eauties like Joanna Krupa don't come around all that often. Drop the photograph at left into a 1959 issue of playboy and she would fit in perfectly. The shot at right? That's 2009 all the way. She is a beauty for the ages, with a firm and elegant body that is almost inhuman in its perfection. In the words of Hemingway, she was built with curves like the hull of a racing yacht.
Even rarer still, Joanna has versatile talents to match. She's a TV and movie actor, a dancer and a world-class model. With her "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" PETA campaign, she is an activist as well. It seems
as if the only thing missing from her resume is NASA engineer.
Born in Warsaw and raised in Chicago, she started out as a model in the late 1990s before moving on to acting. She is probably best known for her role on ABC's Dancing With the Stars. The competition is furious; this season's cast started with ex-Dallas Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin, former Ultimate Fighting champ Chuck Liddell, former supermodel Kathy Ireland and 11-time Olympic swimming medalist Natalie Coughlin, among others. But after week one, Joanna was leading the pack.
"I was over the moon," she says of that experience. But the show is a grind. "We have only four to five days to learn the next dance," she says. And then it's live on nationwide television. As of playboy's press time, she was still going strong. "Whatever happens on the show, I just want to leave with a positive attitude, because it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Joanna's film credits include Planet of the Apes and Ripple Effect, and she has appeared on television programs as varied as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and The Man Show. While we adore her effortless on-screen magnetism, here's what we love most about Joanna: She's a fighter, and she's afraid of nothing. She has called out Paris Hilton for being a brat, P. Diddy for wearing fur and Warren Sapp for being a Michael Vick apologist. Most famously, she publicly criticized gridiron hot dog Terrell Owens for being a lousy teammate when the two paired together on The Superstars, last summer's reality show that teamed pro athletes with celebrities.
"He was all about himself, which was uncool," she says flatly. "I spoke my mind. Afterward people said to me, 'So many of his old teammates and coaches would love to have said what you said.'"
As for this shoot, it's Joanna's second appearance in playboy. (Her first was in July 2005, and we're still getting letters from readers who loved that pictorial.) The studio shots were inspired by her idol, French actress Brigitte Bardot, who like Miss Krupa was an exemplar of style and a devoted animal-rights activist. "Nobody can replicate her," says Joanna, "but she was the inspiration. Hopefully I'll get to bump into her in St.-Tropez one day and tell her what a big fan I am."
In person Joanna is charming, with a disarming smile and a certain indefinable charisma. These photos capture both sides of her. "My friend told me once, 'You're like an egg,'" Joanna says. "You're hard on the outside, a tough chick, but you're soft in the middle." Yes, we know what you're thinking. You'd like her served sunny-side up. Simply delicious.