4. Sanoe Lake
“Hey, aren’t you the girl in Blue Crush?” “Yes. And other movies, damn it.” Photo: Shutterstock
Although you may not know her name, you probably know her face. When Quiksilver launched Roxy, they used her visage for their early campaigns. Lake was born on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, where her parents taught her to surf at the age of five. She took the role of Lena in Blue Crush, which was her first tangle with acting.
Extra: After Blue Crush, she was in such chart-toppers as Half-Life, Rolling, and Creature of Darkness. Yeah, I know. I’ve never heard of them either.
5. Paul Walker
“Hi, I can’t act, but look at how good looking I am!” “You’re hired.” Photo: Shutterstock
Let’s be honest here: Paul’s not known for his acting skills. But you know what? He’s owning it. The guy makes bank with terrible, explosion-filled movies, and all he has to really do is furrow his brow and look like he’s not thinking about something else. Apparently, he surfs every day that he’s at home… which must be a lot, if he leaves home to work. But like I said, all the power to him: he’s living the dream.
Extra: He’s been suggested for nomination in the Razzie Award’s Worst Actor category for 2 Fast, 2 Furious, Into the Blue, and Timeline, and didn’t win/lose. You know things are bad when you can’t even win a loss.
6. John Philbin
John Philbin as Turtle. Classic.
Turtle really does rip. John Philbin’s character in the cult classic North Shore was a defining role in surfing movies, but he has also, unbeknownst to pretty much everyone, held almost-starring roles in quite a few well-known films, including Children of the Corn, The Return of the Living Dead, Point Break, and Tombstone. Now, he spends his time teaching surfing and looking for acting work, which probably sounds like a pretty familiar story to about half of the Los Angeles community.
Extra: A strange twist of surf movie fate: Philbin had roles in North Shore as Turtle and Nathaniel in Point Break, while Gary Busey played both The Masochist in Big Wednesday and Angelo Pappas in Point Break. This means The Masochist killed Turtle. What a weird world we live in.
7. Jolene Blalock
T’Pol: Face it, aliens can be super hot.
Who’s that, you say? She’s that sexy Vulcan on Star Trek: Enterprise. No, not Spock, the other one. No one has made pointy ears sexier, except maybe Arwen from Lord of the Rings – and she was half elf, so that’s not fair. Born and raised in San Diego, Blalock left home when she turned sixteen to pursue a career in modeling. “Surfing is such an amazing concept,” she said. “You’re taking on nature with a little stick and saying, ‘I’m going to ride you!’”
Extra: She’s married to Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation. He just sold somewhere in the neighborhood of $12 million dollars worth of shares, resulting in a Forbes review. Not to toot our own horn, but we were on Forbes… toot toot. So that means we pretty much know a real-life Vulcan. Like I said, what a weird world we live in.
