11 Models Who Became Actors

Cara Delevingne

This 22-year-old British beauty began modeling at age 10 for Vogue Italia and has continued to make waves, landing campaigns for Burberry, Chanel, Tom Ford, DKNY and H&M. She made her movie debut with a small part in 2012’s Anna Karenina, but her first starring role will be the movie adaptation of John Green’s Paper Towns, due out later this summer. Next year, she’ll appear in DC’s star-studded Suicide Squad.

Milla Jovovich

Milla Jovovich got her big break appearing alongside Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman in the French science-fiction film The Fifth Element, before rising to fame as the star of the five Resident Evil films. The Ukrainian jack-of-all-trades (she also writes music and has started her own production and clothing lines), Jovovich got her start at age 12, modeling for the cover of Italian magazine Lei.

Rebecca Romijn

Starting in 1991, Rebecca Romijn graced the catwalk with some of fashion’s biggest stars — including Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. Her acting career began in 2000, when she starred in X-Men as Mystique. She has since made appearances in two other X-Men movies, and landed a recurring role on ABC’s Ugly Betty.

Famke Janssen

Janssen worked for Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel and Victoria’s Secret before transitioning to acting. Since then, she has starred alongside Pierce Brosnan in the 1995 Bond film GoldenEye, as well as the X-Men movies, received a bachelor of arts from Columbia University and directed the 2011 box office flop Bringing Up Bobby, starring fellow model-turned-actress Milla Jovovich.

Jaime King

The former star of Hart of Dixie got her modeling start at age 14, and by 16, she had appeared in Vogue, Seventeen, Glamour and on the cover of the New York Times Magazine. First featured in a small role in 2001’s Pearl Harbor, King went on to star in Sin City.

Tricia Helfer

After winning Ford Models’ Supermodel of the World contest in 1992, the Canadian model walked for top fashion shows, including Christian Dior, Givenchy and Dolce & Gabbana, before retiring from modeling in 2002. The former host of Canada’s Next Top Model then starred as Number Six in the Battlestar Galactica reboot.

Lily Cole

Cole first rose to prominence after a photo shoot for Italian Vogue in 2003 and booked her first British Vogue cover at the age of 16. Her acting career has remained limited, with a role in Heath Ledger’s last film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In 2011, the British model graduated with honors from Cambridge University.

Gisele Bündchen

The former Victoria’s Secret Angel has been called the “last true supermodel” by Naomi Campbell, credited by Vogue in 1999 as “The Return of the Sexy Model” and was the highest paid model in the world for many years. Married to football superstar Tom Brady, she’s played supporting roles in 2004’s Taxi and 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Previously best known for her work as a Victoria’s Secret Angel, the British beauty hit the mainstream with a role in the third Transformers film. She has since co-starred alongside Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road.

Diane Kruger

The German model-turned-actress, who once was the face of Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Christian Dior and Burberry, rose to movie fame as Dr. Abigail Chase in the National Treasure films. She went on to star in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds and currently appears in FX’s The Bridge.

Kate Upton

Kate Upton made her name in modeling as a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, landing the cover for the 2012 and 2013 issues. She has appeared in films like Tower Heist and The Other Woman.