Rebecca Alie Romijn (pronounced ; born November 6, 1972) is an
American
actress (2000–present) and former
model (1991–2001). She is best known for her role as
Mystique in the
X-Men films, and for her role as
Alexis Meade on the hit show
Ugly Betty.
Life and career
Early life
Romijn (pronounced like "
romaine" in the
English and
[The in Romijn as a Dutch word is an alveolar trill. The diphthong , not found in English, involves something like a move from the vowel in 'bed' to the vowel in 'bead'] in its native
Dutch) was born in
Berkeley,
California, the daughter of Elizabeth (
née Kuizenga), a Community College teacher of English as a Second Language and textbook author, and Jaap Romijn, a custom furniture maker.
Her father is a native of
Barneveld, in the
Netherlands, and her mother is a third-generation
Dutch American who met Romijn's father while staying in the Netherlands on a teen-age exchange program.
Romijn's maternal grandfather, Dr. Henry B. Kuizenga, was a
Presbyterian minister and
seminary professor.
[ www.sfgate.com/cgi-birticle.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/25/MNKUIZENGA1.DTL] Many sources say that she was once nicknamed the "Jolly Blonde Giant" because of her height, but she has admitted to making that up "for a laugh".
While studying
music (voice) at the
University of California, Santa Cruz,
she became involved with
fashion modeling and eventually moved to Paris for more than two years. She stands tall.
Career
Among other jobs, Romijn started her modeling career in 1991. She modeled for the 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).
She also appeared as a guest in the animated talk show
Space Ghost Coast to Coast in an episode titled "Chinatown."