Early life and career start
Born Marisa Bertetta in Santa Cruz, California, she was first "discovered" at age 16 walking through a San Francisco café by two Italian modeling agents. After talking to her mom Krista Bertetta, she was on a plane to Italy with her mom a few months later. Marisa says that the most valuable thing that her mom has ever told her was "You can always go back to school but you may not always be able to model." Marisa took her mom's advice and soon gained attention when she appeared in a 1997 issue of Perfect 10 magazine. Although she came in third behind Ashley Degenford and Monica Hansen in Perfect 10 magazine's first annual model search, she was repeatedly showcased in following issues, including the covers of the Winter 1998, Aug/Sept 1999, and Fall 2004 editions. She has two sisters and attended Monte Vista Christian School in Watsonville, California. Career highlights
Atypically, Marisa was able to move from a start as an amateur magazine model to high profile mainstream work after she was spotted by fashion photographer Mario Testino in Manhattan Beach, California in 2001. Noticing Marisa, Mario snapped pictures of her and approached her for a job offer. Soon after, Marisa worked with the likes of Victoria's Secret and has appeared in every issue of the coveted Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue since 2002. In particular, she was featured in the 2004 and 2005 editions' sections of body painting. Raphael Mazzucco's photograph of Marisa wearing a iPod bikini in the 2007 edition became one of the most famous photos ever published in that magazine. She's also appeared in other magazines such as Fitness, Shape, and Vogue, as well as working on campaigns for Nordstrom, J.Crew, and Tommy Hilfiger. In 2004, she served as a modeling judge in the short-lived reality television series Manhunt: The Search for America's Most Gorgeous Male Model. In the same year she also appeared in Puddle of Mudd's music video for "Spin You Around".
In 2007, Marisa shot her first television commercial for Victoria's Secret with fellow supermodel Heidi Klum, causing quite a stir unexpectedly drawing more attention than Klum, as well as appearing in a cameo on the HBO show Entourage. Marisa was also featured as a model on the pilot episode of the new VH1 reality show The Shot.
On November 26, 2007, Marisa made a special guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother (episode: "The Yips") with her fellow Victoria's Secret supermodels (Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Selita Ebanks, Miranda Kerr, and Heidi Klum).
On December 4, 2007, Marisa made her debut at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
Personal life
Marisa married Jim Miller, a Los Angeles surfing contest promoter and lifeguard from California in 2000 and separated from him in 2002. They divorced soon after. She married Hollywood producer Griffin Guess on April 15, 2006. Marisa likes football, muscle cars, cooking and food from Trader Joe's. From an early age she loved surfing, was a standout volleyball player on her high school team, and has long been a big sports fan in general. She's said that if she weren't a model she would be a sportscaster.
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