Rebecca Alie Romijn ( roh-MAYN, Dutch: [roːˈmɛin]; formerly Romijn-Stamos; born November 6, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her roles as Mystique in the X-Men film series (2000–2006; 2011; 2026) and as Una Chin-Riley on Star Trek: Discovery (2019) and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022–present).
Romijn appeared in a number of films including Femme Fatale (2002), The Punisher (2004), and has voiced Lois Lane in the DC Animated Movie Universe. She had recurring roles as Alexis Meade on the ABC television series Ugly Betty (2006–2009) and Eve Baird on the TNT series The Librarians (2014–2018). She also hosted the reality competition show Skin Wars (2014–2016).
Contents
Early life
Rebecca Alie Romijn was born in Berkeley, California. Her mother was a community college instructor of English as a Second Language (ESL) and textbook author. Rebecca's father worked as 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 at Claremont School of Theology.
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 and Marie Claire; as well as 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; in 2002 she starred in Rollerball, a science fiction sports film directed by John McTiernan where she played Aurora, an athlete participant. Rebecca then 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 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.
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 at the Beverly Hills Hotel on September 19, 1998. During the marriage, she used the name Rebecca Romijn-Stamos personally and professionally. They announced their separation in April 2004. Romijn started dating actor Jerry O'Connell, after Stamos' separation in the same month. Stamos filed for divorce in August 2004, and it became final on March 1, 2005.
Romijn and O'Connell became engaged in September 2005, and married at their home in Calabasas, California, on July 14, 2007. They have twin daughters, born on December 28, 2008.
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.
