Sienna Guillory (born May 31, 1975) is a British actress and model. She was named after the color ‘’Sienna’’. Though it is generally the trend for models to turn to acting, it was the other way round for her. Guillory had been acting since the age of 16, and it was quite by chance that she got her first modeling assignment at the age of 20.
Born in Fulham, London, Guillory is the daughter of Cuban-born guitarist Isaac Guillory and Victoria Guillory, she has two sisters, Ellie and Jace, and a brother Jacob. They grew up in a traditional Bohemian household. Having grown up being surrounded by performers, it is quite natural that she took up acting. Guillory made her screen debut in the UK TV series Riders. Though the role was small, she made her mark. Her performance landed her in another small role in the miniseries The Buccaneers. Guillory took a short break from acting in 1995, to continue with studies. She had to even work as a waitress to fund her studies. At the age of 21, Guillory had returned after an independent film in Russia with a friend, a ballerina who aspired to become a model. She accompanied her to a modeling agency, Select Models, which signed both of them on the spot, instead. Guillory became one of Britain’s most sought after models in the four years she had been modelling. In 2000, Esquire magazine voted Guillory to be Britain’s Most Eligible Woman. And in 2002, she was number 89 on Maxim’s list of Top 100 Sexiest Women. Still, it was acting she was interested in. Hence, to study the art more closely, she went to study at the New World School of the Dramatic Arts, as well as at the Paris Conservatoire. By the time she had returned to the screen in 2000 with a thriller, Sorted, she had developed a unique style of her own. Soon, she took to Hollywood, with movies like The Time Machine and Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Sienna is still apprehensive to Hollywood. She has learnt fickle producers and directors can be in Tinseltown. “That experience of Hollywood taught me a lot”, says Guillory “but I still feel like I’m a Hollywood virgin.”
