Rebecca Alie Romijn, who was born on November 6, 1972 in Berkeley, California, previously studied music at University of California, Santa Cruz, before moving to Paris to involve herself in fashion modeling. In 1998, she became the host of MTV's House of Style and took on the big screen upon leaving the show after two years. In 2000, she played Mystique in the film X-Men, and reprised her role on its 2003 sequel, X2: X-Men United and 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand. Romijn's first leading role was in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale, after which she starred in movies such as Rollerball, The Punisher and Godsend. She returned to television to appear on The WB's short-lived series, Pepper Dennis. Early 2007 saw Romijn joining the cast of ABC's Ugly Betty as Alexis Meade.
Alexis Meade of ABC's Ugly Betty is played by Rebecca Romijn. Alexis is a transsexual who was raised by his stubborn parents who refused to believe that he wanted to be a woman. They forced him to undergo masculine activities such as sports, but failed to fully make him a man. When he decided to become a woman, his father told him that he'd rather see his son dead than transform into a woman. Alexis then faked his death and underwent sex change. She later revealed who she really was to her brother, Daniel, who heads MODE magazine, the company she wants to steal from him.
(Photo courtesy of ABC)