Rebecca Romijn Movies and Career Information

Rebecca Alie Romijn (pronounced /roʊˈmeɪn/ roe-MAYN, Dutch: [roːˈmɛjn]; born November 6, 1972) is a Dutch American actress and former fashion model. 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 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. 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 for more than two years. Among other jobs, Romijn started her modeling career in 1991. She