Some roles these celebs played mirror the people and culture of NoVA.
There is a plethora of famous people who hail from NoVA, but for this particular list of stars, we narrowed it down to include actors playing roles that could be taken from the local society pages today.
The most recent example would be Julianne Moore, a graduate of Falls Church’s JEB Stuart High School, in the 2012 movie Game Change. Not many people can forget her spot-on portrayal of politician Sarah Palin. This HBO political drama put the spotlight on John McCain’s 2008 presidential running mate and the mess that went on behind closed doors in D.C.
Next on our list is the first of four graduates from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Warren Beatty. In 1998’s Bulworth, he plays a senator who gets into trouble during his re-election campaign but wins by a landslide after he makes some outlandish marks to the press. Does this sound like any crazy-haired man gracing our TV screens lately?
Beatty’s older sister, Shirley MacLaine, and Gena Rowlands are fellow actors and alums that have both played former first ladies. The school’s fourth alum and former cheerleader is Sandra Bullock. A famous role of hers was in The Blind Side (2009), in which she played a strong, affluent woman who doesn’t take no for an answer and has her hands in numerous charities, even saving an impoverished youth. Surely you can think of a few ladies who fit the bill of “unstoppable force” and “charitable workhorse.”