Ginger Nut

They are a dying breed, getting rarer and rarer as the years go by. Approximately ten percent of Irish people are redheads, even though non-Irish people tend to think that we’ve all got flowing titian locks and cute freckled faces. Maybe that’s why, in Ireland, gingers get such a hard time, considered to be less than attractive by some. However, some of the world’s most beautiful women have flaming locks. Here are a few of them in no particular order.

Please be warned that, the bottom-half of the screen may not be safe for work.

Lauren Lee Smith (right)

She steamed up the screen on Mutant X, with some of the hottest subtext on the small screen between her character, Emma, and Victoria Pratt’s Shalimar. Then came the soup chef.

When Lauren joined the cast of the L Word, she was as cute as a cupcake surrounded by characters trying too hard to be cool.

At the moment, you can see Lauren wearing a police jacket as Riley in CSI: Deadly Intent. Sigh.

Jean Butler (left)

The original Irish cailín, except for the fact that she’s American, Jean kicked her heals up and made us reel. As the woman who made that Flately gobshite look good, Jean danced into our hearts and made us dream of ways to climb up her tall, lithe frame. Or maybe that’s just me.

It was Riverdance back in 1994 that brought this delicious morsel into our lives and we’ve been thankful to Millstreet ever since. An understated lady, Jean was never interested in becoming a superstar like Flately. which unfortunately means we’ll never see her covered in babyoil.

Currently, Jean is appearing in Day as part of the Dublin Dance Festival from May 19 to 22.

Alison Hannigan (right)

When Willow was introduced in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, she was the geeky best friend with brains. As both character and actor matured, she grew into a drop-dead gorgeous young woman who never forgot what it was like to be the outsider. Then she met Tara and fell in love.

America was gob-smacked when she came out, but accepted it as they like her so much. She became the poster-girl for lesbians and bi women everywhere, remaining as lovable and cute as a wicker basket full of puppies.

Julianne Moore

She may be nearing 50 but there no stopping one of Hollywood’s classiest ladies. She has played sexually aggressive women, sexually confused women, mothers, friends and all types in between. She was even in Body of Evidence with Madonna. For most of us 2002 was the year we got to see her shine for the first time. She patented her brand of the repressed woman in the twin towers of Far From Heaven and The Hours. Both were also gay-friendly films written or directed by gay men. In 2009, she played a dirty lezzer in The Private Lived of Pippa Lee and this year continues to play deviants this year in Chloe and The Kids are Alright.

Shirley Manson (left)

Not only is she an auburn-haired beauty but she has a Scottish accent too. Swoon! Between 1993 and 2006, she was the gravel-laced voice of a generation as the lead singer of Garbage.

Then, in 2006, she decided to take a break and see if she was any good at anything else. Turns out she was quite a good actress, so she joined the cast of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles playing the baddest baddie that ever was – Catherine Weaver, a liquid metal T-1001 Terminator. She told interviewers that she based the character on Margaret Thatcher.

Last year In 2009, Shirley became ageless when she became a character on Guitar Hero. According to Wikipedia, she “was digitally mapped to create an avatar of herself for the Guitar Hero franchise. In the fifth game in the series, Manson is an unlockable character, while the game also features a licensed Garbage track”.

Alicia Witt (right)

Most well known for her portrayal of Zoey, Cybill‘s daughter in the Cybill Sheppard show, Alicia has been turning heads in a mixture of projects.

Alicia is nothing of not a hard worker. She was in Ally McBeal after Cybill, then an episode of The Sopranos, followed Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

She’s yet to get a part she can really get her teeth into, most recently impressing in the hit US show Friday Night Lights. Although this lady has plenty to fall back on, she’s a classically trained pianist and she has half a dozen projects in the making, here’s hoping she gets the break she deserves. We want to see more of her.

Julia Roberts (left)

There’s probably nothing I can tell you about Julia that you don’t already know. She went to Hollywood in 1988 to see if her bother, Eric, could get her work. She started with Mystic Pizza and then got the part in some Pygmalion remake with Richard Gere.

Since then, Julia has done it all. She’s been ‘America’s Sweetheart’ for over 20 years, she’s won an Oscar, has a star on Hollywood boulevard and still manages to have a happy marriage. Annoyingly, she also seems to have managed to be unaffected by fame, going on about her life like you or me, except she gets €20million for her job.

Her red locks have been more blonde than copper recently, but she has to get an honourable mention.

She’s also been outspoken on her love of the female form, saying about actress Aishwarya Rai, “she is the most beautiful woman in the world, more beautiful than any Hollywood actress”. You managed to avoid the ugly brush yourself Jules.

Lindsay Lohan (right)

Ah Lindz. One day I think you’re a muppet and the next I want to take you home and look after you. More famous for her drinking and partying than her acting, Lohan has become synonymous with what can happen to good girls when they become  famous too young.

When she starred in The Parent Trap at the age of 12, people were calling her the next Jodie Foster, unfortunately she didn’t have the mother Jodie had. Mamma Lohan was only too delighted to enjoy the fame her daughter earned, and seemed to be all about the star and not the daughter.

By the time Mean Girls came around in 2004, Lindsay had started to realise how many parties you could access if your face was on E! or US Weekly.

Sex, drugs, alcohol and parties followed, with many promises to clean up. When she dated DJ Samantha Ronson, it looked like Lindsay had finally found happiness. It didn’t last though and the 24 year-old is still more likely to be thumping photogs than waiting for her cue.

Nicole Kidman (left)

Kidman is another ginger Hollywood superstar who is more likely these days to be seen with blonde locks.

I have to admit I’m not a fan of Nics. I think she’s over-rated and only ever plays the same character – icy untouchable. Having said that, who cares what I think? She’s an Oscar winner who commands gazillions of dollars for her acting skills, and she can belt out a tune too. Pity about the botox. Seriously, how can she deny that she hasn’t had anything done? Her face was inexpressive before, now it’s just frozen.

Miranda Hobbes (right)

Yes, I know she’s a fictional character, but you have to admit there is something hot about fire-coiffed Miranda.

While the rest of the Sex and The City girls are worrying about sex, men and fashion, Miranda rises above, She’s tough, she’s sassy and she takes no prisoners; but there is a softness to her that melts the heart. Miranda is a self-made woman who seems to have it all; huge apartment, great job, friends who would die for her.

Then, much to her own amazement, she realises that there is a gap, that she wants to be a mother. Miranda’s fumbling to do a job she thought would be easy speaks to a generation of working mothers.

Dana Scully(left)

Another fictional character but, I’m sorry, I adore her. The original TV broad with brains, Scully managed to be uptight, square and hot as jalapenos in chilli sauce. A woman who should have had a poker up her arse, instead she made smart sexy and rocked those suits.

When she appearred in The X Files back in 1993, as the cynical foil to Mulder’s I Believe, FBI agent, Scully was a bit rough around the edges. It took a couple of episodes for Gillian Anderson to get into her groove, but when she did hoooo mamma! She took Scully and turned her from live action Velma to gorgeous woman with brains to burn.

Have I missed anyone? Is there a lovely red-haired female Garda out there that you drool over on your way to work? Are one of your ginger co-workers making you arrive in work a bit earlier than necessary? We need to know!