Olga Kurylenko
Olga Kurylenko was born Nov. 14, 1979 in Berdyansk, Ukraine. The youngster was sent to live with her grandmother, Raisa, following her parents' bitter divorce. Here Kurylenko is said to have grown up in poverty, dressing in rags and sharing a small apartment with a number of other individuals, including six adults and several children. 
According to sources, Kurylenko's Cinderella story began at the age of 13, when her mother, Marina, an art teacher, took her on a trip to Moscow. While in the city, the two were approached by by a modeling scout. This chance meeting opened doors for Kurylenko, who began studying art, dance and piano in addition to training as a fashion model.
Just three years later, Kurylenko moved to Paris, where her modeling career officially took off. By the age of 18, she had appeared on the cover of the high-fashion magazine Glamour. During the course of her career, she also appeared in other well-known publications as Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire. She was also contracted to be the "face" of the Lejaby lingerie line.
According to sources, Kurylenko's Cinderella story began at the age of 13, when her mother, Marina, an art teacher, took her on a trip to Moscow. While in the city, the two were approached by by a modeling scout. This chance meeting opened doors for Kurylenko, who began studying art, dance and piano in addition to training as a fashion model.
Just three years later, Kurylenko moved to Paris, where her modeling career officially took off. By the age of 18, she had appeared on the cover of the high-fashion magazine Glamour. During the course of her career, she also appeared in other well-known publications as Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire. She was also contracted to be the "face" of the Lejaby lingerie line.
Personal lifeOlga Kurylenko was born in Berdyansk, Ukraine on November 14, 1979. Her father, Kostyantyn Kurylenko, is Ukrainian. Her mother, Marina Alyabusheva, an art teacher of Russian descent, was born in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. When Olga was three years old her parents divorced, leaving her to be raised by her mother. Olga rarely had contact with her father, meeting him for the first time when she was 8 years old, and later again when she was 13. In 2000, Kurylenko married French fashion photographer Cedric Van Mol, but the couple divorced four years later. In 2006, she married American mobile phone accessory entrepreneur Demian Gabriel Neufeld. They divorced in late 2007. Kurylenko has lived in Paris since leaving Ukraine in 1996 to pursue her modeling career.
Briefly married to (1999-2001) and then divorced from Cedric van Mol, a photographer, Kurylenko decided to try her hand at acting. Her first appearance was in the 2005 French film Annulaire, L', as Iris, the leading role. This sexy part was followed by others, earning Kurylenko the reputation of being "the most sensual woman in the Ukraine". In 2007, Kurylenko played the part of Nika in Hitman, an espionage film based on a video game by the same name. And in Paris, je' taime ("Paris, I Love You"), she starred opposite an international cast including American actor Elijah Wood.
The fact that she is the first Bond girl from a post-Soviet State received mixed reactions in the post-Soviet countries. The Saint-Petersburg based Communist group KPLO has accused her of "moral and intellectual betrayal" in starring in a film about the "enemy of the Soviet people" (meaning James Bond), but the mayor of Berdyansk has suggested naming a street after her and she met Ukraine's First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko in President Yushchenko's family country house.
Career
She was discovered by a female model scout while on vacation in Moscow at the age of thirteen. When she was 17 she signed a contract with the Paris-based Madison modeling agency. By the age of 18 she had already appeared on the covers of Vogue and Elle. While working as model is Paris, Kurylenko supported her mother back home in Ukraine.
In 2005, Kurylenko began her film career in France. She received the certificate of excellence award at the 2006 Brooklyn International Film Festival for her performance in L'Annulaire, and also starred in the Paris, je t'aime segment Quartier de la Madeleine opposite Elijah Wood. In 2007, Kurylenko starred in Hitman alongside Timothy Olyphant. She played Bond girl Camille Montes in the 2008 James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. The film was released in the United States on her twenty-ninth birthday.
The 2008 release of Quantum of Solace will put Kurylenko front-and-center with U.S. audiences. In the Casino Royale sequel, Camille (Kurylenko) starts out as an opponent of Agent 007, only to later fall for his charms, a theme common to Bond films. Kurylenko is rumored to have trained for three weeks with various weapons and in the art of "body flying" (a type of indoor skydiving) before filming. She is also said to have studied the proper excecution of a Spanish accent for the role. In addition, Kurylenko watched a box-set of 007 movies; in her native Ukraine, she had never heard of the Bond series.
Career
She was discovered by a female model scout while on vacation in Moscow at the age of thirteen. When she was 17 she signed a contract with the Paris-based Madison modeling agency. By the age of 18 she had already appeared on the covers of Vogue and Elle. While working as model is Paris, Kurylenko supported her mother back home in Ukraine.
In 2005, Kurylenko began her film career in France. She received the certificate of excellence award at the 2006 Brooklyn International Film Festival for her performance in L'Annulaire, and also starred in the Paris, je t'aime segment Quartier de la Madeleine opposite Elijah Wood. In 2007, Kurylenko starred in Hitman alongside Timothy Olyphant. She played Bond girl Camille Montes in the 2008 James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. The film was released in the United States on her twenty-ninth birthday.
The 2008 release of Quantum of Solace will put Kurylenko front-and-center with U.S. audiences. In the Casino Royale sequel, Camille (Kurylenko) starts out as an opponent of Agent 007, only to later fall for his charms, a theme common to Bond films. Kurylenko is rumored to have trained for three weeks with various weapons and in the art of "body flying" (a type of indoor skydiving) before filming. She is also said to have studied the proper excecution of a Spanish accent for the role. In addition, Kurylenko watched a box-set of 007 movies; in her native Ukraine, she had never heard of the Bond series.
Ukrainian-born actress Olga Kurylenko is known for her steamy but serious roles in several French films. Following a successful career in France, Kurylenko has crossed over into American movie roles. Currently she is contracted to play the latest "Bond girl", Camille, in Quantum of Solace (a sequel to 2006's Casino Royale), due in theaters November 2008.
Olga is featured on the cover of the December 2008 issue of Maxim magazine.
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