Charis Michelsen

Short Biography

Charis (pronounced Chær-us) Elisa Michelsen is an American actress, a former model and a make-up artist. Michelsen was raised in Boring, Oregon, and after high school, she moved to New York City to study art at Parsons The New School For Design, where a photographer for Harper’s Bazaar discovered her for modeling. She's worked for such clients as Levis, Conair, Dell, Pepsi, Unionbay, Moschino, Tommy Hilfiger, L’Oreal, Paul Mitchell, Matrix, Guess, Sebastian, Wella, Psychology Today magazine (cover), Surface magazine, Hampton’s magazine, Glamour magazine, New York Post, Manhattan magazine (cover), BPM magazine, Manhattan Bride magazine (cover), Brides magazine, and others; and was featured in music videos such as Type O Negative’s legendary “My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend”. While attending a rock concert, Michelsen was discovered by Liv Tyler's mother Bebe Buell, who became her career manager, and she went on to land roles in award-winning movies, such as the Sundance Grand Jury prize-winning film “High Art”, "Wonder Boys" and work with directors such as Martin Scorsese in "Bringing Out The Dead", and actors such as Michael Douglas, Robert Downey Jr., Tobey Maguire, Katie Holmes, and Nicholas Cage. Michelsen was the voice for the co-starring role of "Keri Boyer" in I Married A Strange Person, directed by Bill Plympton, and played Mrs. Wyatt Cooper (Eric Dane's wife) on an episode of the ABC television drama Gideon's Crossing. She also starred with Peter Steele in his band Type O Negative's music video "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend, " and with Liv Tyler in the music video "If" by Coyote Shivers.Film critics have declared Michelsen, "a bewitching young thing" -Michael Atkinson (The Village Voice), ”sensuous" -Michael Tunison (BoxOffice Magazine); have said that "Charis Michelsen is beautiful, her opaque blue eyes and internal acting make her someone who critics should continue to watch." -Mike Szymanski (Variety), and have said that she has "a fetching, fainty Natalie Imbruglia-ish screen presence" -Brent Simon (Entertainment Today). Michelsen has been featured in magazines such as MovieMaker (cover), Moving Pictures (cover), and Portland (cover), and was formerly represented by Innovative Artists, CED, and IMG (celebrity division). Ms. Michelsen eventually relocated to Los Angeles, and began working as a national and international spokesperson and product educator for one of the world’s top prestige cosmetic brands, and as a screenwriter, mentored by America’s most famous independent movie producer and former Universal Pictures President Thom Mount. She authored the world's most comprehensive beauty resources, and invented the world’s first science-based Universal Beauty Standard System, which when implemented, guarantees to maximize one’s physical appeal. Ms. Michelsen is listed as a Parsons The New School For Design notable alumnus.Michelsen was previously married to actor and director Josh Evans from 2003 to 2010, and is the former daughter-in-law of movie producer Robert Evans and actress Ali MacGraw.