Josie Maran

Josie Maran born May 8, 1978 in Menlo Park, California is an American supermodel and actress.Maran's modeling career began at the age of 12; when an agent spotted her at a local barbecue restaurant, she began modeling part time. Maran graduated from the Castilleja School, then began to pursue modeling more seriously. As those in the fashion industry consider her height of 5'7" to be too short for runway modeling, Maran works mainly in editorial modeling and advertising/image modeling.

Signed at age 17 with the Elite modeling agency of Los Angeles, Maran 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. Maran appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for three consecutive years; from 2000 to 2002.

In 2001, Maran appeared in an independent film, as title character Mallory in The Mallory Effect. In 2002, Maran appeared as Susan in Swatters. In 2004, she appeared in three films - as a French model in Little Black Book, as one of Dracula's brides in Van Helsing, and briefly as a cigarette girl in The Aviator. Maran appeared in a short film "The Confession" alongside Wentworth Miller in 2005, and as Kira Hastings in The Gravedancers in 2006. Maran 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.