Rebecca Romijn

Rebecca Alie Romijn ( /roʊˈmeɪn/ roh-mayn; Dutch: [roːˈmɛjn], born November 6, 1972, formerly Romijn-Stamos) is an American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her role as Mystique in the X-Men films, and for her recurring role as Alexis Meade on the television series Ugly Betty.

Early life

Romijn was born in Berkeley, California, United States. Her mother, Elizabeth (née Kuizenga), is a Community College teacher of English as a Second Language and textbook author, and her father, Jaap Romijn, is a custom furniture maker.^[2][3] Her father is a native of Barneveld, the Netherlands, and her mother is an American of half Dutch descent who met Romijn's father while staying in the Netherlands on a teen-age exchange program.^[4][5] Romijn's maternal grandfather, Dr. Henry B. Kuizenga, was a Presbyterian minister and seminary professor.^[6] When questioned about always being glamourous and beautiful on the Ellen Show, Romijn revealed that as a child in her early teens she was in fact an insecure 'drama geek', and as a result of her growth spurt she suffered from scoliosis and was constantly in pain. Many sources say that she was once nicknamed the "Jolly Blonde Giant" because of her 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) height, but she has admitted to making that up "for a laugh".^[7] While studying music (voice) at the University of California, Santa Cruz,^[8] she became involved with fashion modeling and eventually moved to Paris for more than two years.

Career

Among other jobs, Romijn started her modeling career in 1991. She modeled for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Victoria's Secret, bebe, Miller Lite beer, and for Anna Molinari on the runway, along with the likes of Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, and Christy Turlington. She also was the host of MTV's House of Style from 1998 to 2000. Romijn has been featured numerous times in annual lists of the world's most beautiful women by publications such as Maxim (2003–2007), AskMen.com (2001–2003, 2005–2006) and FHM (2000–2005).^[9] She also appeared as a guest in the animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast in an episode titled "Chinatown."

In 2000's X-Men Romijn had her first major movie role as Mystique; she returned to the role in 2003's sequel X2: X-Men United, and again for X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). In these movies her costume consisted of blue makeup and some strategically placed prosthetics on her otherwise nude body. In X2: X-Men United she shows up in a bar in one scene in her "normal" look, and also in X-Men: The Last Stand, she appears as a dark-haired "de-powered" Mystique. She had her first leading role in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale (2002). She also has starred in movies such as Rollerball, The Punisher and Godsend. She played the leading role in Pepper Dennis, a short-lived TV series on The WB.

In January 2007 Romijn made her first appearance on the ABC series Ugly Betty as a full time regular.^[10] She plays Alexis Meade, a male-to-female transsexual and the sibling of lead character Daniel Meade. In April 2008, however, it was reported that Romijn would only be appearing as a recurring character in season 3 due to a change in direction by the writing staff (aligning, fortuitously enough, with Romijn's pregnancy, which would have been inconsistent with her character's storyline).^[11] In November 2007 Romijn made a guest appearance on the ABC series Carpoolers, where she played the ex-wife of the character Laird, played by her real-life husband Jerry O'Connell.^[12]

Romijn starred in the 2009 ABC series Eastwick,^[13] reuniting her with her former Pepper Dennis co-star, Lindsay Price, before ABC canceled the show on November 9, 2009.^[14]

She appears in an uncredited cameo in the 2011 film, X-Men: First Class,^[15] and currently appears as Jessie, a lab worker on the Adult Swim live-action show NTSF: SD: SUV.

Personal life

Romijn attended the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1990–91, where she lived in dorm 1 at Stevenson College. She studied music and participated in the dorm talent show, singing a musical comedy routine with a high school friend who joined her at UCSC. During the summer following her freshman year, Rebecca began her career modeling and did not return for her sophomore year.

She married actor John Stamos on September 19, 1998. During her marriage, she used the name Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in both her personal and professional life. The couple announced their separation on April 12, 2004, and divorced on March 1, 2005. She has since returned to using her maiden name.

Romijn was asked by Elle magazine in April 2002 whether making Femme Fatale had given her any new ideas about her sexuality. She said, "You know, in my early twenties I wondered if I was interested in women and so I kind of, well ... did my homework. And it turns out I'm pretty straight".^[16]

On September 19, 2005, Romijn announced her engagement to actor Jerry O'Connell. They were married on their ranch in Southern California on July 14, 2007. On July 28, 2008, it was announced that Romijn was pregnant. She now goes by Rebecca Romijn-O'Connell.^[17] Romijn and O'Connell welcomed twin daughters Dolly Rebecca Rose and Charlie Tamara Tulip on December 28, 2008.^[18] Dolly is from Dolly Parton's first name and Charlie is for O'Connell's brother.^[19]

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

• Rebecca Romijn at the Internet Movie Database
• Rebecca Romijn at Fashion Model Directory
• Romijn-Online.Net – Rebecca Romijn Fansite