Talisa Soto is an American actress, model, and wife of Benjamin Bratt; her husband is well-known for his role in the film “Law and Order.” She’s also recognized as one of the ‘Bond girls’ in the James Bond series film, “License to Kill,” as well as Princess Kitana from “Mortal Kombat”, and its sequel, “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.”

Early life, family, and educational background

Miriam Talisa Soto’s date of birth is 27 March 1967, in Brooklyn, New York City, USA, into a Puerto Rican family. Her parents are Hector and Clari Soto, who migrated to the mainland US from Puerto Rico, to Northampton, Massachusetts, when she was five years old, where she and her siblings grew up and went to school. After completing high school, she devoted her time to her modeling career.

https://www.facebook.com/347872795277731/photos/a.578797645518577/578805992184409/?type=3

Career

Modeling career

Talisa’s career began as a model when she was 15 years old, discovered by Click Model Management, who signed her to a modeling contract. However, because she was still young and wanted to continue her studies, the company allowed her to do modeling jobs during summer vacations.

She traveled to Europe and worked as a model for international magazines, including Vogue, where Bruce Webber took her photographs in Paris; after working each vacation, she returned to Massachusetts for schooling. She pursued her modeling career full-time after matriculating from high school and became the cover girl of several high-profile magazines, such as American and British Vogue, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Self Magazine, and Elle.

She also has contracts as a model with Calvin Klein, Clarins, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace, Saks Fifth Avenue, Cartier and Revlon.

Music video model

She starred in music videos with “Each Time You Break My Heart,” a song by the “Queen of Pop,” Madonna with her former beau Nick Kamen, and “I Need to Know,” a piece by Mark Anthony.

Acting career

She was cast in her first role in 1988 as India, along with main leads Sasha Mitchell and Ernest Borgnine, in “Spike of Bensonhurst,” a comedy-drama and mafia film. In 1989, she played the role of Lupe Lamora in the movie “License to Kill”, the 16th in the James Bond franchise, making her the first Latina woman to participate in a Bond film.

Following that, she appeared in over 20 films, including “Don Juan DeMarco,” “Piero,” “Island of the Dead,” and her most well-known film, “Mortal Kombat,” which was based on the popular video game of the time.

Her last film appearance was in “La Mission” in 2009, after which she retired from acting, but she still shows up on red carpets at award ceremonies and premiere nights with her husband Benjamin Bratt.

Awards, nominations, and fame as a model

Her stardom as a top model brought her to the Harper’s Bazaar list as one of the best models around the world in 1988. She was one of the People’s 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1990, and in 1995 she appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and was invited to the magazine’s television show.

She also made it to number 58 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women in 2002, for her graceful beauty.

In her acting career, Talisa earned the ShoWest Female Star of Tomorrow Award for her performance in “License to Kill”, and was also nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her portrayal as Sugar in “Piero” for an ALMA Award.

Personal life, marriage, divorce, and children

Talisa Soto has married twice – her first marriage lasted only three years, but she has been with her current husband for nearly 20 years.

Image source

Marriage and Divorce from Costas Mandylor

Coatas Mandylor, also known as Konstantinos Theodosopoulos, was born in Melbourne, Australia, on 3 September 1965 to Greek parents Louise and Yannis Theodosopoulos; Louis Mandylor is his brother, who is also an actor and an Academy Award-nominee for his performances in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and its sequel, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.” Their mother’s maiden name is used in their screen names, because their surname in Greek is too long.

Coatas is recognized as Detective Mark Hoffman in the “Saw” movie series, and “Virtuosity.” He had various jobs before getting any acting gigs which made him a successful actor.

He also starred in the film “Triumph of the Spirit” in 1989, and has since appeared in many movies and television series.

Talisa and Coast became a couple in 1996, and were married in 1997, but it didn’t last long, and they separated in 2000, without disclosing the cause of their divorce. Costas subsequently dated Victoria Ramos, an actress in the film “Road to Juarez,” and they tied the knot in the fall of 2013, apparently still both happily married.

Benjamin Bratt, husband of Talisa Soto

Benjamin Bratt is a Peruvian-American actor, born in San Francisco, California, on 16 December 1963. He’s the middle child of five, all of whom were raised by his mother.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRWmODqlz11/

He never imagined himself as an actor, despite the fact that his grandfather worked in New York theater. He went to Lowell High School, and then studied at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His father urged him to pursue an acting career, so he then enrolled at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.

In 1987, he made his acting debut as Sergeant Rosendo Juarez in the television film “Juarez.” He also starred as police officer Paco Aguilar in “Blood In, Blood Out,” and as Alfredo Garcia in “Demolition Man” in 1993. However, he rose to fame in 1995 as Detective Reynaldo Curtis in the award-winning series “Law & Order.”

He received nominations from several awarding bodies, including for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series in Alma Awards, and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the Primetime Emmy Award. In addition, he’s participated in blockbuster films such as “Miss Congeniality,” “Catwoman,” “Ride Along 2,” and “Doctor Strange.”

He dated the award-winning actress Julia Roberts in 1998, but the couple called it quits after four years. In 2002 he then dated Talisa Soto on the sets of “Piñero”, a year after her divorce from her first husband. The couple were married on 13 April 2002. They have two children, namely, Sophia Rosalinda and Mateo Bravery.

Hobbies, favorite things, and interesting facts

• Talisa works out three times a week, and does weights and cardio.
• She likes doing simple things with her friends and family, like drinking wine, eating some cheese and crackers, and catching up.
• She eats healthy food, but loves pizza.
• She loves Hermes bags, but finds them expensive.
• She wants to learn to play the guitar, and to speak Italian.

