Rebecca Romijn

This former supermodel cut quite a figure as a super villain in the X-Men trilogy, in which she wore blue scales and, at times, little else.But unlike other Sports Illustrated swimsuit alumnae, Romijn was blessed with acting talent in addition to beauty. Unafraid to show her goofy side---she played a bearded lady in Dirty Work, her film debut---Romijn initially appeared on sitcoms (Friends, a recurring role as a model on Just Shoot Me) and as the host of MTV's House of Style before segueing to big-screen blockbusters. Unfortunately, aside from the X-Men movies, which made excellent use of her striking physicality and sly humor, most of her film projects fared poorly (the infamous remake of actioner Rollerball, the hysterical Frankenstein rip-off Godsend) as did her marriage to small-screen heartthrob John Stamos. In 2006, Romijn bounced back, both personally and professionally. Not only did she star in the third X-Men installment and her first TV series, Pepper Dennis (which sadly wasn't very spicy), she also appeared to be crazy in love with her fiancé Jerry O'Connell; they wed in 2007. The next year, Romijn took a chance on a risky small-screen character: a transgender fashion-magazine editor on the campy dramedy Ugly Betty. The gamble paid off as the role allowed her to showcase both her comic prowess and her endearing vulnerability. That role was eventually reduced to a recurring part, though ABC turned to her again in 2009, casting her in what proved to be a short-run series, Eastwick, based on the John Updike novel. ~ Rovi