Best Known As: The sleek blue Mystique in the X-Men movies
Rebecca Romijn is the blonde model who starred as the sexy mutant Mystique in the X-Men series of movies. Romijn was a major model in the 1990s, perhaps being one small notch below the extra-super status of models like Claudia Schiffer or Linda Evangelista. She gained early fame for appearing in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and Victoria's Secret catalogs. As the century turned she ventured into the movies, playing the blue-skinned superheroine Mystique in the movie X-Men (co-starring with Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry). She reprised her role in the sequels X2 (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). Romijn's other films include Femme Fatale (2002, with Antonio Banderas) and the sci-fi remake Rollerball (2002, with Chris Klein). She married actor John Stamos, former star of the TV show Full House, in 1998; they separated in 2004 and divorced in 2005. She married actor Jerry O'Connell, who appeared in the movie Stand By Me and the TV show Sliders, in 2007. Romijn starred as a television reporter in the short-lived TV series Pepper Dennis in 2006, and the next year took a regular role in the TV show Ugly Betty (starring America Ferrera).
Romijn gave birth to fraternal twin daughters on 28 December 2008, named Dolly Rebecca Rose and Charlie Tamara Tulip. E! Online reported that Dolly is named for Dolly Parton, and Charlie is named for Jerry O'Connell's brother... Romijn's last name is pronounced roMAINE, like the lettuce... She was known as Rebecca Romijn-Stamos during her marriage to John Stamos, but reverted to Rebecca Romijn after their divorce.
Career Highlights: Femme Fatale, Lake City, Man About Town
First Major Screen Credit: Rollerball (2002)
Biography
With just as much comic timing as beauty, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos made the transition from model to actress look easy. After a memorable stint on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me, she parlayed her previous small roles in Dirty Work (1998) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) into a full-fledged movie career.
Born on November 6, 1972, Romijn-Stamos is the daughter of a Dutch father and a Dutch-American mother. Her parents, a custom toy and furniture maker and an English as a Second Language teacher, divorced when she was seven. Romijn-Stamos, whose first language is Dutch, grew up in the hippie counterculture of Berkeley in the '70s. She attended Berkeley High School where her cheerfulness, blonde locks, and long legs earned her the nickname "Jolly Blonde Giant." After graduation, she enrolled in the music program at the University of Southern California at Santa Cruz to study singing. Partially into her freshman year, Romijn-Stamos grew restless. She yearned to travel but could barely afford her tuition. A friend introduced her to a Parisian modeling scout, who convinced her to move to Paris.
Within a short time, Romijn-Stamos landed the cover of French Elle and signed contracts with the cosmetics company Biotherm and the famed fashion houses of Christian Dior and Escada. Over the course of her extremely high-profile modeling career she has posed for Victoria's Secret and Sports Illustrated, been the Miller Light "fantasy girl" and the face of Tommy Girl, as well as graced numerous magazine covers. Yet, in 1996, Romijn-Stamos became bored with simply modeling. With the support of boyfriend John Stamos (whom she married in 1998), she took a chance on acting.
In the fall of 1997, Romijn-Stamos made her small-screen debut as David Schwimmer's outrageously sloppy girlfriend on NBC's Friends. Shortly afterward, she tried out to replace Daisy Fuentes as the host of MTV's House of Style, but bombed the audition. Romijn-Stamos, who as a child fantasized about becoming an anchorwoman, boldly called the producer from a pay phone to petition for the job. Impressed by her moxie, the station hired her for the two-year gig.
The burgeoning actress graduated to movies as the bearded lady in Bob Saget's Dirty Work (1998), before modeling lingerie for Mike Myers in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999). She then returned to television to play David Spade's wife on Just Shoot Me in the fall of 1999. Originally hired to appear in three episodes, Romijn-Stamos was such a big hit that producers asked her to return later in the season.
Branching out from comedy, Romijn-Stamos portrayed Hugh Hefner's ex-wife, playmate Kimberly Hefner, in the television drama Hefner: Unauthorized (1999). She rang in the new millennium by donning head-to-toe blue body paint and scales for her role as Mystique in Bryan Singer's X-Men (2000). By then a savvy business woman, Romijn-Stamos negotiated to receive more money per word than any other of the film's cast members (which included Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, and Hugh Jackman) because she knew her role as the taciturn shape shifter required very few lines. Her work in the action-packed comic book adaptation lead to a part in John McTiernan's Rollerball (2002), a remake of the '70s film about the futuristic world of sports. That same year, she earned the title role in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale (2002).
While Rollerball was maligned by critics and Femme Fatale had a mixed reception, Romijn-Stamos returned to the favor of audiences and critics in the 2003 sequel X2: X-Men United with a much meatier role for Mystique than the first film. 2004 found the actress sticking with Marvel comic adaptations as she costarred opposite Thomas Jane in The Punisher. That same year, she starred with Greg Kinnear and Robert De Niro in the thriller Godsend and in 2006, she reprised the role of Mystique once again for X-Men: The Last Stand. Romijn also assumed a recurring role on the series Pepper Dennis, an experience that worked out so well, the actress decided to pursue more television, with a cameo on the series Carpoolers in 2007, and a recurring role on the hit show Ugly Betty in 2008. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
Rebecca Alie Romijn (pronounced ro-MAIN; born November 6, 1972) is an Americanactress (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.
Romijn (pronounced like "romaine" in the United States — its proper Dutch pronunciation is [roːˈmɛin]) — [2] 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.[3][4] Her father is a native of Barneveld, in the Netherlands, and her mother is a third-generation Dutch American[5] who met Romijn's father while staying in the Netherlands on a teen-age exchange program.[6] Romijn's maternal grandfather, Dr. Henry B. Kuizenga, was a Presbyterian minister and seminary professor.[7] 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".[8] While studying music (voice) at the University of California, Santa Cruz,[9] she became involved with fashion modeling and eventually moved to Paris for more than two years. She stands 5 feet 11. inches (1.80 m) tall.
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.[11] She plays Alexis Meade, a male-to-femaletranssexual 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.[12] 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.[13]
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 birth 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. [Grins] And it turns out I'm pretty straight".[14]
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. According to Us Weekly magazine,[15] she and O'Connell were expecting twins due in the winter. People magazine reported that the babies were girls, conceived without the assistance of fertility drugs.[16] 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.[17]
Romijn will star in the upcoming ABC series Eastwick, reuniting her with her former Pepper Dennis co-star, Lindsay Price.
^ The [r] in Romijn as a Dutch word is an alveolar trill. The diphthong [ɛi], not found in English, involves something like a move from the vowel [ɛ] in 'bed' to the vowel [i] in 'bead'
