Beauty might be only skin deep, but, let’s be honest, we all like looking at pretty faces and hot bodies. Maybe that’s why some models successfully swap the catwalk for the big screen. A few of them even turned out to be quite talented. Take a look at some actresses who started their careers as models.

Famke Janssen

 

 

 

 

 

 

She was signed by Elite Model Management in the mid-’80s and appeared in advertisements for Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, and Victoria’s Secret. She also starred in a 1988 commercial for the perfume Exclamation by Coty. In the early 1990s Famke appeared on several TV shows. Her first film role was in the 1992 crime drama film Fathers & Sons.

Cameron Diaz

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 16, Diaz started working as a model, appearing in ads for Calvin Klein and Levi’s and on the cover of Seventeen magazine. Her acting career took off after she scored a big role in 1994’s The Mask opposite Jim Carrey.

Sharon Stone

 

 

 

 

 

 

She was signed by Ford Modeling Agency in 1977 and worked for a time as a model in Europe. While living in Europe, she decided to quit modeling and become an actress. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for her performance in Casino.

Milla Jovovich

 

 

 

 

 

 

Milla started her modeling career aged nine. By the time Jovovich was 13, she had already been on the cover of various magazines and had been featured in myriad ad campaigns, she had a contract with a top agency. She appeared on the covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Harper’s Bazaar, and in print advertisements for Banana Republic, Donna Karan, and Versace. Her now extensive filmography features a heavy dose of Resident Evil films, but also a few historic genres.

Molly Sims

 

 

 

 

 

 

She’s a Cover Girl model who did popular Old Navy commercials and five Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues. She rose to prominence for her as Delinda Deline in the NBC drama Las Vegas.

Halle Berry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Berry was a former model and beauty queen before she made Oscar history, becoming the first African American woman to receive a Best Actress award in 2001. She entered several beauty contests before making it big in Hollywood, finishing runner-up in the Miss USA pageant in 1986.

Charlize Theron

 

 

 

 

 

 

This model turned Oscar winner started modeling at 16 and traveled to Milan, Italy, on a modeling contract after winning a local competition. After breaking into acting in the late ’90s, Charlize went on to win an Academy Award for Monster.

Brooke Shields

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shields got an early start to her modeling career when she appeared in an Ivory Snow commercial at 11-months old. She was also the youngest model to appear on the cover of Vogue at age 14. She’s appeared in many TV shows and films, her most recent being NBC’s Lipstick Jungle.

Uma Thurman

 

 

 

 

 

 

She started her career as a fashion model at age 15, and signed with the agency Click Models. Her early modeling credits included Glamour and the December 1985 and May 1986 covers of British Vogue. She made her movie debut in 1988, appearing in four films that year. Uma rose to international prominence in 1994 following her role in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award.