Laetitia Maria Laure Casta was born on May 11, 1978 in Port-Audemer in Normandy, France. Her childhood was spent in Normandy's countryside- playing in the rivers and the woods with her older brother. Back then, she was such a tomboy that she was often mistaken for a little boy.

When she was fifteen, Laetitia was discovered while vacationing with her family on a beach in Corsica. She was making sand castles with her little sister when a photographer for Madison Models approached her. He handed her father a business card and an invitation to bring his daughter to Paris for some test shots. Suspicious at first, her parents eventually caved [1] to Laetitia's pleas.

Within weeks of her first shoot, she was walking the runway for Jean Paul Gaultier. Having never worn make-up [2], she screamed when she caught her reflection in the mirror. But anyway, by the time of sixteen, she had landed three magazine covers.

Until she turned 21, Laetitia lived at home with her parents. Now she shares an apartment in London with her older brother, Jean-Baptiste. Her favorite activities include painting, writing, going to the cinema, go-carting [3] with her brother and dancing to disco music. Proving not to be just a pretty face, Laetitia holds a brown belt [4] in Judo.