McGowan, the second oldest of six children (including two half-siblings), was born in Florence, Italy to Daniel McGowan (an Irish-born artist) and Terri (a French American writer); her parents were members of the Children of God and her father ran the Italian chapter of the group. McGowan spent her early childhood in the group's communes and travelling Europe with her parents, who divorced when she was nine or ten. She subsequently lived in Oregon and Gig Harbor, Washington. McGowan did not speak English until she moved to the U.S.

McGowan's high school years were spent with her father in Seattle attending Roosevelt High School. At the age of fifteen, McGowan officially emancipated herself from her parents. [citation needed]

McGowan was a child model, but did not start acting until she was in her teen years. Her first role was at the age of 17, playing a minor character in the 1992 film, Encino Man. Her role in the 1995 black comedy, The Doom Generation, brought her to the attention of film critics and she received a nomination for "Best Debut Performance" at the 1996 Independent Spirit Awards. She was subsequently cast as the best friend of Neve Campbell's character in the horror-satire film, Scream.

McGowan spent the majority of the 1990s appearing in low-budget films, including parts in Southie, Going All the Way, Lewis & Clark & George, and the 1998 movie adaptation of Phantoms, adapted from a novel by Dean Koontz. Notably, she also starred in the 1999 black comedy, Jawbreaker, where she played a high school student who tries to cover up a classmate's murder.

In 2001, after some forgettable roles (including a small role in the wrestling-themed movie Ready to Rumble, which performed poorly at the box-office), McGowan was cast as Paige Matthews in the popular television series Charmed, as a replacement lead actress after Shannen Doherty's resignation from the show; the series ended its run in May 2006. [1]

In May 2005, she portrayed actress/singer Ann-Margret in Elvis, a CBS mini-series about the life of Elvis Presley.

McGowan gained a reputation for playing brassy, violent characters. Especially in the film Devil In The Flesh where she played a serial murderer and stalker while still only in high school. In one especially violent scene, she sent her grandmother to her bloody death with her own cane. She was in a very public five-year relationship with shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, and often appeared with him at celebrity events in extremely provocative clothing, such as the chain mail transparent dress and thong she wore to the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. McGowan later ended their two-year engagement over "lifestyle differences."

McGowan used to live in Seattle but currently lives in Los Angeles. She used to suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder. As a victim of sexual assault[2], McGowan has led discussions on the subject among campus groups.

While dating Marilyn Manson, she appeared in a music video for the song Coma White, and also performed backing vocals (repeatedly saying 'hey') on the song Posthuman. Both these songs are available on the album Mechanical Animals. Rose appeared on a BT track called "Superfabolous" from his album Emotional Technology.