Doherty, whom she never had any scenes with on the show.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Has been all three colours but notable on Charmed that she cycled through all four in her first few seasons. Was black in season 4, red in 5, blonde in 6 and brown in 7 and 8.
- But Not Too Foreign: Is actually Italian-American but looks very pale, largely due to also being half Irish. Interestingly, her on-screen sister Alyssa Milano is also Italian-American.
- Catgirl: Plays Miss Kitty in Monkeybone
- Deadpan Snarker
- Dumb Blonde: Pam arguably.
- Dyeing for Your Art: Dyed her hair blonde for Scream.
- Everybody Remembers The Go-Go Dancer: Especially when she has a machine-gun for a leg.
- Fake American: She was born and raised in Italy but has spent most of her life in America. She can still speak the language though.
- Guest Host: McGowan cohosted The Essentials on Turner Classic Movies in 2008.
- Heroes Want Redheads: A large amount of her fans prefer her with the red hair.
- Money, Dear Girl: During Charmed, she made it very clear that she just liked having a paycheck.
- Ms. Fanservice: More so early in her career.
- Parental Abandonment: Got herself emancipated at 14 years old.
- Romance on the Set: With Robert Rodriguez on Grindhouse.
- Perky Goth: Somewhat subverted. Definitely unflappable.
- Stripperiffic: Some of her more outrageous Charmed outfits, such as the Valkyrie and wood nymph. Justified in Planet Terror, as she plays go-go dancer Cherry Darling.