Remembering iconic Bond Girls @EW has forgotten #TalisaSoto! #LicenseToKill Let's remind every1- She's the QUEEN!
RT pic.twitter.com/FmyVNHfFnQ

— Kitana Fan Realm (@KitanaFanRealm) November 6, 2015

Appearance and clothing style

Talisa stands at 5ft 9ins (1.76m) tall and weighs about 120lbs (55kgs), with vital statistics of 32-26-32; she has medium brown hair and brown eyes. According to the New York Post, she mentioned that her clothing style is unique; even though she became a model for many brands, she doesn’t always integrate those fashion trends into her style.

Net worth and salary

As of early 2022, Talisa’s net worth is estimated at $7.5 million, while her husband’s wealth is reputedly over $15 million. Talisa benefited from acting and modeling, whereas Benjamin has earned his wealth through acting and producing films.

Malia Jones is an American surfer, model and businesswoman of Hawaiian, Spanish-Filipino and German descent. She lives in Hawaii with her husband, actor Alex O’Loughlin, and their three children.

Early life, family, educational background

Malia was born in Loma Linda, California, US on 27 March 1977 to dentist John Jones  and his wife Violet Jones-Medusky, who was a nurse and a marathoner. She has three siblings: Keoni Jones, Daniel Jones and Mikala Jones.

When  Malia was two years old, she and her family moved to Kalima, Hawaii, where she started practicing surfing from an early age.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXLwXs4FZKd/

During Malia´s childhood, surfing was a norm for the family, as her parents and her brothers also surfed.

Her mother suffered from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and, on 29 March 2011, she died of pneumothorax, caused  by  complications from this illness.

As for her education, all that it is known is that she completed her studies from high school but there is no information about whether she went to university or not.

Career

Malia´s career as a competitive surfer started when she was a teenager. She was only 15 when she became the winner of the division for girls of the US Amateur Surfing Championship.

Shortly afterwards, she was hired by  “Surfing Magazine” to perform as a model for its publications of swimsuits, which brought a rapid success to her life, and she was regarded as one of the most beautiful and sexiest women by different magazines, such as “People” and “Esquire”. From then on, she continued modeling and appearing in television commercials for different brands and important companies, such as Coca Cola, Capri Sun and American Express.

She also showed her facet  as  consultant  when she worked for the film “Lilo & Stitch”, and as a TV personality when she appeared, for example, on “XSTV: Extreme Sport Television”.

Despite her success as a surfer and model, Malia was aware that these activities would not last forever, so in 2009, she gave another step in her career: she created her own swimwear brand “Malia Jones Swimwear”. Malia describes her creations as “minimal, understated and timeless”, and they can be found at the most exclusive and luxurious stores all over the world.

Within her collections, the line of bikinis occupies a major place. One of the reasons why Malia decided to produce them is the fact that  sometimes it was difficult to find one that fitted her. In an interview to the blog “Island Fever Sisters”,  Malia said: “I found it really hard to just find a simple swim suit that was comfortable, flattering and fit just right. [… ]  So I decided to just put together a few styles of classic go to bikinis with great fits, soft material and basic colors that were timeless and effortless.”

She personally believes that the key of her success is her hard work and the passion she puts to the things she does.

Personal life,  husband Alex O’Loughlin

Malia has been married three times. The first  one was in 1999 to surfer Conan Hayes, whom she divorced later, the second one in 2007 to American surfer Luke Stedman with whom she had her first son, Spike Sedman, in 2009, and the third one on 18 April 2014 to actor Alex O’Loughin, who is his husband at present, and with whom she had her second son, Lion O´Loughin, two years before their marriage.

Image source

The couple presently lives in Hawaii with their three children: Spike, Lion and Saxon, who is Alex´s son from a previous marriage.

Who is Alex O’Loughlin?

Alex O´Loughlin is a famous Australian actor, producer and director born in Camberra on 24 August 1976.

In 2005, he auditioned for the role of James Bond, which finally was bestowed to Daniel Craig.

During his career, Alex has taken part in many movies, such as “Man-Thing”, “The Holiday”, and “The Back-up Plan”. This last movie is a romantic comedy in which he shared the leading role with famous American singer and actress Jennifer Lopez.

He also participated in numerous series, one of which is “The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant”,  in which he embodied Will Bryant. For his performance in this series, he was nominated for Best Lead Actor in Television by the Australian Film Institute in 2005, and for Most Outstanding Actor in Drama Series, at the Logie Awards in 2006.

However, one of his most memorable performances is his starring role on the CBS remake of the series “Hawaii Five-0”, which broadcasted from September 2010 to April 2020 , and in which he was featured as Lieutenant Commander Steve McCarret. This series was a total success and it won  “Favorite New TV Drama” at the People´s Choice Awards.

Hobbies, favorite things and interesting facts

Malia loves singing, and spending time with her children and husband. She also enjoys travelling, and her favorite places to relax are France and Italy.

Moreover, as most models, Malia is very active on the social networks and she has more than 11.000 followers in her instagram account (@maliajonesswim).

She loves fast food, although she also enjoys good food, especially oysters, and her favorite restaurant is “Morimoto Waikiki” in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Appearance, clothing style

Malia, who has always been a fitness enthusiast,  bears an exotic beauty and a stunning figure. She has got brown eyes and hair and she is not very tall.  Her height is 5ft 5ins (1.65mts) and she weighs 121.25lbs (55kgs).

As regards her outfit, she prefers simple but chic clothes and her favorite color is black. She can usually be seen barefoot and wearing bikinis, and she uses to joke saying that she only puts on her shoes when she goes to a restaurant.

Net worth and salary

As of 2022, her personal net worth together with that of her husband, Alex is estimated at $26 million. However, only $1 million  corresponds to  the money she has earned as a surfer and model, the income of her clothing business, whereas the rest is what her husband Alex has achieved during his life as an actor.