scriptgirl

From the associated press Fashion -- 'Rush Hour 3' star strong in looks, spirit 8/15/2007 8:22:47 AM By Samantha Critchell Associated Press NEW YORK -- Noemie Lenoir gets her turn on the big screen in "Rush Hour 3," but this exotic French model has been turning heads for years. You can't call her a classic beauty in either the blond bombshell or sultry brunette molds -- and that's what first grabs your attention. Today she's sporting sheared blond hair against naturally bronzed skin -- but it's sometimes her hair is brown, too. Her unique look -- which she traces to a French father and a mother from the small Indian Ocean island of Reunion -- makes her attractive to global brands, Ralph Lauren, H&M, Tommy Hilfiger and Gap, among them. She's also a L'Oreal Paris spokeswoman along with Milla Jovovich, Scarlet Johansson and Beyonce. She says not even she can quite describe her look. When she was "discovered" at the age of 16 in a post office in Versailles, France, Lenoir says she hadn't given modeling a thought and wasn't really ready to do so. "I wanted to finish school. I wanted to play with my friends," she says. She expected she'd eventually go on to study veterinary medicine, she explains during an interview at a rooftop garden of a hip downtown hotel. Lenoir, now 27, looks cool -- even though it's warm. She has on a loose sundress with ropelike straps in that easy, breezy, incredibly chic way that French women wear things. She'll be a New Yorker soon, though: She's spending some of this trip house-hunting for a place for herself and her 2 1/2-year-old son Kelyan to call home. (Keylan's father is French soccer player Claude Makelele.) Lenoir learned to speak her almost perfect English on her first stint living in the U.S., just after she turned 18. "I had an American boyfriend. I know the best fighting words!" Lenoir thinks it's her strong spirit that has moved her into the world of movies. The first characters she played -- in the French movies "Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatre,""Gomez & Tavares" and "Doublure" as well as her American film debut in "After the Sunset" with Pierce Brosnan, Woody Harrelson and Salma Hayek -- were all very strong, tough women and she felt as if she were really just playing herself in another time, place and situation. Her character in "Rush Hour 3'," a mysterious performer named Genevieve, is also a force to be reckoned with, but Lenoir says the experience of making a big-budget movie was unlike anything else she had ever done. "It was so intense to live through the movie. I didn't know all about special effects. The whole crew is a machine." Some of her favorite movies are those that combine action with a message, such as "Blood Diamonds.""It made me think that I might not buy diamonds anymore -- I like Swarovski crystals now. A boyfriend will be happy to hear that!" Lenoir isn't ready to give up entirely modeling for movies yet. She still gets a charge when she hears the music on the set of a photo shoot or puts on an amazing piece of handiwork. "I'm lucky I'm still getting modeling jobs. I won't stop until the opportunity stops," she says. "It's what I'm good at." Her beauty secret? "Every night, I clean my face and I drink a lot of water. I take care of my skin -- that's the most important thing." Lenoir has even managed to keep connected to her childhood dream of working with animals. She is a spokeswoman for the World Wildlife Federation, concentrating on the preservation of animals and plants in the islands where her mother was raised. She's especially fond of the colorful fish and the striking waterfalls and volcanos.

Noemie on Diddy's yacht

Can you say that in English, please?

Noemie in Rush Hour

Noemie on Diddy's yacht in St Tropez

Noemie in Rush Hour 3

Noemie boarding Diddy's yacht

NEw Video of Noemie http://x17video.com/celebrity_video/noemie...national_pl.php In 4 years Noemie Lenoir went from being virtually unknown to international supermodel and actress. Since wrapping Rush Hour 3, Ms. Lenoir enjoys light pursuits on the beaches of St. Tropez. After chilling with family on her boat, Storm photographers caught her getting a little closer to Puffy his yacht on Saturday evening. An album in the works, perhaps?

Noemie on Diddy's yacht in St Tropez

Those have ALREADY been posted