Izabella Miko | |
---|---|
![]() Izabella Miko in 2013 | |
Born | Izabella Anna Mikołajczak 21 January 1981 |
Occupation(s) | Actress, dancer, producer |
Years active | 1988–present |
Izabella Miko (born Izabella Anna Mikołajczak; 21 January 1981)[1] is a Polish actress, dancer, film producer, and environmental activist.[2] She is best known for starring in the film Coyote Ugly and the music videos "Mr. Brightside" and "Miss Atomic Bomb" by The Killers. While a dance student in Poland, Miko was recruited to study at the New York City Ballet at age 15 and later studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute. She made her American film debut in Coyote Ugly (2000), followed by a starring part in the vampire thriller The Forsaken (2001).
Miko has also had recurring roles on the television series Deadwood, The Cape, and Chicago Fire, in addition to roles in dance films such as Save the Last Dance 2 (2006), Make Your Move (2013), and Step Up: All In (2014).[3] She made her debut as a film producer on the British biographical drama Desert Dancer in 2014. She is also known as an environmental activist. She has a sustainable candle line named EkoMiko Candles as well as an eco foundation named EkoMiko.[4]
Early life
Miko was born Izabella Anna Mikołajczak in Łódź, Poland, the daughter of actors Grażyna Dyląg and Aleksander Mikołajczak. She grew up in Warsaw, where she studied to be a ballerina at the Chopin Music School. An American choreographer invited her to study in New York City on a scholarship with the School of American Ballet, and she later enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Institute to study acting.[5] She later recalled this experience by saying: "I came from Poland to America to study ballet in New York. I got a scholarship when I was 15 and ended up in New York by myself. No money, no English, no parents. So it was very tough. Those three years were really, really hard, but they were worth it."[6] After sustaining knee and ankle injuries, Miko briefly left New York City and returned to Poland.[5][6]
Career
At the age of 18, Miko returned to the United States and landed her first major film role as Cammie in Coyote Ugly (2000).[3] Coyote Ugly was a box office success, grossing over $113 million worldwide,[7] and became a cult classic over the years.[8][9] Her character Cammie works as a bartender at Coyote Ugly and becomes friends with a new employee Violet, played by Piper Perabo.[10] In 2024, Miko told LATV: "Coyote Ugly changed my life completely. I was so hungry, I used to go to meetings just to get food and I had crazy little jobs."[6]
This was followed with a lead role in the 2001 vampire horror film The Forsaken, playing a young woman infected by a vampiric virus. In 2005, Miko appeared in a multi-episode story arc on the HBO series Deadwood; the same year, she appeared in the music video for "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers (she again collaborated with the band for the video of their 2012 single "Miss Atomic Bomb").[11] Miko portrayed a circus trapeze artist, Alice in the drama film Bye Bye Blackbird (2005), where she combined her background as a dancer with new skills in trapeze and tightrope walking.[6] She was nominated for Best Young Character Actress at the 2008 Undine Awards for her role in Bye Bye Blackbird.[12] She had a lead role as Sara Johnson in the dance film Save the Last Dance 2 (2006), replacing Julia Stiles from the original film.[6][13]
Miko appeared in several independent films in the late 2000s, including Park (2007) and the comedy Flakes (2007), the latter of which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival.[14] The following year, she appeared as a seductive nightclub singer in Dark Streets (2008), an adaptation of the play of the same name by Glenn M. Stewart. She also appeared in the crime thriller Double Identity (2009) in a lead role and in the big-budget remake Clash of the Titans (2010) as Athena. She was also in a supporting role as an acrobat named Raia in the television series The Cape, followed by a supporting role as a spy in the British war thriller Age of Heroes, based on the formation of Ian Fleming's No. 30 Commando during World War II. She was an executive producer of the film Yellow (2012) starring Sienna Miller and Riley Keough.[15] She also choreographed a scene for the film.[15]
In 2012, Miko appeared opposite Danny Huston and Sienna Miller in the period drama Two Jacks, directed by Bernard Rose, and in the South Korean dance film Make Your Move in 2013. Miko appeared in Billy Idol's music video for "Can't Break Me Down", and also had a supporting role in Step Up: All In, both in 2014. Also in 2014, she had a small role in the fantasy television series Supernatural, episode "Ask Jeeves" of season 10, where she portrays a shape shifter working for a rich heiress who has died. In 2015, Miko co-produced the biographical film Desert Dancer, which tells the story of Iranian choreographer Afshin Ghaffarian. The same year, she had guest appearances on the television series Blue Bloods and Scorpion as well as a recurring role on the action-drama series Chicago Fire.[16]
Personal life
Miko supports green politics and keeps a video blog titled "Eko Miko".[17] She has supported Global Green USA, an environmentalist group and organization that constitutes the American branch of Green Cross International.[18][19]
She is vegan.[20] Miko is multilingual and speaks English, French and Polish.[21]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1988 | Pan Kleks w Kosmosie | The Girl with the Matches | |
1991 | Niech żyje miłość | Kuba's Daughter | Uncredited |
2000 | Coyote Ugly | Cammie | |
2001 | The Forsaken | Megan | |
2002 | Minimal Knowledge | Renee | |
2005 | Bye Bye Blackbird | Alice | |
The Shore | Kaliope | ||
2006 | Park | Krysta | |
The House of Usher | Jill Michaelson | ||
