Best known for playing the role of a Bond girl, Camille Montes in the Quantum of Solace (2008), Olga Konstantinova Kurylenko is a popular French model and actress. Kurylenko who discovered as a model in Moscow when she was just 13 years old after a brief modeling stint in Russia moved to Paris at the age of 16. After gaining much success as a model, Kurylenko eventually moved to acting. She started her career as an actor with a small role in the TV series, Largo Winch in 2001 and made her debut on the big screen with L Annulaire, which released in June 2005 in France. Some of the most popular films include Max Payne (2008), Erased (2012), Oblivion (2013), The November Man (2014), Momentum (2015), and The Correspondence (2016). Apart from her modeling and acting career, Kurylenko takes great interest in charity works; she is noted for working for the development of underprivileged children in her native country, Ukraine.
EARLY LIFE
Born in Berdiansk, Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union, Olga Kurylenko is the daughter of Konstantin who has Ukrainian lineage and Marina Alyabysheva, an arts teacher who has Belarusian and Russian ancestry. When Kurylenko turned three, her parents divorced and the actress was raised solely by her mother.
While holidaying in Moscow, Kurylenko, at the age of thirteen, caught the eye of a model scout. This precipitated a move to Moscow when she was 15, and the following year, a move to the global fashion capital, Paris. Her looks and demeanor were praised and Kurylenko quickly rose among the ranks after signing a contract with the Paris-based modeling agency, Madison, in 1996. At the age of 18, she had been featured on the covers of high profile magazines such as Vogue and Elle. Kurylenko would use her financial profit as a model to support her mother in Ukraine.
PERSONAL LIFE
In 2000, Kurylenko met and married French photographer Cedric van Mol. However, the marriage did not last long and four years later, the couple parted ways. Following her separation with Cedrin van Mol, the actress married an American businessman, Damian Gabrielle in 2006 but within a year their relationship hit rock bottom and the couple filed for a divorce in 2007. After her second marriage failed the actress-cum-model moved to London in 2009.
After dating Danny Hudson, her co-star in Magic City for about a year she started living with her partner Max Benitz. The couple has one son named Alexander Max Horatio who was born in October 2015.
MOVIE CAREER
Kurylenko began her career on the silver screen with an appearance in the French suspense film L'Annulaire (2006). Her performance was praised and she earned the certificate of excellence award at the Brooklyn International Film Festival that year.
Post her success with Quantum of Solace, Kurylenko appeared in films like Kirot (2009), Tyranny (2010), There Be Dragons (2011) and Erased (2012), most of which performed only moderately at the box office. It was her role in the Terrence Malick directed romantic-drama film To the Wonder (2010) that won her appreciation from the critics. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2012 where it was nominated for Golden Lion Award. Her next big film appearance was the high profile science-fiction film Oblivion (2013) featuring Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman and Andrea Riseborough in the lead roles. Although, the film received negative reviews, it emerged to be a commercial hit.
The year, 2014 proved to be one of the most successful years in Kurylenkos career as she appeared in four films, viz. Vampire Academy, The November Man, Mission Control and The Water Diviner. Whilst Vampire Academy starring Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky and Gabriel Byrne was a box-office flop, The November Man and The water Diviner were both critical and commercial hits. In 2016, Kurylenko was cast as the female lead alongside acclaimed English actor Jeremy Irons in the Italian film The Correspondence (2016).
T.V CAREER
Kurylenko has appeared in the American drama serial Magic City (2012-2013) as Vera Evans. The show was canceled after two seasons due to low ratings. She has also featured in the 2006 French television movie Le Porte-Bonheur and as Eva Pires in the mini-series Suspectes (2007).