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Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini, best known as a model and actor, is the daughter of famous actor Ingrid Bergman and film director Roberto Rossellini. Isabella, who is Swedish on her mother's side and Italian on her father's, has a multicultural family. A year after ending her three-year-long marriage to filmmaker Martin Scorsese in 1982, Isabella married an American model-turned-Microsoft executive named Jon Wiedemann, welcoming their daughter, Elettra-Ingrid Rossellini Wiedemann, that very same year.
Calling it quits with Wiedemann in 1986, Isabella went on to raise Elettra as a single mother. In the year 1993, she adopted her son, naming him Roberto Rosellini after her father. Elettra and Roberto are now 40 and 30 years old, respectively. The two have grown up to be just as gorgeous as their mother and grandmother and are seemingly content with their lives. Here are some facts you may not know about Elettra and Roberto.
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Elettra Modeled For Brands Like Abercrombie & Fitch And Lancome
In 2003, back when Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann was around 20 years old, she was approached by famous fashion photographer Bruce Weber to model for an Abercrombie & Fitch campaign. Weber, who is best known for his work with brands like Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Gianni Versace and magazines like Vogue, GQ, and Rolling Stone, was the one who helped Elettra's parents get acquainted with each other. In an interview with British Vogue, Elettra revealed, "Bruce knew my mum, and he saw a picture of me and asked if I would like to model for the Abercrombie & Fitch campaign. I had never done anything like that before, but there was a whole group of us, so it made things a lot easier."
Elettra soon became a known face in the modeling industry, garnering fame for her work for fashion brands like Alberta Ferretti, Diane von Furstenberg, and Bill Blass, as well as magazines like American Vogue, Teen Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar. The year 2006 saw Elettra with her popularity at its peak. That year, the thriving model was hired as the spokesmodel for Lancome, the same world-renowned perfume and cosmetic-producing company Elettra's mother served as a spokesmodel from 1982 to 1996. By 2010, she had modeled for Lancome's Blanc Expert, Hydra Zen Neurocalm, the perfume Trésor in Love, and two other cosmetic collections.
After Getting A Master's Degree In Biomedicine, Elettra Left Modeling To Develop A Farm
In 2010, Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann got her Master's Degree in Biomedicine from The London School of Economics and Political Science. Soon after finishing her education, she decided to end her modeling career and opted for a simpler life at Mama Farm, a Brookhaven, New York farm Isabella Rossellini founded in 2013. Since 2019, Elettra has been working at the farm as its Executive Director. As its official webpage notes, Mama Farm is "a vibrant place for us and our members to share knowledge and inspire one another toward the common goal of preservation and rejuvenation of mother earth."
Speaking to Goop about her choice to leave her career in the modeling industry, Elettra noted, "There was a lot of pressure around self-promotion in the fashion world, and I really wrestled with that." However, the former model is, at this point, quite happy with her life at the farm. "My responsibilities in helping develop the farm and its role within the community have given me a new challenge to contend with. It's been a real gift," she said. Mama Farm is where Elettra and her family, including Isabella, are currently living.
Elettra Shares Two Sons With Caleb Lane
Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann tied the knot with restaurateur James Marshall in 2012 and ended the marriage in 2015. In September 2015, the same month reports of their divorce emerged, Elettra was spotted living under the same roof with actor and musician Caleb Lane, best known for playing Rhys Matthews in two 2015 episodes of "Pretty Little Liars." Elettra and Lane had crossed paths long ago and acted in a Lancome television advertisement back in 2010.
Elettra and Lane soon became a power couple, welcoming their first son, Ronin Hendrick, in 2018 and their second (and so far their last) son, Viggo River, in 2021. Finally, in June 2023, the duo tied the knot in Brooklyn's City Hall. Elettra announced the news on Instagram, writing in the caption, "After eight years, two babies, building a home together, running a business together, lots of adventures, some [angry emoji], & always lots of [heart emojis], we decided to make it official."
Elettra Found New Passion With Food
Like many of us, Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann has always been a foodie. However, her passion for food came to the limelight for the first time during September 2011's New York Fashion Week. At the time, she launched a four-day pop-up restaurant called Goodness for everyone present at the event. Each day, a new chef from a renowned eatery was hired to be in charge, and the menu had two sections — Goodness (featuring healthy food items) and Goodness with a hint of Badness (featuring less-healthy items). In 2013, Elettra even hosted a YouTube cooking show for Vogue titled "Elettra's Goodness."
