Models turned actors: the ones who worked it

Agyness Deyn in Hawaii on the set of the silent short film Here. It tells the story of a woman following clues around America in pursuit of a mysterious love who the audience never sees Photograph: Alessio Bolzoni

Lily Cole, the 23-year-old model, graced her first Vogue cover in 2005 and has since gone on to walk the catwalk for designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier. She made her acting debut in the 2007 British film St Trinian's, appeared in The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus in 2009 (above), and will be seen in the upcoming Snow White And The Huntsman. Oh, and she also has a first class degree from Cambridge and spends a fair whack of her time doing charity work. It's like looking in a mirror, isn't it? Photograph: Allstar

Before playing a tough magazine editor on Ugly Betty (above), Vanessa Williams was a model and beauty queen. She was the spokeswoman for L'Oréal ad campaigns in the 90s. She's also starred in musicals and had an album out in 1988 called The Right Stuff, so calling her a model-turned-actor seems a bit reductive, really
Photograph: ABC/Everett/Rex Features

Milla Jovovich modelled in ad campaigns for everyone from Versace to Gap, but is probably best known for her turn in the 1997 movie The Fifth Element (above). Her most recent role was as a high-kicking (literally) Milady Clarick de Winter in the 2012 version of The Three Musketeers Photograph: Allstar

Before appearing in hits like The Mask (above), alongside Jim Carrey, and Charlie's Angels, Cameron Diaz was signed to Elite Model management as a teen and has featured in ads for Calvin Klein and Levi's Photograph: Allstar Picture Library

Brook Shields, famous for that Calvin Klein jeans ad, hit the big time with the 1980 hit movie The Blue Lagoon (above). More recently she was seen in the TV hit Lipstick Jungle. These days she is best known as an actress, but her modelling career began aged 11 when she starred in an advert for soap Photograph: Allstar