Early life

De la Huerta was raised by her mother, along with her older sister, Rafaela de la Paz (born November 5, 1981), in the New York City neighborhood of SoHo, located in the Lower Manhattan area. Her parents are Íñigo de la Huerta y Ozores, the Spanish XVII Duke of Mandas and Villanueva, (born November 17, 1944, in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) and Judith Bruce (born October 23, 1946, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States). De la Huerta was born with recurrent cystic hygroma under her arm, which she has had treated with multiple surgeries. Her mother worked as an authority on birth control and women's issues in Third World countries. She attended private Saint Ann's School in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, with fellow student and future fashion designer, Zac Posen, for whom she has since modeled. She also attended the performing arts camp Buck's Rock. De la Huerta spent summers with her father in Spain while attending high school.

Career

De la Huerta began modeling in her adolescence and became a runway model before transitioning into film. She made her film debut with a small role in the 1998 romantic comedy The Object of My Affection, and then appeared opposite Michael Caine and Charlize Theron in The Cider House Rules (1999).

In 2002, she appeared opposite Shane West and Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember (2002), based on Nicholas Sparks' novel. De la Huerta played roles in several independent films throughout the 2000s, and landed a role in Choke (2008), based on Chuck Palahniuk's popular novel. In 2010, De la Huerta landed a regular role on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, produced by Martin Scorsese, opposite Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt. She posed nude for the January/February 2013 issue of Playboy, and appeared on the front cover.

In 2014, filming in Las Vegas completed for the movie Death in the Desert, with de la Huerta as Margo and directed by Josh Evans. Shayla Beesley played casino mogul Ted Binion's live-in girlfriend (named Kim in the film), alongside co-star Michael Madsen, who played Binion (renamed Ray for the film). The movie was inspired by the book Death in the Desert by Cathy Scott with the screenplay by John Steppling.

Personal life

De la Huerta lived with her mother and sister in New York City until her mid-twenties, when she moved into an apartment in the Tribeca neighborhood, later moving to a lower Manhattan apartment adjacent to her mother's. Her first boyfriend was Donald Cumming, frontman of The Virgins, whom she dated when she was 17. She has also dated Jack Nicholson (allegedly), Scott Weiland and Orlando Bloom.

In April 2011, she was sued by MTV reality show actress Samantha Swetra after she allegedly hit the actress in the face, before throwing a glass at her that shattered and cut her leg She was also arrested, criminally charged with assault, issued a desk appearance ticket, and released for the same incident.

Filmography

[ Source: Wikipedia ]