She is best known for her work for lingerie retailer Victoria's Secret and Burberry, and also for her role as Carly Spencer in the 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third installment in the Transformers film series.
Huntington-Whiteley was born at the Freedom Fields Hospital, in Plymouth, Devon. Her mother, Fiona (née Jackson), is a fitness instructor, and her father, Charles Andrew Huntington-Whiteley, is a chartered surveyor.
Her paternal great-great-grandfather was politician Sir Herbert Huntington-Whiteley, 1st Baronet; Herbert's son, Eric, married Rosie's great-grandmother, Enid Kohn, who was from a family of Polish Jews who emigrated to Britain in the 1870s.Rosie's other paternal great-grandfather, Jacob Franks, was a prominent surgeon in Sussex.
Huntington-Whiteley grew up on a farm in Tavistock, Devon.
At secondary school, she was bullied and teased at school for having a double-barrelled name, small breasts and full lips.
Her first modelling session was at sixteen, posing for a Levi's commercial. In 2004, Huntington-Whiteley was photographed by Bruce Weber for Abercrombie & Fitch.
Since 2006, Huntington-Whiteley has modelled for American lingerie brand Victoria's Secret. The model made her Victoria's Secret debut at the brand's 2006 show in Los Angeles.
Huntington-Whiteley remained unknown in the fashion industry up until 2008, when she was cast by chief creative director Christopher Bailey, replacing Agyness Deyn for Burberry's autumn/winter campaign with actor Sam Riley.
She got her first British Vogue cover, for the November 2008 issue, alongside Eden Clark and Jourdan Dunn in a feature celebrating British models.
The following year, she was featured as the face of Karen Millen's spring/summer 2009 advertising campaign.
Huntington-Whiteley received an Elle Style Award for 2009's "Model of the Year".She starred in a short film for Agent Provocateur playing a woman whose boyfriend forgets Valentine's Day.For fall/winter 2009, she modelled campaigns for Godiva and Miss Sixty.
In late 2009, Huntington-Whiteley officially became a Victoria's Secret Angel[citation needed], modelling for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York City.
In 2010, she posed nude for the Pirelli Calendar, which was photographed by Terry Richardson.
Huntington-Whiteley hit the runway for designers Prada in Milan and Giles Deacon in Paris.
For SS10 her advertising campaigns included Monsoon's first underwear line, Thomas Wylde, Full Circle, and VS Online.In March, she collaborated with VOGUE.COM to share her outfit choices daily for the Today I'm Wearing feature.
She appeared on the covers of the May 2010 issues of Harper's Bazaar Russia and GQ UK.
She was featured on the cover of LOVE Magazine's September issue, styled as a pinup girl.
For FW10 she modelled for Burberry as well as the company's first Beauty line ad; her other advertising campaigns included Loewe, Thomas Wylde, and Leon Max.
Fashion photographer Rankin devoted a book entirely to her entitled Ten Times Rosie. Rankin thinks Huntington-Whiteley puts diversity back into fashion: "We’ve been looking at very, very skinny, almost masculine girls for a long time. [Rosie] really is the model of the moment. She’s the actress of the moment. She’s definitely going to become something much, much bigger."
Celebrity make-up artist Ruby Hammer, who has worked with Huntington-Whiteley for years, described her as the "quintessential" English rose.
In March 2011, she landed her first solo British Vogue cover.In May, she was voted No. 1 in Maxim Magazine's "Hot 100" list.She was also voted No.1 in FHM's World's Sexiest Woman 2011 poll.
She appeared on the covers of the UK's July issues of Elle and GQ.
Huntington-Whiteley was unveiled as the face of Burberry's newest fragrance, Burberry Body, in July 2011.
As of July 2011, she ranks No. 15 on "The Money Girls" list and No. 3 on the "Top 20 Sexiest Models" list at MODELS.COM.
In 2012, Huntington-Whiteley was named the top style icon at the Elle Style Awards
In May 2010, it was announced that Huntington-Whiteley would become the new female lead in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, released 29 June 2011, replacing Megan Fox.
She had previously worked with the film's director, Michael Bay, on a Victoria's Secret commercial.
MTV Networks' NextMovie.com named her one of the 'Breakout Stars to Watch for in 2011'.Prior to the film's release, she won the "Female Star of Tomorrow" award at the 2011 CinemaCon Awards.Critics were highly critical of the acting of Huntington-Whiteley and co-star Shia LaBeouf. Peter Travers stated the two "couldn't be duller."
Jason Solomons of The Observer wrote that "we're first introduced to Rosie via a close-up of her bum, segueing straight from the film's opening sequence and titles on to the pert buttocks and underwear of our heroine," and that Huntington-Whiteley's English posh girl accent "renders her practically unintelligible when surrounded by American accents and falling masonry."
Much of the criticism towards Rosie Huntington-Whiteley compared her in an unfavorable light to Megan Fox. Lou Lumenick said that her "'acting' makes...Megan Fox look like Meryl Streep in comparison."
Baz Bamigboye gave his review of the film the title 'Come back Megan Fox, all is forgiven...'.
In a positive review, Drew McWeeny of HitFix said, "She reminds me of Cameron Diaz in The Mask, an actress who doesn't really show off any range, but who gives a natural, winning performance and who is up to the challenge of this particular picture."
Huntington-Whiteley will have a role in the film Mad Max: Fury Road, which is scheduled for a release in 2014
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