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Rebecca Romijn
Romijn in 2019
Born	Rebecca Alie Romijn (1972-11-06) November 6, 1972 (age 52) Berkeley, California, U.S.
Other names	Rebecca Romijn-Stamos
Education	University of California, Santa Cruz
Occupations	Actress model
Years active	1988–present
Spouses	John Stamos ​ ​(m. 1998; div. 2005)​ Jerry O'Connell ​(m. 2007)​
Children	2

Rebecca Alie O'Connell (née Romijn /roʊˈmeɪn/ roh-MAYN, Dutch: [roːˈmɛin]; later Romijn-Stamos; born November 6, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her role as Mystique in the original trilogy (2000–2006) of the X-Men film series, as Joan from The Punisher (2004) (both based on Marvel Comics), the dual roles of Laure Ash and Lily Watts in Femme Fatale (2002), and Una Chin-Riley on Star Trek: Discovery (2019) and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022–present). She has also had a recurring role as Alexis Meade on the ABC television series Ugly Betty. Her other major roles include Eve Baird on the TNT series The Librarians, voicing Lois Lane in the DC Animated Movie Universe, and as the host of the reality competition show Skin Wars.

Early life

Romijn was born in Berkeley, California. Her mother, Elizabeth Romijn (née Kuizenga), is a community college instructor of English as a Second Language (ESL) and textbook author. Rebecca's father, Jaap Romijn, is a custom furniture maker. Her father is a native of Barneveld, the Netherlands, while her mother is an American of Dutch descent. Her mother met Rebecca's father as a teenager while living in the Netherlands on a student exchange program. Romijn's maternal grandfather, Henry Bernard Kuizenga, was a Presbyterian minister and seminary professor.

On The Ellen DeGeneres Show, when questioned about always being glamorous and beautiful, Romijn revealed that in her early teens she was an insecure "drama geek" and that, as a result of her growth spurt, she suffered from scoliosis and was in constant 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". While studying music (voice) at the University of California, Santa Cruz, she became involved with fashion modeling and eventually moved to Paris, where she lived for more than three years.

Career

Among other jobs, Romijn started her modeling career in 1991. She has appeared on the covers of American, French, Spanish, Russian and Swedish editions of Elle, Marie Claire, American, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Russian, Greek, and Mexican editions of Cosmopolitan, Allure, Glamour, GQ, Esquire, and Sports Illustrated.

She has appeared in advertising campaigns for Escada, Christian Dior, La Perla, Tommy Hilfiger, Furla, Liz Claiborne, J. Crew, Victoria's Secret, bebe, La Senza, Dillard's, Pantene, Got Milk?, Miller Lite, and Maybelline. She has walked for Giorgio Armani, Sonia Rykiel, and Anna Molinari along with the likes of Claudia Schiffer, Stephanie Seymour, Karen Mulder, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen and Christy Turlington. She was also 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 appeared as a guest in the animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast episode "Chinatown".

In 2000's X-Men, Romijn had her first major film role as Mystique; she returned to the role in 2003's sequel X2 and for X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). In these films, her costume consisted of blue makeup and strategically placed prosthetics on her otherwise nude body. In X2 she shows up in a bar in one scene in her "normal" look and in X-Men: The Last Stand, as a dark-haired "de-powered" Mystique. The role has since been recast with Jennifer Lawrence playing the younger version of the character. She had her first leading role in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale (2002). She also has starred in films 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 cast member. She played Alexis Meade, a transgender woman and the sister of lead character Daniel Meade. In April 2008, 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 with Romijn's pregnancy, which would have been inconsistent with her character's storyline). 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.

Romijn starred in the ABC series Eastwick, reuniting her with her former Pepper Dennis co-star, Lindsay Price, before ABC canceled the show on November 9, 2009. She appears in an uncredited cameo in the 2011 feature film X-Men: First Class, appearing as an older version of the character played by Jennifer Lawrence. Romijn appeared as lab worker Jessie on the Adult Swim live-action show NTSF:SD:SUV:: for two seasons. Between June and September 2013, she starred in TNT's series King & Maxwell as Michelle Maxwell, a former Secret Service agent who works as a private investigator.

In addition to her film ventures, Romijn has also recorded music, performing a cover of Prince's "Darling Nikki" for the 2005 album Electro Goth Tribute to Prince. She was also featured on the song "Color Me Love" for RuPaul's eighth studio album Realness in 2015.

She starred as Eve Baird, the guardian of the eponymous group in The Librarians, a direct spin-off of The Librarian film series. She also hosted GSN's original series and reality show Skin Wars. In 2018 she voiced Lois Lane in the DC Animated Movie Universe. In 2019, she was a recurring guest in the second season of Star Trek: Discovery, playing the character of Una Chin-Riley, first officer of the USS Enterprise. She reprised the role in the spin-off series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which was released in 2022. She and husband O’Connell are currently the hosts of The Real Love Boat, which premiered October 5, 2022 on CBS.

