Born and raised in Maine

Moved with mother to NYC's Greenwich Village at age 12

Received first modeling job with assistance of Paulina Porizkova who took photos that ended up in Interview magazine

Photographed for Seventeen and Mirabella magazines; also starred in commercials for Pantene shampoo and Bongo jeans

Appeared in the Aerosmith video "Crazy" with Alicia Silverstone

Feature film debut, Bruce Beresford's "Silent Fall"

Played a pizza waitress opposite Shelley Winters and Deborah Harry in the low-budget "Heavy"

Ceased being managed by mother; replaced with Peter Hoffman (godfather)

Breakthrough screen role as the virginal Lucy in Bernardo Bertolucci's "Stealing Beauty"

Nabbed the female lead in Tom Hanks' directorial debut, "That Thing You Do!"

Had small role in Woody Allen's "Everyone Says I Love You"; cut from final version

Starred as the nicest Abbott sister in Pat O'Connor's "Inventing the Abbotts"

Played Bruce Willis' daughter in the blockbuster, "Armageddon"; Aerosmith provided the film's theme song

Won raves for her turn as the rebellious tomboy member of an eccentric southern family in Robert Altman's "Cookie's Fortune"

Portrayed Tatyana opposite Ralph Fiennes in "Onegin" an adaptation of Alexander Pushkin's novel Eugene Onegin; directed by her co-stars' sister, Martha Fiennes'

Re-teamed with Altman for the ensemble film, "Dr. T & the Women"

Was the object of infatuation for three men (Matt Dillon, John Goodman and Paul Reiser) in "One Night at McCool's"

Starred as Arwen in Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings; filmed in 1999-2000 and scheduled for successive Christmas releases in 2001 ("The Fellowship of the Ring"), 2002 ("The Two Towers") and 2003 ("The Return of the King")

Cast opposite Ben Affleck in director Kevin Smith's "Jersey Girl"

Starred in Steve Buscemi's "Lonesome Jim" opposite Casey Affleck

Played a psychiatrist in Mike Binder's "Reign Over Me"

Costarred with Scott Speedman in the horror thriller "The Strangers"

Cast as Betty Ross opposite Edward Norton in "The Incredible Hulk"