Rebecca Alie Romijn (pronounced ro-MAIN; 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 United States—its proper Dutch pronunciation is 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') 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.Rebecca Romijn-Stamos Biography (1972–)Rebecca rules. | Cosmopolitan (, 2000) Her father is a native of Barneveld, in the Netherlands, and her mother is a third-generation Dutch AmericanRebecca Romijn Biography – Yahoo! Movies who met Romijn's father while staying in the Netherlands on a teen-age exchange program. The Rebecca Romijn Fanpage 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". Rebecca Romijn biography 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 swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated, Victoria's Secret, bebe, Miller Litebeer, and for Anna Molinari Runway, along with the famous Super-Models such as 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. Rebecca is a fixture on 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."

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. This series showcased Romijn's talents for comedy, singing, modeling, drama, and adventure.

In January 2007, Romijn made her first appearance on the ABC series Ugly Betty as a full time regular.Watch with Kristin – E! Online 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. 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.Watch with Kristin – Chatting with Carpoolers Designated Driver

Romijn starred in the 2009 ABC series Eastwick,www.diablomag.com/Diablo-Magazine/September-2009/Witchy-Woman/ reuniting her with her former Pepper Dennis co-star, Lindsay Price, before ABC cancelled the show on 9 November 2009.www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-quick10-2009nov10,0,3152781.story

Personal life

Rebecca 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. [3] And it turns out I'm pretty straight".fix

On September 19, 2005, Rebecca 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. People magazine reported that the babies were conceived without the assistance of fertility drugs.Rebecca Romijn & Jerry O'Connell Are Expecting Twins, People, July 28, 2008. Accessed August 2, 2008. Romijn and O'Connell welcomed twin daughters Dolly Rebecca Rose and Charlie Tamara Tulip on December 28, 2008. Dolly is for Dolly Parton, Charlie is for Jerry's brother, and Tamara is for Rebecca's sister. www.people.com/people/article/0,,20245814,00.html

In 2009, Romijn was a guest star on Project Runway and believed to be pregnant after sporting a "baby bump." However, her appearance was filmed last year before giving birth to twins.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1998	Dirty Work	Bearded Lady
1999	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	Herself	uncredited
2000	X-Men	Mystique / Raven Darkholme	Won Best Supporting Actress Blockbuster Entertainment Award

Won Best Supporting Actress Saturn Award
2002Femme FataleLaure Ash / Lily S1m0neFaithuncredited RollerballAuroraNominated Worst Actress Razzie Award 2003X2: X-Men UnitedMystique / Raven DarkholmeNominated Choice Movie Liar Teen Choice Award Nominated Choice Movie Actress Teen Choice Award

Nominated Sexiest She-Villain MTV Movie Award
2004The PunisherJoan GodsendJessie Duncan 2006X-Men: The Last StandMystique / Raven Darkholme Man About TownNina Giamoro The AlibiLola Davis 2008Lake CityJennifer 2010The Love ChildBelindaPost-production

Television

Year	Title		Role		Other notes
1997	Friends (episode: "The One with the Dirty Girl")	Cheryl	(Series)
1998, 1999, 2000	House of Style	Herself/Host	(Series)
1999	Hefner: Unauthorized	Kimberly Hefner	(Movie)
1999, 2000	Just Shoot Me!	Adrienne Barker	(Series)
2000	Jack & Jill	Paris Everett	(Series)
2002	MADtv	Herself/Host	(Series)
2006	Pepper Dennis	Pepper Dennis	(Series)
2007–2008	Ugly Betty	Alexis Meade	The first episodes starring her were filmed in autumn 2006.

Nominated Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award
2007Drawn Together (episode: "Charlotte's Web of Lies")Charlotte(Series) 2007CarpoolersJoannifer(Series) 2009EastwickRoxanne Torcoletti(Series)