Antoinette Kalaj

Antoinette Kalaj was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, the eldest of four children to Albanian immigrant parents. At 11 years old, her dad's construction business moved the family to Detroit, Michigan, where she first discovered her passion for performing. She was classically trained in Opera, and also has a strong passion for music. Antoinette began modeling as a teen before starting college in the studies of law and medicine. She landed her first modeling campaign at the age of 17 for "The Limited" Clothing brand and numerous campaigns followed. With her love of acting, and performing tugging at her heartstrings, Kalaj soon traded higher education in favor of pursuing her dreams of becoming an actress. When enticing film incentives started in Michigan, she scored the lead in a big budget Sci-Fi thriller. She also became both a skilled marksman and proficient in Krav Maga self-defense, which she mastered in seven months while training with The Detroit SWAT team to prepare for the lead role. Although the production shut down because of the film incentives being cut. Kalaj was hooked and continued her training in Martial Arts and Acting and made her way to Los Angeles. In addition to her thriving acting career, Kalaj had an affinity for custom cars. As a previous owner of Auto Body Customs Shops in Detroit. She spent countless hours modifying cars for players from the Detroit Pistons, Detroit Lions and other local celebrities. Some of her designs have been profiled in the esteemed DUB Shows and Auto Shows across the US. Antoinette's role as a mermaid in "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides", essentially got her noticed by talent management company Innovative Artists and upon signing with them, she then moved to L.A. permanently in February 2012 to pursue acting full time. She quickly booked her first acting role in Los Angeles for the hit CW show, "Gossip Girl" as a co-star alongside Elizabeth Hurley, Chace Crawford and Blake Lively. Soon after she booked national commercials for M&M's, Carl's Jr., Progressive, WSOP, Miller Lite, and many more. She has also booked national Modeling campaigns for Gillette, Coors Light, Crocs, Sports Illustrated for Dodge Laramie, Bare Minerals, Carl's Jr., and Ray Ban, to name a few. In 2013, she landed her next role in the highly anticipated film "Don Jon" with Joseph Gordon Levitt and "Riddick" starring Vin Diesel. In 2014, Kalaj played the lead alongside Billy Zane in the Indie-Film "Mining for Ruby", and then landed an action packed role in "Ninja Apocalypse", in which she performed the majority of her own stunts. Not long after, she booked the lead in the Indie-Film La Migra alongside Michael Copon, and Marco Rodriguez. Antoinette's latest projects include the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2" starring Megan Fox and Tyler Perry, and "Chronically Metropolitan" starring Shiloh Fernandez, Ashley Benson, and Chris Noth.