"But I Really Want to Act...": The 10 Hottest Models Turned Actresses

We're glad "Centurion's" Olga Kurylenko made the jump from merely looking pretty to looking pretty and acting like a badass. We take a look at other eye candies gone thespian.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Centurion opens in wide release today, and while you know we ride (with spiked bats and shit) for its star Olga Kurylenko. She's hot and she can kick major ass, which is pretty rare. What's even more rare is actresses who got their start in modeling (like Olga) who are hot and can act. How rare? Well we've collected the 10 hottest and, needless to say, they don't exactly have Olga's acting chops. But they still hot though...

christie_brinkley

#10. CHRISTIE BRINKLEY
Modeled for: Sports Illustrated, Glamour, CoverGirl
Best known role: "The girl in the red Ferrari" in National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
Complex says: Her immensely famous "TGITRF" role is actually the perfect part for a model: drive around looking pretty, have a skinny dipping scene, say maybe three lines, tops. These other girls could learn from this OG (such as: don't marry Billy Joel for cryin' out loud).

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milla_jovovich

#9. MILLA JOVOVICH
Modeled for: Revlon, L'Oreal, Donna Karan, Versace
Best known role: "Alice" in the Resident Evil series (2002-2010)
Complex says: Milla's most famous for the Resident Evil franchise, but her best role was her first: A stoner high school chick in 1993's Dazed and Confused. Which, come to think of it, is another role any dumb model could nail.

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vanessa-williams

#8. VANESSA WILLIAMS
Modeled for: Miss America beauty pageant, Penthouse (unauthorized)
Best known role: "Teri" in Soul Food (1997)
Complex says: How's this for a career? Pose nude having simulated lesbian sex before you make the big time only to be forced to give up your Miss America crown when said photos surface in Penthouse. Then craft a successful career in movies and music, and star in a Hannah Montana flick. Queen!

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gisele_bundchen

#7. GISELE BUNDCHEN
Modeled for: Vogue, Allure, Pirelli
Best known role: "Vanessa" in Taxi (2004)
Complex says: Her acting sucks, her husband sucks. But she's hot, so expect folks (read: us) to come up with any flimsy excuse to post pictures of her online. And expect you to not be mad about it.

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james-king

#6. JAIME KING
Modeled for: Abercrombie & Fitch Vogue, Chanel
Best known role: "Goldie/Wendy" in Sin City (2006)
Complex says: Jaime got hooked on heroin modeling as a teenager which probably helped her understand the motivation of the twin prostitutes she played in Sin City See mom, drugs aren't all bad.

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freida-pinto

#5. FRIEDA PINTO
Modeled for: Debeers, Vanity Fair, L'Oreal
Best known role: Latika in Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Complex says: Despite her humble persona, undeniable hotness, and great scenes in Slumdog Millionaire we've only seen her in one film. So the jury is still out until we can catch her in Woody Allen's You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger or in the Planet of the Apes reboot Rise of The Apes.

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rebecca-romijn

#4. REBECCA ROMIJN
Modeled for: Sports Illustrated, bebe, Victoria's Secret,
Best known role: Mystique/Raven Darkholme in X-Men (2000)
Complex says: We had high hopes for Rebecca back when "Stamos" was attached to her last name but since then, we've kinda given up hope on her movie career. Mainly because her best role is one when she morphs into someone else who can actually act. And although she caught that dreaded Razzie nomination, we still think she has a career in television. After all, name one TV show that couldn't use a new hot blonde character? Exactly.

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Aishwarya-Rai

#3. AISHWARYA RAI
Modeled for: L'Oreal, Vouge (Indian), DeBeers.
Best known role: Sonia Solandres in The Pink Phanter 2 (2009)
Complex says: Don't let the fact that her best known American role was in a crappy sequel to a crappy film fool you, this girl gets it in all over the map. Routinely cited as "The most beautiful woman in the world," Aishwarya works the Bollywood shift and bangs out five films a year so she's already got a full schedule.

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monica-bellucci

#2. MONICA BELLUCCI
Modeled for: Vanity Fair (Italian), Dolce & Gabbana, Dior
Best known role: Persephone in The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Complex says: Although Bellucci has starred in a number of critically lauded movies, they were mostly French films we've never seen since reading subtitles is for suckas. However, we have seen her Mr. Skin profile (Google it ya pervs!) and she's done a shitload of nude scenes (you know how those French are). So we're willing to guess her boobs are doing most of the "acting."

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halle-berry

#1. HALLE BERRY
Modeled for: Revlon, Vouge, Harper's Bazaar
Best known role: Leticia Musgrove in Monster's Ball (2001)
Complex says: Sure, she had to let a white man pop her, but shorty won an Oscar! No other girl on this list has even been nominated for one. And guess what? At the ripe age of 44, she's still hotter than all of these chicks.

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