Christina Rene Hendricks was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, to an American mother and English father.Her father worked with the US Forest Services, which meant that Hendricks and her family would move quite often, depending on where her father was posted.Through her father, Hendricks also has a dual US and UK citizenship.After her birth in Tennessee, Hendricks spent a lot of her formative years in Portland, Oregon, as well as Twin Falls, Idaho.
She spent her high school years in Fairfax, Virginia, which is where she was introduced to theater and the actor in her.Hendricks spent a few difficult years in high school and consequently, she turned to the theater to get her through the difficult times.
After completing her high school graduation, Hendricks moved to New York and kickstarted her modeling career.Her first tryst with modeling was when she enrolled for theSeventeencover contest.She worked as a model for over a decade, and her work took her all over the world.
It is also interesting to know that the red-haired beauty is actually a natural blonde.Inspired by the bookAnne of Green Gables,in which the protagonist was famous for her “decidedly red hair,” Hendricks began to color her blonde hair red at the age of 10.The practice has continued well into her adulthood, and today Hendricks is known for her red, lustrous locks.
Modeling and Acting Career
Before her modeling career took off, Hendricks worked as a receptionist and as a shampoo girl at a salon.She then entered a competition to appear on the cover ofSeventeenmagazine, after which she was signed on with an agency called IMG Models, prompting her to move to New York when she was 18.Hendricks had a pre-acceptance from Virginia Commonwealth University for a drama degree.Still, she decided to let that opportunity go in order to devote her energy to modeling and building her career in that field.
At the beginning of her modeling career, she spent a year living in London.She also appeared in commercials for Carl’s Jr and Dr. Pepper, apart from starring in the music video ofEverclear’sOne Hit Wonderin 1997.She worked as a model for a decade until making a foray into the world of acting.
Her television debut was in the MTV anthology series,Undressed. She then went on to star in a comedy series calledBeggars and Choosers,which followed the life of a group of young professionals.Hendricks played the role of a young intern at the office.She also made appearances in shows likeAngel(2000),ER(2002),The Court(2003) andFirefly(2002-2003).
She was then cast in the legal dramaKevin Hill,in which she played a pivotal role of Nicolette Ray.The show ran for 22 episodes, between 2004 and 2005.
Her big acting break, however, was on the AMC seriesMad Men,starring Jon Hamm.Hendricks essayed the role of Joan Harris, an office manager at an advertising agency called Sterling Cooper & Partners.She led a group of women in the office who had to protect themselves against the advances of the professional advertising executives they encountered on a daily basis.
Hendricks was hugely appreciated for embodying the spirit of a working woman in the 1960s.She had six Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.The show lasted for seven years and is one of the biggest successes in her acting career.The show itself has been given aniconic statusnow, and her role is one of the most important and memorable ones in the series.
In 2007, she made her feature film debut withLa Cucina,a drama film that premiered in December 2009 on Showtime.She also starred in a thriller film calledSouth of Picoin the same year.In 2011, she appeared in a supporting role in the filmDrive,starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan and Nicolas Winding Refn.She then appeared in the drama filmGinger & Rosa,playing the mother to a teenager in the 1960s.
She bagged the lead in herDriveco-star Gosling’s directorial debut,Lost River,in 2014.The film is a fantasy set in Detroit.AfterMad Menconcluded in 2015, she has dabbled in both film and television.She starred in two seasons of the Comedy Central seriesAnother Period,which was set in early 20th century.Apart from that, she has been a part of films likeDark Places, Zoolander 2, American Woman, Toy Story 4, etc.Throughout the year, Hendricks has also worked in stage productions and theater.
‘Ideal Shape’
One of Hendricks’ most enduring public legacies is her voluptuous figure, much to her own chagrin.She has been praised for having an hourglass figure and is regarded as a “new modern ideal of glamour.”She has been compared to the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell because of her figure.
But apart from praise, Hendricks has also been under attack as she has been accused of going under the knife for breast enlargement.But while Hendricks does not try to let this public image get to her head and has claimed that her breasts are 100% natural, she has also attempted to disassociate herself from this kind of publicity.Hendricks has complained that she finds that the media is too focused on women’s bodies and not on their work.She describes feeling frustrated because all her hard work inMad Menwas eclipsed as the media would only choose to talk about her body and figure.She has also taken on reporters and media persons who ask her inappropriate questions regarding her body and figure.She once corrected a reporter who used the term “full-bodied” while referring to her in a question.
Hendricks took on a voice-over part inToy Story 4.She has gone on record to say she feelsrelievedto be a part of an animated project as that way, nobody will be fixating on her curves.She plays the role of Gaby Gaby in the film.
Personal Life
In October 2009, Hendricks married fellow actor Geoffrey Arend.Arend is also an American actor with Pakistani, English and German roots.Arend has been popularly known as Ethan Gross, a character he played on the ABC TV drama series,Body of Proof. As of now, he plays the role of Matt Mahoney on the CBS TV seriesMadam Secretary.
Arend has been active as an actor since 1998 when he joined the cast ofDaria.Since the show ended, Arend has ventured into small film roles.He had a small role in the filmSuper Troopers,in which he plays a stoner who eats an entire bag of (magic) mushrooms when he got pulled over by the cops.He also had a significant role to play in the romantic comedy film(500) Days of Summeras Joseph Gordon Levitt’s well-wisher and friends.
The couple has a service dog called Zouzou that keeps them company.They have mutually decided not to have children at the moment in order to focus on their respective careers.They are also often in the news for being a well dressed couple and were acknowledged as the best dressed couple at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards.
