Natassia Malthe

The physically devastating actress-cum-model Natassia Malthe grew up with a single mother in Norway, then set off at a young age on a global modeling stint, gracing numerous catwalks and magazine glossies. In time, Malthe discovered that her true passion lay in acting, but her modeling experience posed a significant hindrance. Casting agents could never quite overlook the negative stereotypes associated with that profession; indeed, Malthe later recalled that this typecasting hindered her in the early years of her career. Square-pegged in stereotypically feminine bit parts such as chambermaids and nameless lovers, it took time for Malthe to demonstrate that she could hold her own with higher billing. She first landed the opportunity as the villain Typhoid, notorious for her "kiss of death," in the Jennifer Garner superhero vehicle Elektra (2005). The film flopped (and received terrible reviews), but appeared to point Malthe in a highly specific genre direction -- for several years, she played athletic, violence-wielding heroes in big-budget action sagas. These included the 2006 Vampire Wars: Battle for the Universe and the 2007 DOA: Dead or Alive, BloodRayne 2: Deliverance, and Skinwalkers. The latter constitutes an effects-heavy horror picture about an innocent 12-year-old boy unwittingly caught in a bloody battle between two packs of werewolves.