Rebecca Romijn

Rebecca Alie Romijn is an American actress and former model born on November 6, 1972, in Berkeley, California. She is best known for portraying Mystique in the X-Men film series and Una Chin-Riley on Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Over her career, she has performed extensively across film, television, and high-fashion modeling.

Romijn grew up in Berkeley, California. Her mother was a community college English as a Second Language instructor and textbook author, while her father was a custom furniture maker from Barneveld, the Netherlands. Her maternal grandfather was a Presbyterian minister and seminary professor. While studying vocal music at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Romijn began fashion modeling and moved to Paris, where she lived for over three years.

Her professional modeling career launched in 1991. Romijn appeared on numerous international covers for publications such as Elle, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Glamour, Allure, Esquire, and Sports Illustrated. She modeled in advertising campaigns for brands including Escada, Christian Dior, Tommy Hilfiger, Victoria's Secret, Pantene, Miller Lite, and Maybelline. On the runway, she walked for designers like Giorgio Armani, Sonia Rykiel, and Anna Molinari alongside models including Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, and Naomi Campbell. She also hosted MTV's House of Style from 1998 to 2000 and featured in beauty rankings by Maxim, AskMen.com, and FHM.

Romijn made her major film debut playing Mystique in X-Men (2000), a role she reprised in X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and as an uncredited cameo in X-Men: First Class (2011). She was also cast to return as Mystique in Avengers: Doomsday (2026). She starred in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale (2002), John McTiernan's science fiction film Rollerball (2002), The Punisher (2004), and Godsend.

On television, Romijn starred in Pepper Dennis before joining ABC's Ugly Betty as Alexis Meade from 2006 to 2009. She subsequently starred in Eastwick, NTSF:SD:SUV::, King & Maxwell, and played Eve Baird in TNT's The Librarians from 2014 to 2018. She hosted the reality competition series Skin Wars from 2014 to 2016. Beyond acting, Romijn voiced Lois Lane in the DC Animated Movie Universe and contributed to musical recordings for RuPaul and a Prince tribute album.

Romijn portrayed Una Chin-Riley, first officer of the USS Enterprise, on Star Trek: Discovery in 2019, continuing the role in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds starting in 2022. She and her husband, actor Jerry O'Connell, began co-hosting CBS's The Real Love Boat in 2022. Romijn was previously married to actor John Stamos from 1998 to 2005, during which she was known professionally as Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. She married O'Connell in 2007, and the couple has twin daughters born in 2008.