Irina Pantaeva was born 12 October 1972 in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia, Siberia, Soviet Union. She is 6 ft (1.83 m) tall and is ethnically Buryat. Irina is currently a supermodel and an actress (appearing in such movies as Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Celebrity, Zoolander and People I Know as well as the TV show 3rd Rock from the Sun playing "Gabriella", and onstage in the off-Broadway play Jewtopia).
Irina met her current husband, Latvian photographer Roland Levin (b. 1957) in 1988, when she was just 16-years old, long before she became known as an international supermodel.