Actor / Director Profile

Born in what was still Communist Poland in January 1981 to accomplished thespian parents, Grazyna Dylag and Aleksander Mikolajczak, Izabella Miko could dance before she could walk. She began to pursue her dream career as a ballerina as soon as it was available to her at the age of 10. Izabella was accepted to the National Ballet School in Warsaw and though her teachers were concerned about what seemed to be some flexibility limitations of her body from the start, Izabella was determined to realize her dream. She would simply need to train harder and longer than the other dancers, and so she did. Izabella became so accomplished, so quickly, that at the age of 15 she was recruited to come to NY on full scholarship and study at the School of American Ballet. Izabella was on her way to the NYC Ballet and the spotlight of her dreams. However, in 1997 Izabella's body could no longer withstand the rigors of a 7-day a week ballet-training schedule and gave in to vertebrae, knee and ankle injuries. In a blink, Izabella's career as a ballet dancer was over. She found herself 17 years old and wondering what career she would ever find that would emblaze her soul the same way dance did. It didn't take long for destiny to reveal its new and improved plan for Izabella Miko. While freshly back in Warsaw and recovering, a casting director who was working with Izabella's parents asked if Izabella would play a part in a TV movie "Lithuania You're My Motherland". She accepted not knowing where else to turn. From the first moment in front of the cameras, Izabella was hooked. Her calling to act rang so loudly in her heart that it was unmistakable and made so much sense out of what was up until that moment a confusing disappointment. Once bitten by the acting bug, and never a lady to do anything only half way, shortly before her 18th birthday, Izabella was headed back to America only this time, as an actor. She immediately began training at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and laying the groundwork for a successful career as an actor. Sewn instantly into the hearts of everyone she meets, it didn't take long before the business urged Izabella to become a bi-coastal performer. She came out to LA just after she turned 18 and from a short and magical series of events landed a much sought after role in "Jerry Bruckheimer's" Coyote Ugly (2000) playing the heart-breaker "Cammie" Izabella's role in the film put her on the fast track in Hollywood not to mention a slew of magazine covers and billboards as well! She followed this debut up with a leading role in J.S. Cardone's The Forsaken (2001) Her latest film, Minimal Knowledge (2002) has been making the film festival rounds in 2002. She also recently wrapped _Shore, The (2003)_ starring along side Lesley Ann Warren and Ben Gazzara. With a deep passion for dance, movement and the spotlight ever in her soul, Izabella starred alongside hugely accomplished actors Derek Jacobi and 'Michael Lonsdale' in the feature film _Bye-Bye Blackbird (2005)_. Her portrayal of Alice, a circus trapeze artist in the early 1900s, was the perfect combination of Izabella's most innate talents. Izabella prepared for this role with a rigorous, three-month, training schedule on both the flying and static trapeze. Utilizing her dance and trapeze skills, along with rapidly learned tightrope walking (which given her skills, wasn't that difficult), she secured a part time role of Raia, a member of the "Circus of Crime" circus troop in the 2011 NBC series "The Cape".