“A woman who meets fair tests all ‘round is so uncommon that she becomes a sort of marvel, and usually gains a livelihood by exhibiting herself as such, either on the stage, in the half-world, or as the private jewel of some wealthy connoisseur.”
“The War Between the Sexes,” from H.L. Mencken’s ‘In Defense of Women’ (1918)

This somewhat churlish sentiment from 80-some years ago might sound ancient in postfeminist times, but it’s an attitude that Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, supermodel-turned-actress, faces every day. Beautiful women aren’t just mentally sectioned off by a skeptical world from such pursuits as neurosurgery, aviation, and alligator wrestling. They’re also seen (thus the recent spate of stringy-haired, prosthetically debeautified Oscar candidates) as unlikely candidates for the job known as Serious Dramatic Actress.

Romijn-Stamos, 31, is just yards away, chatting with the owner of her favorite Malibu restaurant, as these thoughts unfold. One look at her answers the question you might ask from simply reading her dossier: How did this product of lefty-hippie Berkeley, California, become not just a sort of marvel, but a world-famous one?

And an uppercase marvel to boot. She shape-shifted from pinup to actress largely thanks to her role as Mystique, an unclothed ultramarine villainess in 2000’s X-Men. That will be joined by another Marvel Comics adaptation when she appears this month as the female lead, opposite Thomas Jane, in The Punisher. But the good news is that as both Joan the Mouse in The Punisher and as housewife and mom Jessie Duncan in Godsend (due at month’s end), Romijn-Stamos is far from the sexual terrorist that Mencken, Mother Nature, and Hollywood typecasting would have loved to make of her.

In casting sessions, a modeling portfolio can be more like a rap sheet than a résumé, but Romijn-Stamos instinctively knew how to use her own image. A dropout from the University of California at Santa Cruz, she was shanghaied to Paris by a sharp-eyed French scout who saw her photograph at a small agency. “I never wanted to be a model in the first place,” she says. “It happened, and I’m grateful for it, and I actually did take a lot out of it. I don’t regret any of it.”

Stylist — Debbi Mason
Stylist's Assistants — Timy Bitici & Vita Cardillo
Set Design — Linda Keil/Oliverpiro
Hair - Italo Gregorio
Makeup — Kristor Buckle/Artistsbytimothypriano.com