Personal life

Romijn began dating actor John Stamos in 1994 after they met at a Victoria's Secret fashion show where she was modeling. They became engaged on Christmas Eve 1997, and married on September 19, 1998, at the Beverly Hills Hotel. During the marriage, she used the name Rebecca Romijn-Stamos personally and professionally. They announced their separation in April 2004. Stamos filed for divorce in August 2004, and it became final on March 1, 2005.

Romijn resumed using her maiden name, but revealed in an August 2013 interview on Conan—after a Conan staff member noticed "Romijn-Stamos" on her driver's license—that she had never legally changed her name back from Romijn-Stamos.

In 2004, Romijn started dating actor Jerry O'Connell. They became engaged in September 2005, and married at their home in Calabasas, California, on July 14, 2007. They have twin daughters, born in 2008.

Filmography

Film

Television

Other work

References

1. "Rebecca Romijn Profile". Fashion Model Directory. 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
2. Rebecca Romijn (YouTube). The Wendy Williams Show. February 14, 2019. Event occurs at 10:40. We've been married for 11 years. Why did it take you 9 years of marriage to legally change your name to O'Connell?
3. ^ "Rebecca Romijn Is Still Legally "Rebecca Romijn-Stamos"". Team Coco. August 1, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
4. ^ Sobczynski, Peter (August 21, 2013). "Brian De Palma on". Roger Ebert.
5. ^ "BODY DOUBLE / FEMME FATALE | American Cinematheque". November 22, 2017. Archived from the original on November 22, 2017.
6. ^ "Museum of the Moving Image - Visit - Calendar - Femme Fatale". June 29, 2016. Archived from the original on June 29, 2016.
7. Rebecca A Romijn, CaliforniaBirthIndex.org
8. "Rebecca rules". Cosmopolitan. Accessmylibrary.com. July 1, 2000. Archived from the original on April 10, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
9. ^ "Rebecca Romijn Biography". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
10. "Kuizenga, Grace Elizabeth Abney – October 14, 1917 – June 20, 2005". San Francisco Chronicle. June 25, 2005.
11. Marquis, A. N. (1960), "Kuizenga, Henry Bernard", Who's Who in the Midwest, vol. 7, p. 490
12. "Rebecca Romijn biography". Whoabc.com. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
13. "Rebecca Romijn Biography". People. Retrieved February 1, 2008.
14. "FHM Magazine 100 Sexiest Women 2005". FreeJose.com. Retrieved October 11, 2006.
15. El-Mahmoud, Sarah (June 12, 2021). "Why X-Men's Rebecca Romijn Actually Enjoyed The Makeup Process While Playing Mystique". CinemaBlend. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
16. Dos Santos, Kristin. "Rebecca Romijn". E! Online. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2008.
17. Dos Santos, Kristin (April 24, 2008). "Sources Confirm: Rebecca Romijn Now Recurring Role on Ugly Betty". E! Online. Archived from the original on April 26, 2008. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
18. Dos Santos, Kristin (March 10, 2010). "Chatting with Carpoolers Designated Driver". E! Online. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
19. "Witchy Woman". East Bay, California: Diablo Magazine. September 2009. Archived from the original on August 29, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
20. Martin, Denise (November 10, 2009). "Quick Takes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
21. Lovece, Frank. "Film Review: X-Men: First Class", Film Journal International, June 2, 2011
22. Gelman, Vlada (January 15, 2013). "TNT Greenlights Private Eye Series Starring Jon Tenney and Rebecca Romijn". TVLine.com. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
23. Holbrook, Damian (March 26, 2018). "'The Office,' 'The Librarians' & More TV Faves Join 'The Death of Superman'". TV Insider. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
24. Darwish, Meaghan (May 15, 2020). "'Star Trek' Spinoff With Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn & Anson Mount Heads to CBS All Access". TV Insider. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
25. Mitovich, Matt (June 28, 2022). "The Real Love Boat: Rebecca Romijn, Jerry O'Connell to Host CBS Series". TVLine. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
26. Lipton, Michael A. (September 27, 1999). "Full Spouse". People. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
27. "Spring Break". People. April 26, 2004. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
28. "Divorce for John, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos". People. August 23, 2004. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
29. "Divorce final for Romijn, Stamos". USA Today. March 1, 2005. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
30. Wihlborg, Ulrica (September 20, 2005). "Rebecca Romijn, Jerry O'Connell Engaged". People. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
31. Wihlborg, Ulrica; Laudadio, Marisa; Huver, Scott (July 30, 2007). "Inside Their Summer Wedding!". People. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
32. Laudadio, Marisa (January 5, 2009). "Rebecca Romijn Welcomes Twin Girls". People. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
33. Sperling, Nicole (August 1, 2021). "Can Paramount+ Succeed? One Producer Hopes to Make It So". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.

External links

• Rebecca Romijn at IMDb 
• Rebecca Romijn at Fashion Model Directory

• 1972 births
• American female models
• American film actresses
• American people of Dutch descent
• American television actresses
• American voice actresses
• Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
• Living people
• Actresses from Berkeley, California
• University of California, Santa Cruz alumni
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses