Rebecca Romijn Biography

Rebecca Romijn started her career as a model in 1991 and with time she appeared in various editions of ‘Elle’, ‘Marie Claire’, ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘Allure’, ‘Glamour’, ‘GQ’, ‘Esquire’, and ‘Sports Illustrated’. Within a decade of her modeling career, Romijn had appeared in various commercials for top brands like Escada, Christian Dior, La Perla, Dillard's, Pantene, and Miller Lite. She has also represented Victoria's Secret, Bebe, Maybelline, and Tommy Hilfiger. She has walked the ramp for Anna Molinari, Sonia Rykiel, and Giorgio Armani, joining the ranks of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Stephanie Seymour as the top models in the world. Romijn was named by ‘Stuff Magazine’ in their list of ‘102 Sexiest Women in the World’ in 2002. She was also featured in various annual lists of beautiful women by Maxim, AskMen.com, FHM, and People Magazine.

After starting her career in the show business, Romijn had to wait a while before she received the offer to play ‘Mystique’ in the 2000 American superhero film ‘X-Men’, based on the Marvel Comics character. She appeared alongside Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, and Famke Janssen in the movie which grossed over US$296 million at the box office. During the shooting of the film, she had to go fully naked and spent over eight hours every day on her makeup. Painting her entire body with blue paint and then making her look like the character was a rigorous task for both her and her two makeup artists. She would often feel depressed and upset, and to cheer her up, the director would come and tell her to have a glass of wine and relax. Her dedication towards the role and the efforts she put in convinced the makers to sign her for the future installments of the X-Men series. She appeared in the ‘X2: X-Men United’ in 2003 and ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ in 2006, reprising her role from the first part. She was seen only once in her true look in these three films (a scene from a bar in ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’). After her, Jennifer Lawrence was picked to play the younger version of ‘Mystique’ in later parts of the X-Men series.

Romijn played the role of a transgender woman named ‘Alexis Meade’ in the ABC comedy-drama series ‘Ugly Betty’ for 33 episodes in 2007. She then portrayed ‘Roxie Torcoletti’ in the fantasy comedy ‘Eastwick’ between 2009 and 2010. Romijn was a series regular in ‘NTSF:SD: SUV’, a police procedural parody series, in which she played ‘Jessie Nichols’. She also portrayed ‘Michelle Maxwell’ in the TNT drama television series’ King & Maxwell’, based on David Baldacci’s novel. She was the host of ‘Skin Wars’, an American body painting reality competition in 2014. The same year, she portrayed ‘Eve Baird’ in the fantasy adventure series ‘The Librarians’.

Rebecca Alie Romijn was born in Berkeley, California, on November 6, 1972, to Jaap Romijn, a custom furniture maker, and Elizabeth Romijn, a community college instructor of English.

She met actor John Stamos at Victoria's Secret fashion show and they began dating. The couple got married on 19 September 1998 but ended their marriage in a divorce in 2005. In 2007, she married actor Jerry O'Connell. They have twin daughters, Dolly Rebecca Rose O'Connell and Charlie Tamara Tulip O'Connell, named after singer Dolly Parton and Jerry O'Connell's brother Charlie O'Connell.