Date of Birth : Aug 10th 1982
Aoki was born in New York City, and grew up in California and London, attending high school at The American School in London. Her Japanese American father, Rocky Aoki, a former Olympic wrestler, was the founder and owner of the Benihana restaurant chain until his death on July 10, 2008. Her mother, Pamela Hilburger, is a jewelry designer of German and English heritage.
Aoki was discovered in New York at a Rancid concert she had gatecrashed. She started modeling when she was 13, the same year Aoki was introduced by her godmother to Kate Moss, who would later take the young Devon under her wing. Moss pushed for Aoki to be signed, and she was signed onto Storm Model Management at age 14.
In 1998, at the age of 16, Devon replaced Naomi Campbell as the face of Versace. An A-grade student at school, Devon chose not to go on to college, believing that working and traveling offered her a “broader and deeper education” than a degree.
Aoki has modeled for the fashion houses Lancôme, Chanel, and Versace. Aoki is 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) an almost unheard of height for runway models, who are usually at least 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) height.
Aoki has done ad campaigns for Chanel Ready to Wear, Chanel Couture by Karl Lagerfeld, Versace by Steven Meisel, YSL by Juergen Teller, Alessandro Del Aqua, Hugo Boss, Moschino, Ungaro, Fendi, Junko Shimada by Bettina Kimenda and Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons.
Early on in her career Aoki made cameo appearances in several music videos, including Duran Duran’s “Electric Barbarella”, Primal Scream’s “Kowalski” (with Kate Moss), Elton John’s “Something About the Way You Look Tonight”, Ginuwine’s “In Those Jeans” video and, later, in Ludacris’ “Act a Fool”. Music from this video was featured in the soundtrack of 2 Fast 2 Furious, which Ludacris and Aoki both appeared in. In 2006, she made an appearance in The Killers’ video “Bones”. Aoki has also made a cameo appearance in the short films accompanying the new Sean Lennon album, Friendly Fire.
Her acting career includes films like 2 Fast 2 Furious, D.E.B.S., Sin City, Dead or Alive and War. She did not have her driver’s license prior to filming 2 Fast 2 Furious and had to learn to drive during filming.
Aoki has a role in the 2008 film Mutant Chronicles.
CAREER
Mutant Chronicles ( 2008 )
War ( 2007 )
DOA: Dead Or Alive ( 2006 )
Sin City ( 2005 )
D.E.B.S ( 2004 )
2 Fast 2 Furious ( 2003 )