Izabella Miko

Izabella Miko (born Izabella Anna Mikołajczak; 21 January 1981) is a Polish actress, dancer, film producer, and environmental activist. She is best known for starring in the film Coyote Ugly and the music videos "Mr. Brightside" and "Miss Atomic Bomb" by The Killers. While a dance student in Poland, Miko was recruited to study at the New York City Ballet at age 15 and later studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute. She made her American film debut in Coyote Ugly, followed by a starring part in the vampire thriller The Forsaken (2001).

Miko has also had recurring roles on the television series Deadwood, The Cape, and Chicago Fire, in addition to roles in dance films such as Save the Last Dance 2 (2006), Make Your Move (2013), and Step Up: All In (2014). She made her debut as a film producer on the British biographical drama Desert Dancer in 2014. She is also known as an environmental activist. She has a sustainable candle line named EkoMiko Candles as well as an eco foundation named EkoMiko.

Early life Miko was born Izabella Anna Mikołajczak in Łódź, Poland, the daughter of actors Grażyna Dyląg and Aleksander Mikołajczak. She grew up in Warsaw, where she studied to be a ballerina at the Chopin Music School. An American choreographer invited her to study in New York City on a scholarship with the School of American Ballet, and she later enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Institute to study acting. She later recalled this experience by saying: "I came from Poland to America to study ballet in New York. I got a scholarship when I was 15 and ended up in New York by myself. No money, no English, no parents. So it was very tough. Those three years were really, really hard, but they were worth it." After sustaining knee and ankle injuries, Miko briefly left New York City and returned to Poland. and became a cult classic over the years. Her character Cammie works as a bartender at Coyote Ugly and becomes friends with a new employee Violet, played by Piper Perabo. In 2024, Miko told LATV: "Coyote Ugly changed my life completely. I was so hungry, I used to go to meetings just to get food and I had crazy little jobs." Miko portrayed a circus trapeze artist, Alice in the drama film Bye Bye Blackbird (2005), where she combined her background as a dancer with new skills in trapeze and tightrope walking. She had a lead role as Sara Johnson in the dance film Save the Last Dance 2 (2006), replacing Julia Stiles from the original film.

Miko appeared in several independent films in the late 2000s, including Park (2007) and the comedy Flakes (2007), the latter of which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival. The following year, she appeared as a seductive nightclub singer in Dark Streets (2008), an adaptation of the play of the same name by Glenn M. Stewart. She also appeared in the crime thriller Double Identity (2009) in a lead role and in the big-budget remake Clash of the Titans (2010) as Athena. She was also in a supporting role as an acrobat named Raia in the television series The Cape, followed by a supporting role as a spy in the British war thriller Age of Heroes, based on the formation of Ian Fleming's No. 30 Commando during World War II. In 2011, she guest starred as Lena on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit called "Russian Brides." She was an executive producer of the film Yellow (2012) starring Sienna Miller and Riley Keough. She also choreographed a scene for the film.

Personal life Miko supports green politics and keeps a video blog titled "Eko Miko". She has supported Global Green USA, an environmentalist group and organization that constitutes the American branch of Green Cross International.

She is vegan. Miko is multilingual and speaks English, French and Polish.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1988 Pan Kleks w Kosmosie The Girl with the Matches 1991 Niech żyje miłość Kuba's Daughter 2000 Coyote Ugly Cammie 2001 Megan 2002 Minimal Knowledge Renee 2005 Bye Bye Blackbird Alice 2006 Park Krysta Jill Michaelson Save the Last Dance 2 Sara Johnson Video Kaliope 2007 Crashing Kristen Flakes Strawberry Waiting Young Woman Short 2008 Dark Streets Madelaine 2009 Love and Dance Hania Double Identity Katrine 2010 Clash of the Titans Athena Repo Timmy 2011 Age of Heroes Jensen 2012 Two Jacks Dana 2013 Make Your Move Tatianna 2014 Starving in Suburbia ButterflyAna Step Up: All In Alexxa Brava Aphrodite Short 2015 The Frontier Gloria 2018 Planeta Singli 2 Singer Beata Cassie 2019 Futro z misia 'Futro' 2024 Sensitive Men Jenn Short

Television Year Title Role Notes 1993 Kuchnia polska Zuzia Szymanko Main Cast 2005 Deadwood Carrie Recurring Cast: Season 2 2011 Raia Recurring Cast Chaos Greta Episode: "Deep Cover Band" Love Bites Audrey Episode: "Boys to Men" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Lena Episode: "Russian Brides" 2014 Supernatural Olivia Episode: "Ask Jeeves" Anger Management Mary Kathleen Episode: "Charlie Gets Tied Up with a Catholic Girl"2015 Blue Bloods Milena Episode: "Payback" Scorpion Sonia Balasevic Episode: "Cuba Libre" Chicago Fire Katya Recurring Cast: Season 3, Guest: Season 4 2016 Shooter Karlina Ordenko Episode: "Danger Close" Azja Express Herself/Contestant Contestant: Season 1 2017 The Mick Yulia Episode: "The Wolf" 2017–18 Twoja twarz brzmi znajomo Various Roles Guest: Season 8, Main Cast: Season 9 2018 SNL Polska Herself/Host Episode: "Episode #1.14" Criminal Minds Galina Kadlec Episode: "Rule 34" 2020 Hunters Helen Hirsh Episode: "In the Belly of the Whale" NCIS: Los Angeles Michelle Boucher Episode: "Raising the Dead" 2022 The Flight Attendant Cherri Episode: "Drowning Women" NCIS: Hawaiʻi Alina Nikitin Episode: "Ohana"

Music videos Year Title Artist Role 2000 ”Can't Fight the Moonlight” Leann Rimes Dancer 2005 ”Mr. Brightside” The Killers Woman 2011 ”First MILF” Mother Nature Mother Nature 2012 ”Miss Atomic Bomb” The Killers Young Girl 2014 ”Can't Break Me Down” Billy Idol Herself

Other credits