Talisa Soto Biography

Talisa Soto (born March 27, 1967 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American Top model and actress of Puerto Rican descent.

Talisa SotoTalisa's parents moved from Puerto Rico in the 1950's to Brooklyn, New York, where Talisa (Miriam Soto) was born. Later on, her parents moved to Massachusetts when she was still just a child. Talisa's family was one of the few Puerto Rican families that resided in her neighborhood. She was raised and educated there but, she felt that people were prejudiced against her and she became a loner.

After initial rejection from certain modeling agencies for being too ethnic looking, she signed with Click Model Management, and soon relocated to Europe to work in Italy and Paris for the British edition of Vogue magazine. Talisa landed her first modeling job in 1982, when she was 15 years old. In 1985, she tried to sign up with the Ford modeling agency but, was rejected because she looked "too" Latina. Talisa then went and signed with Click Model Management and headed for Europe. She established herself as one of the 1980's top models and was very busy modeling in Italy and France. She appeared on the covers of "Vogue", "Mademoiselle", "Glamour" and "Self" magazines. During her years as a model, the rechristened Talisa made the covers of such fashion industry publications as Vogue, Glamour and Mademoiselle. Despite her success as a model, she had her heart set on becoming an actress.

Following her return to the U.S., she began her career in the acting biz when she was cast as "India" in 1988's Spike of Bensonhurst. A year later, Talisa became a "Bond Girl," playing Lupe Lamora in

License to Kill. Her next couple of roles found her on the small screen, appearing in the USA Network movie Silhouette in 1990, and the HBO anthology series, Prison Stories: Women on the Inside the following year.

In 1988, when Talisa returned to the United States, she auditioned and landed the role of "India", in her feature debut "Spike of Bensonhurst", a comedy which starred Sasha Mitchell and Ernest Borgnine. In 1989, she was cast as "Lupe Lamora", in the James Bond movie "Licence to Kill", starring Timothy Dalton and as "Maria Rivera" in "The Mambo Kings".

In 1990, Talisa was chosen by "People Magazine" as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. In 1995, she was featured in the "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue". Soto starred opposite Johnny Depp in 1995's Don Juan DeMarco. Talisa has participated in over 20 movies, among which are: Mortal Kombat (1995) as Kitana; "Piñero" (2001) as "Sugar", starring Benjamin Bratt and "Ballistic: Eck vs Sever" (2002) as "Ryne" alongside Lucy Liu and Antonio Banderas. Talisa has also made two T.V. guest appearances in "C-16: FBI".

In 1995, she returned to modeling, appearing in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue as well as the accompanying TV special. The following year, Talisa appeared in Sunchaser and Spy Hard, and portrayed the title role in Vampirella.

In 2000, Soto was keeping busy with roles in Flight of Fancy, Island of the Dead and That Summer in LA, while her three-year marriage to Mandylor ended in divorce.

Talisa married Costas Mandylor, in 1997 and they were divorced in 2000. She fell in love with Benjamin Bratt, whom she met while filming "Piñero". They were married on April 13, 2002 and on December

6, 2002, she gave birth to their daughter Sophia Rosalinda Bratt. The couple welcomed a son, Mateo Bravery Bratt, on October 3, 2005. Talisa Soto lives with her family in Los Angeles, California.

Quote

"I'm as good as Jean-Claude Van Damme when it comes to martial arts. Sounding a little cocky aren't I?"
-Talisa Soto