Save the Last Dance 2 | Sara Johnson | ||
2007 | Crashing | Kristen | |
Flakes | Strawberry | ||
Waiting | Young Woman | Short film | |
2008 | Dark Streets | Madelaine | |
2009 | Love and Dance | Hania | |
Double Identity | Katrine | ||
2010 | Clash of the Titans | Athena | |
Repo | Timmy | ||
2011 | Mother Nature: First MILF | Mother Nature | Video short |
Age of Heroes | Jensen | ||
2012 | Two Jacks | Dana | |
2013 | Make Your Move | Tatianna | |
2014 | The Mundane Goddess | Aphrodite | Short film |
Step Up: All In | Alexxa Brava | ||
Desert Dancer | Producer | ||
Starving in Suburbia | ButterflyAna | ||
2015 | The Frontier | Gloria | |
2018 | The Rake | Cassie |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Kuchnia polska | Zuzia Szymanko | Television Mini-Series |
2004 | Gramercy Park | Sophie Mansour | Television film |
2005 | Deadwood | Carrie | 3 episodes |
2008 | Skip Tracer | Ludmila | Television film |
2011 | The Cape | Raia | Recurring role; 6 episodes |
Chaos | Greta | "Deep Cover Band" | |
Love Bites | Audrey | "Boys to Men" | |
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Lena | "Russian Brides" | |
2014 | Supernatural | Olivia | "Ask Jeeves" |
Anger Management | Mary Kathleen | "Charlie Gets Tied Up with a Catholic Girl" | |
Sensitive Men | Jenn | Television film | |
2015 | Blue Bloods | Milena | "Payback"[22] |
Scorpion | Sonia Balasevic | "Cuba Libre" | |
Chicago Fire | Katya | Recurring role; 5 episodes | |
2016 | Paradise Pictures | Norma Jean | Television film |
Azja Express | Herself | Contestant; 11 episodes | |
2017 | The Mick | Yulia | "The Wolf" |
2017–2018 | Twoja twarz brzmi znajomo | Prince / Geri Halliwell / Various | 11 episodes |
2018 | SNL Polska | Herself / Special Guest / Host | "Episode #1.15", "Episode #1.14" |
Criminal Minds | Galina Kadlec | "Season 14, Episode 3: Rule 34" | |
People Just Do Nothing | Aldona | Television film | |
2020 | Hunters | Helen Hirsh | Episode 1 |
NCIS: Los Angeles | Michelle Boucher | "Season 12, Episode 5: Raising the Dead" | |
2022 | The Flight Attendant | Cherri | 1 episode ("Drowning Women") |
NCIS: Hawaiʻi | Alina Nikitin | Episode: "Ohana" |
Music videos
Year | Title | Artist | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | ”Can't Fight the Moonlight” | Leann Rimes | Cammie / Dancer | |
2005 | ”Mr. Brightside” | The Killers | Woman | Uncredited |
2012 | ”Miss Atomic Bomb” | Young Girl | ||
2014 | ”Can't Break Me Down” | Billy Idol | Herself |
Other credits
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Got a Teeny Weeny? | Producer, director and writer | Short film |
2012 | Yellow | Executive producer[15] | |
2014 | Desert Dancer | Producer | |
2018 | Sensitive Men | Executive producer | Short film |
2018 | Straight Talk Express | Producer |
References
- ^ Rose, Mike (21 January 2023). "Today's famous birthdays list for January 21, 2023 includes celebrities Luke Grimes, Geena Davis". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ "Coyote Ugly Turns 20: Where Is the Cast Now?". Peoplemag. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Coyote Ugly Turns 20: Where Is the Cast Now?". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ^ "Izabella Miko". IMDb. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Izabella Miko Biography". Fandango. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
- ^ a b c d e "From Warsaw to Hollywood: Meet Izabella Miko | The Big Deal". LATV. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ "Coyote Ugly". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ "'Coyote Ugly': Where Are They Now?". EW.com. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ Nichols, Mackenzie (4 August 2020). "'Coyote Ugly' at 20: Piper Perabo and Tyra Banks on the Cult Hit and a Potential Sequel". Variety. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ Grechko, Irina. "An Ode To Coyote Ugly, The Ultimate '00s Fashion Movie". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ Martins, Chris (11 December 2012). "The Killers' Animated 'Miss Atomic Bomb' Video Serves as 'Mr. Brightside' Sequel". Spin. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
- ^ "Izabella Miko - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Save the Last Dance 2 (2006) | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ Weinberg, Scott (14 March 2007). "SXSW Review: Flakes". Moviefone. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
- ^ a b c "Yellow - Filmography - Izabella Miko". izabellamiko.com. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ mamamia-team (2 June 2020). "Where are they now? The cast of cult noughties film Coyote Ugly, 23 years later". Mamamia. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ "youtube.com". Eko Miko video blog. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
- ^ Spector, Ken (28 February 2011). "Izabella Miko Interviewed By Ken Spector at 8th Annual Global Green Pre-Oscar Party". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2016 – via YouTube.
- ^ "greener-cities-for-a-cooler-planet"/ "Celebrities Join Global Green to Support 'Greener Cities for a Cooler Planet'". Green Cross International. Retrieved 30 April 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Izabella Miko [@IzabellaMiko] (3 October 2018). "People ask me why I became vegan. I went #plantbased overnight after finding out it's the single most influential thing you can do for the planet. Having that knowledge I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror if I'd continued to eat meat. I didn't want to be a part of" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 September 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ Moore, Camille (3 January 2021). "10 Things You Didn't Know about Izabella Miko". TVovermind. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ ""Blue Bloods" Payback (TV Episode 2015)". IMDb.