Marisa Miller was a star volleyball player in high school. In fact, in her junior year, thanks to her position as outside hitter, her team never lost a game. Marisa Miller's first modeling gig was in 1998 when she appeared nude in Perfect 10 magazine. Although she did several other spreads in the magazine after that, her modeling career didn't seem to be going anywhere.

That is, until a chance meeting changed the course of her life forever. In 2001, she drove to Manhattan Beach, California, to surf, and famous fashion photographer Mario Testino happened to be on the beach.

Mesmerized by Marisa Miller and her singular appeal, he took some pictures of her. Just like Rebecca Romijn, who was discovered in the same manner, Marisa was offered a chance to become a model. Her mother, Krista, encouraged her to pursue this profession, saying, "You can always go back to school, but you can't always model." Stimulated by these words, Marisa Miller took the plunge.

Soon thereafter, she was offered the opportunity to appear within the pages of the 2001 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Obviously, this secured Marisa Miller's place within the modeling industry. As a result, Victoria's Secret hired her to model lingerie for its catalogs.

Many other companies also noticed Marisa Miller, and she was soon appearing in publicity campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, J.Crew and Nordstrom.

With her stock rising, her face was seen on the cover of magazines like Vogue, Fitness and Shape. It's no wonder Sports Illustrated called her back for the 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 Swimsuit Issues.

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Marisa Miller (born August 6, 1978) is an American supermodel. She is known for her many appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues and Victoria's Secret catalogs. She is the cover model for the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Born Marisa Bertetta in Santa Cruz, California, she was first "discovered" at age 16 walking through a San Francisco caf� by two Italian modeling agents. After talking to her mom Krista Bertetta, she was on a plane to Italy with her mom a few months later. Marisa says that the most valuable thing that her mom has ever told her was "You can always go back to school but you may not always be able to model." Marisa took her mom's advice and soon gained attention when she appeared in a 1997 issue of Perfect 10 magazine. Although she came in third behind Ashley Degenford and Monica Hansen in Perfect 10 magazine's first annual model search, she was repeatedly showcased in following issues, including the covers of the Winter 1998, Aug/Sept 1999, and Fall 2004 editions. She has two sisters and attended Monte Vista Christian School in Watsonville, California.

Atypically, Marisa was able to move from a start as an amateur magazine model to high profile mainstream work after she was spotted by fashion photographer Mario Testino in Manhattan Beach, California in 2001. Noticing Marisa, Mario snapped pictures of her and approached her for a job offer. Soon after, Marisa worked with the likes of Victoria's Secret and has appeared in every issue of the coveted Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue since 2002. In particular, she was featured in the 2004 and 2005 editions' sections of body painting. Raphael Mazzucco's photograph of Marisa wearing nothing but an iPod in the 2007 edition became one of the most famous photos ever published in that magazine. She's also appeared in other magazines such as Fitness, Shape, and Vogue, as well as working on campaigns for Nordstrom, J.Crew, and Tommy Hilfiger. In 2004, she served as a modeling judge in the short-lived reality television series Manhunt: The Search for America's Most Gorgeous Male Model. In the same year she also appeared in Puddle of Mudd's music video for "Spin You Around".

In 2007, Marisa shot her first television commercial for Victoria's Secret with fellow supermodel Heidi Klum, causing quite a stir unexpectedly drawing more attention than Klum, as well as appearing in a cameo on the HBO show Entourage. Marisa was also featured as a model on the pilot episode of the new VH1 reality show The Shot.

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