Laetitia Casta

Laetitia Marie Laure Casta (born May 11, 1978) is a French model and actress.Casta was born in Pont-Audemer, Eure, France. Casta's mother, Line Blin, is from Normandy. Her father, Dominique Casta, is from Corsica. She has an older brother, Jean-Baptiste, and a younger sister, Marie-Ange. She spent her childhood in Normandy and Noisy-le-Grand. Casta's career reportedly began when she was discovered by a photographer, during a family holiday in her father's native Corsica, at age 15. Casta was the official face of L'Oréal, Dior, and Chanel. She has been featured in Guess? Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, Miu Miu and XOXO ad campaigns. Casta has appeared on over 100 magazine covers including Victoria's Secret catalogs, ELLE magazine, and Vogue magazine. She also appeared in three consecutive Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues, Rolling Stone, and a Pirelli Calendar. She is now the face of Ralph Lauren's newest fragrance, Notorious. In 2010, she open the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2010 fashion show. Casta has made forays into Francophone film and television productions, including Astérix et Obélix contre César (known as Astérix and Obélix vs. César in English language versions), a live-action film of the Astérix world in which she plays a potential love interest for Obélix, portrayed by Gérard Depardieu. More recently, Casta appeared in Les Âmes Fortes, a dramatic film directed by Raùl Ruiz. She has been cast as Brigitte Bardot in the movie Serge Gainsbourg, vie héroïque (2010).

Casta was also prominently featured in the music video for the Chris Isaak song "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing" in 1999. Through most of the video, Casta was seen in a motel room and sexy lingerie while being watched by Isaak in the next room. There were two versions of the video. VH1 aired the censored version before 9 p.m. and the uncensored version was aired after the 9 p.m. watershed. This video was ranked #28 on VH1's 50 Sexiest Video Moments. The video was regarded as too steamy by the network. She is also the subject of a song written by popular alternative rock band, Brand New, in their song "Magazines". Casta also stars opposite singer Rihanna for her music video "Te Amo".In 1999, Casta was ranked first in a national survey ordered by the Association des Maires de France to decide who should be the new model for the bust of Marianne, an allegorical symbol of the French Republic, which stands inside every French town hall. Casta succeeded model Inès de la Fressange. Marianne's embodiements are changed frequently, but each mayor chooses which bust he wants for his town, so past Mariannes can be used. Polls have shown that Casta, Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve were the most popular among French mayors.