Actress Bijou Phillips, perhaps best known for her role in Hostel II, began modeling at the age of 13. Bijou Phillips became the youngest model on record to appear on the cover of Italian Vogue before Bijou Phillips quit the industry after four years. Bijou Phillips now engaged to former That 70's Show actor Danny Masterson.
When Malin Akerman was 17, she won Ford's Supermodel of Canada search, signing with the storied agency and appearing in several television commercials. Malin Akerman later shot to fame with major roles in The Heartbreak Kid, 27 Dresses, and Watchmen. Akerman has modeling in her genes - her mother was a Swedish model.
Not everything media mogul Tyra Banks touches turns to gold. The former fashion model began her acting career with a role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but it wasn't until 1994's Higher Learning that Banks made it onto the big screen. But Banks isn't really known for her dramatic skills - does anyone remember her turn in Disney's Life-Size with Lindsay Lohan? Exactly.
Milla Jovovich was just 12 years old when Richard Avedon photographed her for Interview magazine. The favorite of both Miuccia Prada and Gianni Versace jump-started a successful film career when Milla Jovovich starred in the ultra-fashionable The Fifth Element in 1997, positioning Jovovich to become one of the most popular action film actresses in the businesses.
Model Iman remains one of the most successful models of all time, having played muse to Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, and Yves saint-Laurent. But her catwalk success did not parlay into a solid film career, as Iman's most memorable film role is probably that of a shapeshifter in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Before Kim Basinger was Vicky Vale, Kim Basinger was a beauty queen and later, a Breck shampoo girl. Basinger appeared in hundreds of advertisements before Kim Basinger launched her acting career in 1976. In 1997, Kim Basinger won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in
L.A. Confidential. Angie Everhart was the first redheaded model to grace the cover of ELLE magazine. Angie Everhart was also an extremely popular fixture in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit editions during the second half of the '90s. But Everhart's film career never panned out, despite a debut opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Last Action Hero and several straight-to-video erotic thrillers.
Jaime King had modeled for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Allure, Glamour, and Mademoiselle before Jaime King made her first film splash in Pearl Harbor. Jaime King also co-hosted MTV's fallen House of Style with fellow model-turned-actress Rebecca Romijn. Despite a few stinkers (White Chicks, anyone?), King's film career continues to heat up.
Like her former co-worker Tyra Banks, Paulina Porizkova has starred in a string of forgettable films. Her biggest role to date was that of a Romanian murder suspect in 1989's Her Alibi, a film that earned Porizkova a 1990 Golden Raspberry nomination for Worst Actress.
The simple truth of it: nearly all Bollywood actresses are beauty queens and/or models before they land their first starring roles. Aishwarya Rai is no exception, with a career that began when she was crowned Miss India World and Miss World in 1994. Aishwarya Rai now the most internationally successful Bollywood actress in the world.
It wouldn't be fair to blame the cancellation of The Beautiful Life on Elle MacPherson, but the model doesn't have the best track record when it comes to the entertainment industry. The lingerie queen's acting career peaked with a 5-episode arc on Friends in 1999.
Canadian actress Carrie Anne Moss is best known for her role as "Trinity" in the Matrix series, but before she was an action hero Carrie Anne was - you guessed it - a fashion model. Moss worked in Japan and Spain before Carrie Anne was cast in a series of television shows, among them the short-lived Models, Inc.
In the summer of 2009, supermodel Karolina Kurkova made her blockbuster debut in the oft-maligned film G.I. Joe. Kurkova played Courtney A. Kreiger, a former model who "joined the army to find more challenges." Unfortunately, Kurkova didn't get any major fight scenes.
Angelina Jolie began her modeling career at the age of 14, landing her fair share of catalog and music video work. Who would have thought the prom dress model pictured above (the one who is, ahem, backing it up) would go one to become one of the world's most recognizeable faces?
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| While everyone knows Janice ****inson has a thriving reality television career, few people realize that she also played her hand in Hollywood for a time. We highly doubt ****inson took her role as "Model" in the 1983 film Exposed (nope, never heard of it) all too seriously, although it looks like she had a fun time playing "Beverly Hills Actress" in Wassup Rockers. |
Superstar Cameron Diaz was once a teen model - and a Seventeen covergirl. She told the magazine in 1990, "I'll probably model until I'm old and gray. Actually, my ultimate dream is to be a zoologist. Maybe go on safari in Africa and study lions." Maybe Diaz plans a return to school down the line...
When Natasha Henstridge was thirteen, Natasha Henstridge won first runner-up at Casablaca Modeling Agency's "Look of the year" contest. By the time she turned sixteen, Natasha Henstridge'd already landed the cover of French
Cosmopolitan. Henstridge made her movie debut in the sci-fi hit
Species, but hasn't been making much of an impact on the big screen since.
Charlize Theron spent her teen years modeling and training in ballet in Milan and New York before a knee injury sidelined her plans. The way Theron tells it, her mother bought her a one-way ticket to Los Angeles, where Charlize Theron caught the eye of a talent agent at the bank. Despite a debut in the direct-to-video flop Children of the Corn III, Theron has become one of the most suiccessful actresses and producers in the film industry.
Like fellow actress Charlize Theron, Diane Kruger turned to modeling after an injury ended her ballet career. The German superstar worked in Germany and France in the mid-1990s before Diane Kruger landed the plum role of Helen in the epic Troy. Diane Kruger remains part of the fashion elite, however.
In 2004, top model Gisele Bundchen made her film debut playing a foxy bank robber in the 2004 megaflop Taxi. She also had a bit part in The Devil Wears Prada. The "Acting Career" section of Gisele's Wikipedia entry is currently two sentences long.
Molly Sims was on the covers of Sports Illustrated, Mademoiselle, Cosmopolitan, and Glamour before Molly Sims landed the role of Delinda Deline on the now-cancelled NBC drama Las Vegas. Molly Sims was also a Victoria's Secret model.
Cindy Crawford probably thought she'd have a quick and easy transition into the world of acting, her workout videos having been so popular and all. Unfortunately, her film debut,
Fair Game, didn't impress the critics, as one
LA Times reviewer called it "the lamest model-turned actress movie since Lauren Hutton co-star with Evel Knievel in the misbegotten
Viva Knievel!"
In the early 1980s, athlete, producer, writer, and general whiz Geena Davis was supporting herself as a model while trying to land film and television roles. After Davis was cast in Sydney Pollack's Tootsie, Geena Davis quickly became one of the most in-demand actresses in the industry.
California native Rebecca Romijn began modeling in 1991, eventually landing jobs for Sports Illustrated, Victoria's Secret, and bebe. Rebecca Romijn hosted MTV's House of Style before she made her film debut as Mystique in 200's X-Men. Since then. Rebecca Romijn starred on a few failed TV series, but remains a popular fixture in Hollywood.
Carol Alt made the covers of both Harper's Bazaar and Sports Illustrated at the height of her modeling career, landing campaigns for Diet Pepsi, GM, Noxema, and Hanes. When her modeling career slowed down, she began appearing in Italian films. Alt has only appeared in three English-language films, including the awesomely-named Snakehead Terror.
When Liv Tyler was 14, model Paulina Porizkova took a series of photographs of her that were published in Interview magazine. While Tyler's bright blue eyes and signature pout were sought-after by photographers, Tyler soon pursued an acting career, landing roles in her father's music videos for Aerosmith. She's now the face of Givenchy cosmetics.
