Woman Crush Wednesday: Piper Perabo Is ‘Notorious’ For Raising The Bar

Happy Wednesday, y’all! The week’s half over, but the party’s just begun, because it’s time for us to celebrate one of our favorite females.
This week, we’re raising the roof for Piper Perabo. She’s got iconic films and 5 seasons of a totally kickass TV show under her belt, plus another one on the way. She’s an actress we enjoy watching so much, we can’t help but want to be friends with her IRL. Don’t lie – you totally thought about her that time you got up and danced on top of a bar. But in the 16 years since she made her big screen debut, Piper’s only continued to portray more confident, unique women, and she’s portrayed them incredibly well.
WHO’S THAT GAL: Piper Perabo
WHY WE’RE CRUSHING: Piper has the kind of acting career most people dream of. She’s played everything from a singer-songwriter to a spy to a stripper, and now she’s starring in one of 2016’s most buzzed-about shows (Notorious), playing a TV news producer, navigating the deliciously dramatic relationship between criminal law and the major TV news stations that report on it. Piper has become somewhat of a poster gal for playing smart, strong characters that aren’t afraid to acknowledge that they have flaws, all while maintaining perfectly flawless waves in her hair.

WHERE YOU’VE SEEN HER BEFORE: Piper’s breakout role was 2000’s Coyote Ugly, where she starred as singer-songwriter Violet Sanford, a young woman who moves across the river from New Jersey to big old New York City to chase her music career dreams. Of course, she ends up bartending at one of the city’s rowdiest bars in the meantime, in one of the most modern examples of a total girl-power film. Her wide-eyed, vulnerable-yet-confident performance in the film lit her career on fire faster than a shot of Fireball could. From there, she appeared in both Cheaper by the Dozen and Cheaper by the Dozen 2, and the horror flick The Cave with Cole Hauser and Morris Chestnut. She also starred in the unique rom-com Imagine Me & You with Lena Headey and Matthew Goode, as well as The Prestige with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. Piper can also be seen in Because I Said So with Mandy Moore and Diane Keaton, Carriers, a horror flick with Chris Pine, and the time-hopping Looper with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. She popped up in 4 episodes of Matthew Perry’s charming group therapy sitcom, Go On, not to mention the 5 seasons she spent being a total badass on USA’s Covert Affairs. As Annie Walker, Piper brought genuine human emotions to a fierce, powerful character who gave it her all when it came to both her job as a CIA agent, and her personal life, including her family, friends, and romances all around the world.

WHERE YOU’LL SEE HER NEXT: Piper’s got the film Black Butterfly with Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Antonio Banderas coming down the pipeline, but for now, she stars in one of the hottest new shows of the fall TV season, ABC’s Notorious. She plays TV news producer Julia George on the show about the very tricky relationship between the news and the criminal law system, with a little help from attorney Jake Gregorian, played by Daniel Sunjata. She’s got an envious wardrobe of pretty pencil skirts, but once again, it remains her acting that is truly on display. As she is notorious for keeping her characters interesting, we can’t wait to see where she goes with this latest show she’s totally got us hooked on.
[Watch Notorious on Hulu]