Elizabeth Hurley

Who is Elizabeth Hurley?

Elizabeth Hurley, also known as Liz Hurley, is a British model and actress. She has always been in the limelight, for both right and wrong reasons. One of the most desirable women in the world, Hurley is also one of the most photographed women. She had a colorful early life as she dabbled in ballet and punk fashion. She was also involved with the ‘New Age Travellers,’ a hippie group in Britain. She gained worldwide recognition when she walked down the red carpet with her then-partner Hugh Grant at the premiere of his film. Although Grant was more popular, Liz stole his thunder and grabbed all the attention with her bold ‘Versace’ dress, which was held together by giant gold safety pins. Hurley capitalized on her sudden fame and went on to establish a very successful modeling career. Though she has achieved only moderate success as a film actor, her modeling career as well as her well-publicized personal life has kept her in the limelight. In her turbulent personal life, Liz has had to put up with cheating partners, break-ups, outspoken in-laws, and paternity suits. In spite of her difficult personal life, Liz has managed to emerge unscathed and continues to enjoy fame and attention.

Career

During her early days, Hurley won a ‘Face of the Year’ competition which was organized by a local newspaper. She was rewarded with a one-year contract with a top company in London.

In 1987, she landed her debut film role in ‘Aria,’ a movie that consisted of 10 short films. The film was screened at the 1987 ‘Cannes Film Festival.’

In 1988, ‘Christabel,’ a TV show featuring Hurley in the lead, was released. In the show, Hurley played the role of an English woman who gets married to a German lawyer.

Between 1988 and 1995, she acted in movies like ‘Rowing With the Wind,’ ‘Kill Cruise,’ ‘Passenger 57,’ and ‘Beyond Bedlam.’ She was also seen in TV shows like ‘Act of Will,’ ‘The Orchid House,’ and ‘The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.’

She also played a lot of cameo roles during this period, appearing in shows like ‘Inspector Morse,’ ‘The Good Guys,’ and ‘Sharpe.’

In 1994, her then-partner Hugh Grant founded a production company called ‘Simian Films,’ for which Hurley was assigned as development head to scout for projects.

In 1995, the well-known cosmetics firm ‘Estee Lauder’ signed her as their spokesmodel, a position which she held till 2001, when she was replaced by Caroline Murphy.

In 1997, she starred as ‘Vanessa Kensington’ alongside Mike Myers in the hit action comedy film ‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.’ A couple of years later, she followed it up with a guest appearance in the film’s sequel ‘Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.’

From 1998 to 2000, she appeared in movies, such as ‘Permanent Midnight,’ ‘My Favorite Martian,’ ‘EDtv,’ and ‘Bedazzled.’

In 2000, she flouted a five-month acting-strike imposed by the ‘Screen Actors Guild’; she acted in a commercial for ‘Estee Lauder’ and had to pay a penalty of $100,000. The same year, she was seen in the French-American mystery thriller film ‘The Weight of Water,’ which also featured Sean Penn.

In 2001, Hurley was part of ‘The Human Face,’ a four-part documentary about the effects of facial expressions and features. It was narrated by British actor-comedian John Cleese.

In 2002, she acted in the film ‘Serving Sara.’ The film’s failure led Hurley to stop acting in films in the US and focus more on her modeling career.

In 2005, she modeled for firms like ‘Saloni,’ ‘Liverpool Department Stores of Mexico,’ and ‘Lancel.’ The same year, she also launched her own beachwear line called ‘Elizabeth Hurley Beach’ at ‘Harrods’ in the UK.

In 2006, she appeared in the advertising campaigns for brands like ‘Jordache,’ ‘Shiatzy Chen,’ ‘Got Milk?,’ ‘Patrick Cox,’ and ‘MQ Clothiers of Sweden.’

In 2006, she hosted the British reality show ‘Project Catwalk’ and received a lot of flak for it. She was replaced in the next season, owing to allegations that she had asked the contestants to send her free clothes.

In 2008, Hurley designed and modeled a capsule collection of 12 swimsuits for ‘MANGO,’ a Spanish clothes brand.

In 2011, she acted in the fifth season of the TV show ‘Gossip Girl’ where she portrayed the character of ‘Diana Payne,’ a rich businesswoman from Los Angeles.

From 2015 to 2018, she portrayed the main role of ‘Queen Helena’ in the American primetime television soap opera ‘The Royals.’ She appeared in all the 40 episodes of the show. In 2019, she was cast in the third season of the web television series 'Runaways' where she played ‘Morgan le Fay.’