Talisa Soto’s Wiki – Husband Benjamin Bratt, Net Worth, Height

Talisa Soto is a popular American actress, who is most famous for playing Princess Kitana in the “Mortal Kombat” movies. She woke up famous after playing Lupe Lamora in “Licence to Kill”, opposite Timothy Dalton.

Early life and family

Miriam Talisa Soto was born on 27 March 1967, in Brooklyn, New York City USA, so she holds American nationality, and her zodiac sign is Aries. Talisa is of Puerto Rican origin, as her parents, Clari and Hector Soto are both from Puerto Rico. Her mother is a retired nutritionist, while her father’s profession is not known. Talisa is the youngest daughter of her parents; she has three older siblings. When Talisa was a young girl, her family moved from Puerto Rico to Northampton, Massachusetts.

Educational background

Talisa matriculated from her local high school in Northampton in 1985, even though she struggled a lot during her senior years, as she tried hard to balance between her classes and busy working schedule as a model. She didn’t enter any college after her matriculation, pursuing her modelling career, having plenty of job offers even without a higher education.

Career

Modeling career

Talisa started modelling when she’d just turned 15. A talent scout from Click Model Management noticed her, so Talisa soon signed her first contract, gracing the cover of British Vogue the very same year! She worked during her summer vacations, and even traveled to Paris to participate in another Vogue shooting.

After matriculating from her high school, Talisa was free to spend as much time at work as she could, so she accepted every offer she got, and appeared in such popular magazines as British Elle, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Self, etc. She also worked with such worldwide famous brands as Cartier, Versace, Calvin Klein and many others. Talisa was one of the youngest models who signed commercial contracts with Revlon and Clarins, as well as Saks Fifth Avenue and Salvatore Ferragamo. She could also be seen on catwalks of John Galliano, Gianni Versace and many other legendary designers. During her successful modelling career – which is still developing, as of 2020, even though Talisa is 53 – she had a chance to work with such skillful photographers as Bruce Weber, Sante D’Orazio and many others.

Interesting facts about Talisa’s modelling career

It is worth mentioning that Talisa is a former winner of the pageant Miss Galaxy Beauty Contest. She is also famous for turning down the offer from Playboy Magazine in 1989: as most of the actresses who played James Bond’s girlfriends in the movies about the legendary Agent 007, she was offered to pose for the cover of the magazine, but Talisa refused, never explaining the reason of her decision. People Magazine included Talisa in the list of 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1990, and she was also featured by Sports Illustrated in 1995 in its heading “Swimsuit Issue”. In 2002, Maxim ranked Talisa as #58 in the annual list of the Hot 100 Women of the Year. Harper’s Bazaar Magazine ranked Talisa as #18 in the list of Top Super Star Models.

While being in relationship with Nick Kamen, Talisa appeared in Madonna’s music video “Each Time You Break My Heart”, along with her boyfriend. Nick and Talisa worked together for a some time, often modelling for Ray Petri, who is a late British creator and fashion stylist. Talisa has never changed her model agency, and still works for Click Model Management.

Acting career

Talisa debuted as an extras actress in “The Pope of Greenwich Village” in 1984. In 1988 she landed her first role in the episodes “The Cowboy and the Frenchman” and “Les Gaulois” of the mini-series “The French as Seen By…”, portraying a French girl. The same year she appeared as India in “Spike of Bensonhurst”, a drama about a young Italian guy who wanted to become a boxer.

The following year Talisa’s acting career took a giant leap, as she landed the role of James Bond’s girl, Lupe Lamora, in “Licence to Kill”, starring Timothy Dalton. She even won the ShoWest Convention Award as the Female Star of Tomorrow in 1989.

In 1990 she played Marianna Herrera in the TV film “Silhouette”, and Rosina in “Prison Stories: Women on the Inside” in 1991. She then landed the role of Maria Rivera in “The Mambo Kings”, starring Armand Assante, Pablo Calogero and Antonio Banderas. From 1993 to 1994, Talisa appeared as Cassie in the recurring cast of “Harts of the West” series; she appeared in 15 episodes of the show. After portraying Doña Julia in Jeremy Leven’s “Don Juan DeMarco” (1994), starring Marlon Brando and Johnny Depp, Talisa played one of her most recognizable roles in her acting career – Princess Kitana in “Mortal Kombat”, sharing the screen with Christopher Lambert, Linden Ashby and Bridgette Wilson-Sampras.

Later acting activities

Before appearing in the sequel of “Mortal Kombat” in 1997, Talisa appeared in several more movies, such as “The Sunchaser” as Navajo Woman, “Spy Hard” as a seductress in the hotel room, and “The Corporate Ladder”, in which she could be seen as Susan Taylor. However, after a few more films including “Flypaper”, “Flight of Fancy” and “Island of the Dead”, she met Benjamin Bratt, a fellow actor, and married him, later focusing on the role of a wife and mother. She paused her acting career after appearing in “Piñero” (2001) as Sugar, “Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever” (2002) as Vinn and “La Mission”, the movie of 2009 as Ana.

Personal life, husband Benjamin Bratt

Talisa was married to an actor Costas Mandylor from 1997 to 2000.

Little is known about their relationship, however, the couple divorced without any loud headlines in the media. Talisa met her future second husband on the set of “Piñero” in 2001, and the couple married on 13 April 2002 in a modest wedding ceremony in San Francisco. Talisa gave birth to their first daughter, Sophia Rosalinda, on 6 December 2002; some sources stated that Sophia got a birth injury on her brain which made her suffer from physical disabilities. Talisa and Bratt did everything they could to find the best therapists who could provide their daughter a proper rehabilitation, and  as of 2020, Sophia is not reported to suffer from any kind of disability.

On 3 October 2005, Talisa gave birth to her second child, a son they named Mateo Bravery.

Both Bratt and Talisa take their parenting very seriously: ‘The stakes are much higher on every level. The work that you choose will draw you away from that which you care for most, your family, [and] gets a whole new scrutiny’, Bratt shared in his interview with People magazine in 2010. Talisa also shared that she enjoyed talking to her kids, having conversations with them as soon as they learned to speak, and shared that she was very interested ‘to see their perspective on things’. It is worth mentioning that before meeting Talisa, Benjamin was engaged to Julia Roberts for four years from 1997 to 2001; however, the engagement was annulled when Benjamin started dating Talisa.

Who is Benjamin Bratt?

Talisa’s husband Benjamin George Bratt, was born on 16 December 1963, in San Francisco, California USA. He is mostly famous for starring in such movies as “Traffic” (2000), “Miss Congeniality” (2000) and “Despicable Me 2” (2013). From 2010 to 2020 he played the role of Javier Delgado in the popular sitcom “Modern Family”. He is also known for portraying Jahil Rivera in the “Star” series, starring Ryan Destiny, Jude Demorest and Queen Latifah.

Hobbies, favorite things and interesting facts

Talisa is still into fitness, frequently sharing photos and videos from her workout routine on her social media accounts. She also likes doing climbing from time to time. As to her favorite food, Talisa enjoys Italian cuisine.

Appearance, clothing style

Talisa has long straight dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes. She is 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall weighs around 136lbs (62kgs), and her vital statistics are 35-25-35. Talisa doesn’t have any tattoos. As to her clothing style, she likes cotton mid-length dresses with floral patterns and mostly sticks to casual outfit style, wearing enough of luxury clothes at work.

Net worth and salary

As of 2020, Talisa’s net worth is reported to be $7.5 million. As she keeps on working as a model, having an on-going contract with Click Model Management, her net worth will continue to grow. As to her husband, Benjamin Bratt, his net worth is reputedly around $12 million.