14 actors you didn’t know modeled

Somewhere between his infamous stint as a male stripper and his booming movie career, Channing Tatum dabbled in modeling. And by dabbled we mean dominated—he was in ads for major designers including Dolce & Gabbana and Emporio Armani. We have just one request for the man of many talents: If you make a biopic of your modeling days à la Magic Mike, can it please be called Chiseled Channing?

No matter what kind of trouble Lindsay Lohan gets into, we can always count on her days as a child star to restore our faith in her. Before she starred in The Parent Trap, LiLo was a Ford model and popped up in ads for the kids line for both Calvin Klein and Abercrombie.

One look at Ian Somerhalder’s cheekbones and we’re hardly shocked that he started out as a teen in the modeling world. The Vampire Diaries star did some serious smoldering back in the day for Versace, Guess, and—get this—Kids “R” Us.

Before Cameron Diaz became one of the most famous actresses, well, ever, she was the girl next door of the fashion industry. Beginning at the tender age of 16, Cam worked her angles (and those looong legs) for brands Calvin Klein and Levi’s.

Just like her character, Betty Francis (née Hofstadt, formerly Draper), on Mad Men, the gorgeous January Jones did a little modeling in a past life. Her Abercrombie & Fitch-trained chops in front of the camera no doubt helped her out in a recent stint as the face of Versace too.

Before Taylor Kitsch stole our hearts as Tim Riggins in Friday Night Lights, he was, er, finding his light. The Canada-born hottie moved to New York City when he was 18 and signed with IMG, eventually landing gigs for Liz Claiborne and—you guessed it—A&F.

He may be a goof, but you’ve got to admit Ashton Kutcher is a looker. In college, Ashton took first prize in a “Fresh Faces of Iowa” modeling competition and took the win as a sign to move to New York City and pursue a career. It worked—he popped up in Calvin Klein ads and walked runways in Paris and Milan.

After giving up his dream of playing pro football, Josh Duhamel moved from North Dakota to California to do the next logical thing: become a model. He later won a Male Model of the Year competition—out-posing fellow future actor Ashton Kutcher in the process.

You probably know Tyrese Gibson from his multiplatinum R&B records and his roles in the Transformers and The Fast and the Furious franchises. But did you know he’s also fronted campaigns for both Tommy Hilfiger and Guess? That’s right—Tyrese has shown off those insane abs in both print and movies. Score.

If you thought Alexis Bledel had model good looks as Rory on Gilmore Girls, well, you’d be right. The Houston, Texas, native started off doing runway work in Milan and Tokyo, and Alexis got back into the game by signing with IMG in 2009 after the CW show ended.