Leslie Bibb

Leslie Bibb grew up bouncing between North Dakota and Virginia, finally landing in Richmond with her mom and three older sisters. She went to St. Gertrude, a strict Catholic all-girls school, which probably wasn’t as wild as it sounds, but hey, it’s good for a story. Her mom, apparently the ultimate hype-woman, snapped a few photos of teenage Leslie and sent them off to a national modeling contest that Oprah and Elite were running. Leslie thought the photos were nothing special, but the judges—yeah, actual legends like Naomi Campbell and Iman—saw something. She won the whole thing at sixteen. From there, her life just kind of snowballed. She finished her junior year, then jetted off to New York to sign with Elite, spent a summer modeling, even did a stint in Japan—no big deal. She came back to finish high school, graduated, and then tried out college at UVA. That lasted, what, a semester? City lights called her back, so she ditched college for New York, studied acting at William Esper for three years, and squeezed in more modeling over in Europe. You might’ve seen her face in Maxim or FHM if you were flipping through those back in the day. Leslie’s first taste of Hollywood came with a tiny role in Private Parts, then she landed a lead on The Big Easy, but that show fizzled out fast. No matter—her real breakout hit was Popular in 1999, where she headlined and basically became a teen TV staple. That opened the door for movies like The Skulls and See Spot Run. She’s popped up on ER, too, playing intern Erin Harkins. If you look at her career, it’s just a wild ride from small-town girl to TV and movie regular.