--- title: 11 Models Who Became Actresses description: From Cara Delevingne to Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, see which models went from fashion to the big screen canonical: https://time.com/3959516/cara-delevingne-paper-towns-model-actors/ author: Jacob Koffler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-16T13:00:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:28.184Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 11 Models Who Became Actors og:description: From Cara Delevingne to Kate Upton, see which models went from fashion to the big screen og:url: https://time.com/3959516/cara-delevingne-paper-towns-model-actors/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 11 Models Who Became Actors twitter:description: From Cara Delevingne to Kate Upton, see which models went from fashion to the big screen twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 11 Models Who Became Actors by [Jacob Koffler](/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Jul 16, 2015 1:00 PM CUT by [Jacob Koffler](/author/jacob-koffler/) ## Jacob Koffler Jul 16, 2015 1:00 PM CUT ### Cara Delevingne  Vogue; 20th Century Fox 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_](http://time.com/3956267/suicide-squad-trailer/ "undefined"). ### Milla Jovovich  Lei; Columbia 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  Sports Illustrated; 20th Century Fox 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  Elle; 20th Century Fox 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  Vogue; Miramax 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  Elle; Frank Ockenfels—Syfy/NBC/Getty Images 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  Harper's Bazaar; Sony Pictures Classics 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  Vogue; Fox 2000 The former Victoria’s Secret Angel has been called the “last true supermodel” by Naomi Campbell, credited by _Vogu_e 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  Vogue; Warner Bros. 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  Vogue; The Weinstein Co. 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  Sports Illustrated; 20th Century Fox 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_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3959516/cara-delevingne-paper-towns-model-actors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3959516/cara-delevingne-paper-towns-model-actors/"},"headline":"11 Models Who Became Actors","datePublished":"2015-07-16T13:00:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:28.184Z","description":"With supermodel Cara Delevingne making her movie debut in Paper Towns, take a look at other models who went from fashion to the big screen","url":"https://time.com/3959516/cara-delevingne-paper-towns-model-actors/","keywords":["celebrities","photography","Cara Delevingne","paper towns"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jacob Koffler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jacob-koffler/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3959516/cara-delevingne-paper-towns-model-actors/","name":"11 Models Who Became Actors"}}]}] ```