In 2017, Elettra published a cookbook titled "Impatient Foodie," which, according to its cover, features "100 Delicious Recipes for a Hectic, Time-Starved World." The cookbook includes all sorts of recipes — from vegan and vegetarian dishes to meals meant for meat lovers. All the recipes in the book are easy to replicate and take very little time to whip up. As Elettra told Haute Living, "I think cooking has become one of two extremes: Either overly complicated or too rudimentary." Hence, her cookbook aims "to re-engage [...] those who want to figure out how to reconcile the Slow Food movement with fast-paced urban life (and limitations thereof — kitchen space, accessibility, etc.)."
Roberto Has Found Success Both Behind And In Front Of The Camera
As a star kid, Roberto Rossellini Jr. was no stranger to cameras. In fact, cameras are something he's extremely passionate about. He even dropped out of Stony Brook University to pursue a degree in underwater cinematography at New York's International Center of Photography. Even today, years after he started a career in modeling and found success, Roberto hasn't turned his back on his love for photography.
That said, he's just as dedicated to his work in front of the camera as he is to his work behind one. Despite being part of a famous family, Roberto was actually discovered on the streets of New York City. As he revealed to Coveteur, "It started with me randomly getting scouted in New York City by a photographer, and she wanted me to model for L'Officiel Italia." By June 2016, Roberto had signed a contract with Ford Models after being encouraged by his mother to start a proper career in modeling. Big-name brands he has worked with include Dolce & Gabbana and Michael Kors.
Roberto Shares A Close Bond With Nature And Animals
Roberto Rossellini Jr. and Isabella Rossellini moved to their farm in Brookhaven when Roberto was a kid. The decision was made after Roberto opened up to his mother about the challenges he was facing in adjusting to his life in New York City. Although Roberto moved back to NYC shortly after he graduated high school, leaving behind his life on the farm, he never really shrugged his roots off.
In an interview with Oliver Peoples, Roberto explained how being raised on a farm helped him connect to nature and share a deep bond with animals as well. As he put it, living on the farm "taught me a lot about self-sufficiency and how we as human beings are not detached but an essential part of nature." Much like his famous mother and sister, Roberto prefers a modest way of living amidst greenery — accompanied by his furry friends. "I still take great pleasure in the simpler lifestyle when I'm [at the farm], and when in New York, I can't wait to be around animals again and feel that connection with nature," he said.
Roberto Co-Founded A Clothing Brand That Donates To An Animal Charity
In 2015, Roberto Rossellini Jr. and filmmaker Kirsten Tanjutco founded a clothing brand named CTRL+ (Control Plus). The title is not only unique, but it also has a meaning to it. As the brand's official website explains, "Major companies often 'Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V' (copy and paste) existing concepts rather than creating original ideas. We decided to use the computer language of 'CTRL+' to distinguish our brand's mission of originality." The brand sells a variety of items, including action figures, NFTs, and, of course, clothes. However, their mission isn't limited to promoting originality.
Roberto shares a dog named Nocciola with Tanjucto, who goes by Kai Marie on Instagram and is now Roberto's fiancée. The couple's love for Nocciola is unmatchable and the main reason behind their brand's collaboration with Korean K9 Rescue, a dog rescue organization with its headquarters situated in New York City and South Korea. In an effort to help the non-profit save more dogs and hand them over to loving families, CTRL+ donates precisely 10% of its sales to the organization, proving that humanity continues to exist.
Roberto May Follow In His Mother's Footsteps
Roberto Rossellini Jr. is clearly a man with many talents. He currently looks forward to landing acting jobs, though he'd prefer shorter parts to get started. When asked if he'd carry on his mother's — and grandmother's — legacy and choose acting as a profession, Roberto told Cultured Magazine, "It's been on my mind a bit recently. A small part or a smaller role is something I'd definitely do. But a main role is still a little intimidating."
However, unlike Roberto, his sister, Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann, doesn't really want to act in movies. In fact, she never did. In a 2009 interview with Mail Online, Elettra politely yet frankly explained why she never saw acting as a career option, saying, "I think it's something you have to have a super-passion for, and I don't. I love cinema, but I don't want to act in it. I went on film sets with my mother as a child, and there was so much waiting around ..."
With all that said, we're sure that thousands among Roberto's 42,000-plus Instagram followers would love to see him act — be it on the big screen or television. Needless to say, so would we.
Read the original article on Nicki Swift.
