Who is Portia de Rossi: Portia de Rossi is an actress who was born under the name Amanda Lee Rogers in Melbourne, Australia in 1973. She changed her name to Portia when she was 15 after a character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
What has Portia de Rossi acted in?: Portia de Rossi's first movie role was in the low-budget movie Sirens in 1993 opposite Hugh Grant. She also appeared in Scream 2. In 1998, she joined the cast of Ally McBeal. Portia also starred in Fox TV's Arrested Development.
Where did Portia de Rossi meet Ellen DeGeneres?: According to the New York Post's Page Six column, de Rossi and DeGeneres met at a photo shoot in early 2004. Both women were attracted to each other, but each had girlfriends and decided not to act on the attraction.
How did Ellen and Portia hook up?: Apparently, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi met up again at the VH1, Big in '04 awards and this time decided to act on their attraction.
Who else has Portia de Rossi been with?: Portia was last paired with Francesca Gregorini, Ringo Starr's stepdaughter.
Coming Out of the Closet: It seems even beautiful celebrities have a hard time coming out to their families. When Portia de Rossi came out to her grandmother in 2005, as reported in The Advocate the first thing her grandmother said was, "Well this is a very bad day. Darlin', you're not one of those." Later her grandmother told her, she loves her just the same and would like to meet Ellen.
Hiding in the Hollywood Closet: Portia's story is an all too familar one for many Hollywood actors. She feared she would jeapordize her career if she came out of the closet. When she finally did come out of the closet, many people didn't believe she was gay. She told the Advocate, "I had a hell of a time convincing people I was gay--which was so annoying! First of all, you live with the fear people might find out. Then you actually have the courage to tell people and they go, 'I don't think you are gay.'"
Life with Ellen DeGeneres: Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres live together in Los Angeles. In her Advocate interview she said, "I'm very happy. I'm happier than I ever, ever thought I could be...She's incredible." Portia says when she first saw Ellen, she took her breath away. "That had never happened to me in my life, where I saw somebody and [experienced] all of those things you hear about in songs and read about in poetry. My knees were weak."
