Portia de Rossi was born and raised in Geelong, Australia. Originally born Amanda Rogers, at 15 she changed her name to Portia, saying that it was the most daring thing she had ever done up until that point. After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Melbourne, and studied law. Although she studied diligently, in 1993, Portia found herself giving special notice to a casting director who saw her in a commercial, and she soon auditioned for _Sirens , and she has appeared on several magazine covers, including Shape. After more than a decade of hard work, Portia is finally beginning to win real recognition, not only for her long golden tresses, but also for her wonderful talent.
Got the role of Nell Porter on "Ally McBeal" after Vanessa Marcil was forced to turn it down, due to signing on to "Beverly Hills, 90210" .
Got her role in Who Is Cletis Tout? after Sarah Michelle Gellar turned it down.
Sang backing vocals on now ex-girlfriends Francesca Gregorini s album "Sequel".
Shares a birthday with "Arrested Development" costar Jessica Walter.
Her wedding with Ellen DeGeneres on August 16, 2008, took place at their house in Beverly Hills, California, and was attended by her mother and brother and by Ellens parents.
Shares a birthday with her grandmother, who was born in 1907.
Legally changed her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres on September 23, 2010, taking the last name of her spouse Ellen DeGeneres.
Has two nieces named Eva and Perry Rogers. Parents are her older brother Michael and Casey Rogers.
First husband Mel Metcalfe left her to be with de Rossis brother Michael Rogers wife, Renee Kappos. Metcalfe and Kappos eventually married.
Admitted to have married her first husband Mel Metcalfe mainly in order to obtain a Green Card for a permanent stay in the US. De Rossi didnt acknowledge her attraction towards women when they married.
Her father died when she was nine years old.
In high school I had sex with girls quite a few times. They were,straight women who I convinced to jump in the sack with me.
I want to exude strength and intelligence.
When I was anorexic it just seemed like I literally wanted to disappear.
And now I would like to reappear.
I want young people to see me and think you can be feminine and smart,and successful, all at the same time.
I justified it in so many ways. I had a very, very long and difficult,struggle with my sexuality.
I have a very, very healthy relationship with food in that I eat,whatever I want, whenever I want. I never restrict quantities or types,of food.
I did a lot of fast talking as a youth; I was pretty good at it. I was,never talked into it - I was always the one doing the talking.
I ran into Ellen at a photo shoot. She took my breath away. That had,never happened to me in my life.
I never, ever, restrict food, and I will never go on a diet ever again.
I love to work. I really enjoy getting up really early and driving,downtown. I just really love the process of acting and being on a,series.
It sounds so trite, but my private life is mine.
I was very sexual from a very young age.
Supermodels are over, and the new picture girl has become the television,actress.
Especially being a gay actress.
When you have the paparazzi hiding in the bushes outside your home, the,only thing you can control is how you respond publicly.
Life can take so many twists and turns. You can’t ever count yourself out. Even if you’re really afraid at some point, you can’t think that there’s no room for you to grow and do something good with your life.
The diet industry is making a lot of money selling us fad diets, nonfat foods full of chemicals, gym memberships, and pills while we lose a piece of our self-esteem every time we fail another diet or neglect to use the gym membership we could barely afford.
Healing comes from love. And loving every living thing in turn helps you love yourself.
When it’s quiet in my head like this, that’s when the voice doesn’t need to tell me how pathetic I am. I know it in the deepest part of me. When it’s quiet like this, that’s when I truly hate myself.
Writing to her, I was no longer lonely. . . I could tolerate anything as long as I had a notepad and a pen and could pour my heart out to her in these letters.
I want to exude strength and intelligence.
I never, ever, restrict food, and I will never go on a diet ever again.
