About
Kyra Santoro, born Kyra Savannah Santoro on March 22, 1993, in Los Angeles, California, is one of those multi‑hyphenates who refuses to stay inside a single lane. She first grabbed global attention as a swimsuit model in the 2016 Sports Illustrated Model Search, but modeling soon became only one chapter of her creative résumé. Today she balances acting (from Fox’s The Orville to the 2024 indie thriller Model House), music (an R&B‑leaning EP titled 3:23), authorship (the 2023 poetry collection Be Gentle, My Heart Is in Here), and a leadership role with the clean‑skincare start‑up TALOVA, where she serves as Partner and Head of Partnerships & Growth.
Away from cameras, Kyra champions body positivity, ocean conservation, and a generally sun‑chasing lifestyle that feels almost native to her Southern California roots. Now in her early thirties, she continues to add fresh projects to an already eclectic career slate.
Before Fame
Kyra’s “on‑set life” started long before runway fittings. She was the kid who booked local commercials and print ads while juggling competitive dance classes. That early exposure to scripts, spotlights, and 5 a.m. call times helped her build the self‑confidence—and stamina—crucial for fashion shoots later on. In 2012, not long after finishing high school, she earned the title Miss Transworld Surf, an accolade that opened doors with surf and swim labels and introduced her to photographers from Maxim, Men’s Health, and GQ.
Those glossy pages eventually caught the eye of Sports Illustrated’s casting team. Landing in the Swimsuit Issue was a breakout moment; it plugged her into a larger entertainment network, where auditions for TV and film soon followed.
Trivia
- Star Trek roots: Although The Orville is a Seth MacFarlane send‑up of Star Trek, Kyra’s recurring character, Ensign Jenny Turco, required real sci‑fi boot‑camp training—think technobabble rehearsals and hours in prosthetic makeup.
- Ocean badge: Her first magazine cover shoot happened underwater in a cenote near Tulum, Mexico. Kyra calls it the hardest yet most serene assignment she’s ever done.
- Poetic cadence: She hand‑typed every poem in her debut book on a vintage 1960s Smith‑Corona, insisting the “clack” set the pacing for each line.
- Musical numerology: The EP title 3:23 references both her March 22 (3/22) birthday and the minute mark at which, she says, “every song finally clicks in the studio mix.”
- Wellness junkie: As a TALOVA partner she tests every product herself—her current favorite is a kelp‑infused facial mist she keeps in the fridge for post‑workout cool‑downs.
Family Life
Kyra keeps most relatives out of the spotlight, but she often credits her mother—a former dancer turned Pilates instructor—for instilling a love of movement and mindful living. Weekend phone calls with her dad reportedly still end with surf‑report updates, a ritual that harks back to dawn patrol sessions they shared along Malibu’s beaches. Romantic‑life headlines briefly flared in 2016 when she was photographed with actor Taylor Lautner; both later slid back into privacy, and Kyra now jokes that her longest relationship is with her rescue dog, Luna.
Associated With
- Sports Illustrated Swimsuit – appearing alongside icons like Kate Upton in the 2016 issue gave her an instant global fan base.
- Seth MacFarlane – the comedian‑director cast her in The Orville, marking her transition from modeling to scripted television.
- Ryan Murphy Universe – she popped up in a 2024 episode of Murphy’s long‑running drama 9‑1‑1, proving her acting range extends beyond sci‑fi.
- