CATERINA MURINO

Caterina Murino was born on September 15, 1974, in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Her carefree childhood was full of extracurricular activities such as horseback riding, dance lessons and singing classes. Caterina was always an extremely adept athlete, and although she never quite stepped over the line into tomboy territory, there’s certainly no denying that she’s more than able to hold her own among her male counterparts.

As a teenager, Caterina was often complimented on her outwardly attractive features, although she decided to remain focused on her studies and generally avoided any thoughts of pursuing a career within the entertainment industry. Caterina’s original concept for post-high school life was to study medicine and eventually take on a career as a doctor, though a failing mark on her medical school entrance exam ensured that simply wasn’t going to happen.

Instead, Caterina decided to act on all the felicitations she’d received over the years by pursuing a career as a model. She quickly signed herself up for the 1996 Miss Italy pageant and was pleasantly surprised after she came in fourth place. Caterina’s performance in the pageant gave her the courage to move to Milan in order to pursue modeling, and it wasn’t long before she was appearing in advertisements for well-known brands like Mercedes Benz, MasterCard and Swatch.

It didn’t take long for Caterina to determine that she really enjoyed working in front of the camera, and she decided that the next logical step was for her to start pursuing actual acting jobs. To that end, Caterina signed up for a two-year stint at a local acting school and began the slow process of learning the ins and outs of performing. It was also around that time that Caterina made her stage debut in a 1999 production of William Shakespeare’s Richard III. By the time she graduated in 2000, Caterina already appeared in several Italian-language plays.

She began auditioning for a variety of Italian movies and television shows, and in 2002, Caterina made her debut with a small role in a made-for-German-TV film called In der Mitte eines Lebens. She followed that up with a series of appearances in productions spanning the globe, and her big break came in 2004 with a starring role opposite screen legend Jean Reno in a French comedy called L’Enquête Corse. The part increased Caterina’s exposure exponentially, and it wasn’t long before the actress was being pursued for increasingly high-profile projects.

One such project was 2006’s Casino Royale -- the much ballyhooed and talked about reboot for the James Bond series that is also starring Daniel Craig and Eva Green. Caterina was invited to audition for the role of Solange Dimitrios, a woman who decides to take revenge on her husband by having a one-night stand with none other than Mr. Bond. Alhough she almost botched her first audition -- she broke a rib the day before and was unable to walk -- Caterina won over the director with her sultry demeanor and undeniable screen presence.

After filming Casino Royale wrapped, Caterina started auditioning for North American films and was the focus of a full-page article in Entertainment Weekly.