Lily Cole

Lily Luahana Cole (born c. 27 December 1987) is an English model and actress. Her modelling career was launched by a chance encounter with Benjamin Hart in Soho when she was 14 years old. She was booked for her first British Vogue cover at age 16, and has worked with many well-known brands, including Vogue worldwide, Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, Prada, De Beers and Moschino. Other clients include Numero, Christian Lacroix, Hermès, and Galliano. Advertising campaigns include Longchamp, Anna Sui and Cacharel. She has a cosmetics contract with beauty brand Rimmel London and can be seen in TV and print advertising as part of her work with them. She attracted controversy in 2008 by appearing naked in a pictorial for Playboy's French edition. She is listed by Vogue Paris as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s. After several minor acting roles, starting with St Trinian's in 2007, Cole's first leading role was as Valentina in the 2009 film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Her other film work includes Passages, a short directed by Shekhar Kapur and There Be Dragons, directed by Roland Joffé. In June 2011, she was awarded a Double First in History of Art at Cambridge University. In January of 2012, she met with Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales to get his guidance on starting her own socially networked gift economy website, impossible.com. --- Cole was born in Torquay, Devon, and brought up in London, along with one of her two sisters. Her mother, Patience Owen, is an artist and writer, and her father, Chris Cole, was a boat builder and fisherman. Cole attended Hallfield Primary School and the St Marylebone Church School for Girls, before completing her sixth form studies at Latymer Upper School, an independent school in Hammersmith, London. She achieved A grades in her A-level examinations in English, Politics, Drama, History and Philosophy and Ethics at Latymer Upper School. Cole gained a place to read Social and Political Sciences at King's College, Cambridge, but twice deferred entry before switching to study History of Art, which she commenced during Michaelmas, 2008. She gained a First in her examinations at the end of her first year, and another in her second year examinations, one of seven members of her year to earn the grade. Cole had a long standing interest in art and stated that she felt it would be a wise course of study for the long term. She has discussed her difficulty in settling down at Cambridge. Cole's modelling career was sparked from a chance encounter while walking through Soho when she was approached by Benjamin Hart, who asked her to consider modelling. She initially declined, later saying, "I was cynical enough to think it wouldn't come to much", though she later changed her mind and signed with Storm Models. Her big break came in 2003 when she caught the eye of photographer Steven Meisel. It was during a photoshoot for Italian Vogue that she found the spotlight and became one of the 'new faces' of the year. Since then, Cole has worked with many other prominent photographers, including Craig McDean, Nick Knight, Juergen Teller, Arthur Elgort and Irving Penn. Cole has said that she did not feel like natural model material but that the work has given her great confidence over the years. Cole's distinctive red hair has attracted significant media attention. --- Cole made her acting debut as Polly the geek in the 2007 comedy St. Trinian's, a rework of the black and white films of the 1950s and '60s, alongside Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Russell Brand, Jodie Whittaker and Stephen Fry. Her first leading role came in Terry Gilliam's 2009 fantasy film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, playing Valentina, the teenage daughter of Christopher Plummer's title character, Dr Parnassus, whom Parnassus has promised to the Devil (Tom Waits) upon her 16th birthday. Acting alongside Heath Ledger (who died before filming had finished), Cole, in an interview for the Daily Telegraph admitted that, at times, she felt out of her depth in the role- saying “I’d only done a couple of films and here I was surrounded by amazing actors like Christopher Plummer and Heath Ledger, and it was intimidating at times,” also describing the role as "the biggest role I’ve ever done". --- In August 2008, Cole began a relationship with American actor Enrique Murciano but the pair reportedly broke up in February 2011 after two-and-a-half years of dating. In April 2007, Cole first featured in the Sunday Times Rich List, which estimated her net worth at £6 million, ranking her as the 77th-richest young person in the United Kingdom. As of 2009, she is thought to have earned in excess of £11 million.