lad
in a brief green warrior dress, Estella
Warren sits atop a white horse. She's playing Daena, a human freedom
fighter in director Tim Burton's
updated version of Planet of the Apes.
With her thick blonde hair waving softly in the breeze and her lips
slightly parted, she looks seductive, even provocative.
The 22-year-old, 5'9" actress is exuding the same magnetic
sexuality she's exhibited many times in her short but explosive modeling
career. Recall the controversial Perry Ellis menswear campaign where
photographer Bruce Weber shot Warren wearing nothing but an unbuttoned
white shirt and a come hither expression. Or remember those same parted
lips in her Sports Illustrated 2000 Swimsuit Edition pictures. No
wonder Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Batman) cast her
opposite Mark Wahlberg (Boogie
Nights, The Perfect Storm),
who plays the American astronaut that challenges the status quo of the
tyrannical primates. You can't keep your eyes off her.
Planet of the Apes is Warren's second major film of the year. The
first was Sylvester Stallone's
racecar movie Driven, where
she played Sophia, the long-time girlfriend of a top driver. Impressive
for someone whose total previous acting experience included appearances in
two indie films, Perfume and Tangled.But Warren's rapid rise in film can't be attributed entirely to her alluring looks. Once she sets her sights on a goal, she pursues it with the focus and fierce dedication of a top athlete. Indeed Warren honed these qualities when she was an Olympic-caliber synchronized swimmer, before she entered the world of catwalks and cameras.
Warren was born in Peterborough, Ont. on December 23, 1978. Her mother worked as an elementary-school principal and her father sold used cars. She took up synchronized swimming at the age of five, and when she was only 12 moved to Toronto to train with the Canadian national synchronized swimming team. She lived with teammates' families and trained six hours a day. Her dedication paid off. In 1995 she won the bronze medal at the Junior World Championships. The following year at the age of 17, she earned the title of senior national champion and was slated to go to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
However, when her favorite events were cut and she got an incredible
modeling opportunity, she walked away from the sport she had built her
life around.Warren had participated in a high school fashion show when she was 16 and was scouted by an agent. At that time she turned down the offer, still being committed to the pool. However, her Polaroid made it to New York and into the hands of famed photographer Ellen von Unwerth. When Warren got a call from Unwerth who offered to shoot her for three issues of Italian Vogue, she accepted. With the Vogue job under her belt, she glided gracefully from one elite arena to another. To stay in shape, she continued to exercise every day but traded synchronized swimming for biking, hiking and yoga. Her father stopped selling cars to become her manager.
Before long Warren was strutting her stuff on the catwalk for Yves Saint Laurent, Sonia Rykiel and Kenzo, and shooting a host of other magazine covers including French and Spanish Marie Claire, GQ and Italian Elle. Sounds like a dream, yet Warren admitted that "Doing a lot of shows is stressful. I do it strictly for the exposure and to build relationships with designers that are really good."
Her next big break came at age 19 when Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, The Professional) called her to Paris and cast her in a Chanel commercial. Wearing a red cape and heels, her sexy Little Red Riding Hood charms even the wolf. Soon after, she became the new Chanel No. 5 girl, a coup, indeed.
Though her new career afforded her the luxury of buying a split-level bungalow near Toronto, which she moved into with her then-boyfriend, domesticity was short-lived. She ended up moving to New York and more recently to L.A. By the age of 20 saw the house as a burden. "The more I started feeling comfortable with myself alone in New York, the more I saw my house in Canada as something that was going to stop my progression as a human being," she told GQ magazine last year. Her furnishings from the house are now stuffed in a storage facility.
Warren's interest in acting was peaked after shooting the Chanel
commercial. She flew to L.A. for a two-week visit to meet with producers
and suss out the possibility of another career move. Almost immediately,
she ended up with small roles in two independent films. And just like her
introduction to modeling, she didn't have to wait long for a big
opportunity to present itself.Renny Harlin had been searching for someone to play Sophia Simone in the new racecar film he was directing, but hadn't found the right woman. He was on a plane when he came across the GQ story on Warren and summoned her for an audition.
Of course, he was struck by the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous but according to Harlin, it was "her amazing ability to conjure up her emotions," that landed Warren the role. And just like that, Warren was once again playing in the big leagues of a completely different field.
Warren was attracted to the role because she saw similarities in herself and the character who helps her ex-boyfriend's rival in order to stay on the racing circuit and win back her beau. "I like Sophia because she's smart and strong and she knows exactly what she wants and how to get it," said Warren.
Applying the same work ethic to film that she had to synchronized swimming, Warren earned a favorable reputation for herself on set. "As a world class swimmer, Estella had developed a great, great discipline. It was easy to direct her because you can tell her very straight, 'Do this, don't do this,' and she does," said Harlin.
Acting has become Warren's primary focus and she is now trying to restrict modeling to just Chanel. But lest you think this woman who has barely made it into her 20s has it all figured out, breathe a sigh of relief. She still has moments of naiveté. "People don't know me, but they think they do…I mean, people think they have a right to know who I'm sleeping with," she said indignantly to GQ, a statement which presupposes the world will respect her privacy even though it has invaded every other celebrity's. In any case, she's likely to encounter more of the same as her fame grows - and grow it will.
Warren is already busy filming her next movie in Australia called Down and Under. Directed by David McNally (Coyote Ugly), Warren plays a wildlife researcher who helps a musician (Anthony Anderson) and hairstylist (Jerry O'Connell) chase a kangaroo that has made off with a jacket filled with money that the two were supposed to deliver to the mob.
Who knows what will be next for this enterprising young woman? Though she's happily developing her acting career, Warren has expressed other interests. She loves to cook and has said that one day, she'd like to own a classic French restaurant or a crazy bar.
