being Face of Maybelline, Guess? girl,
and much more
Biography
Josie Maran was born in Menlo Park, California to a father of Russian and Polish descent, and a mother of Dutch, French, and German ancestry. She began modeling part-time after an agent spotted her at a local barbecue restaurant at the age of 12. Maran continued a more dedicated career after graduating from the Castilleja School. Considered by some to be too short for runway modeling at 5 feet 7 inches tall, her career consists mostly of editorial modeling and advertising/image modeling.
Signed at age 17 with the Elite modeling agency of Los Angeles, Josie appeared on her first cover with Glamour magazine in 1998, and she was the featured Guess? Girl in their summer 1998 and fall 1998 campaigns. After building a resumé of over 25 commercials and advertisements, including a music video for the popular boy-band the Backstreet Boys, Maran moved cross-country to join with Elite in New York City. In 1999 she landed a multi-year deal with Maybelline following in the footsteps of her idol Christy Turlington. She appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for three consecutive years—2000, 2001, 2002.
In addition to her thriving modeling career, Josie began an acting career in 2001 with a star turn as title character Mallory in an independent film, The Mallory Effect. She continued to take on roles, appearing in 2002 as Susan in Swatters. In 2004 she landed film roles as a French model in Little Black Book, as one of Dracula's brides in Van Helsing, and was seen briefly as a cigarette girl in The Aviator. She appeared in a short film "The Confession" alongside Wentworth Miller in 2005, and as Kira Hastings in The Gravedancers in 2006. Josie will play Polly Hudson in The Final Season, scheduled for release in 2007.
In 2005, she was recruited by EA Games to appear as a main character in the street-racing computer and video game, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which was released on November 17, 2005. She plays the game's second lead Mia Townsend, who guides the lead character through the game.
Personal life
Josie had a long-term relationship with popular magician David Blaine, with whom she lived in Manhattan. He reportedly has a tattoo of the letter "J" over his heart for his time spent with her.
Josie and boyfriend Ali Alborzi welcomed daughter Rumi Joon on June 20, 2006 in Los Angeles, according to the Celebrity Baby Blog.
Trivia
* Maran is pronounced MAIR-an, rhymes with Karen, like "CARE-an".
* Josie has a scar due to an appendectomy performed when she was 12, but the scar is edited out from most photos.
"Upon seeing Josie Maran, one has to stand
back, take a deep breath and enjoy the scenery. . She is like
a breath of fresh air not only to the modeling world, but to our
decrepit lives. Not only is she part of a new generation of models
that have overtaken the "waif" trend, she also brings
a new mentality among models and remains realistic about her future."
- askmen.com
"Josie Maran has one of those unforgettable faces.
With chestnut hair and chocolate brown eyes, Josie has the simple beauty
that gets her noticed." - GUESS? 1998
"California native model and actress Josie Maran was
launched to supermodel by being a spokesperson for Mabelline cosmetics.
The chestnut haired beauty has a notable resume which includes modeling
gigs for Guess?, Marie Claire, Victoria's Secret and Sports Illustrated
Swimsuit. She also established herself as an actress."
"Here is a highly accomplished model in the non-traditional
sense. Although she is slim and relatively short like Kate Moss, she is
not a runway model or fashion model that most of us associate the word
with. Instead, Josie is an "everyday" type of model, wearing
clothes normal people would wear themselves, and gracing covers of various
women's magazines. She's a much used pretty face in many television commercials
and magazine advertisements. In other words, she's not outworldly looking
like your average supermodel. But that's not to say she isn't beautiful.
She's strikingly so and took my breath away the first time I saw her in
a Backstreet Boys music video. She stands out and righteously so."
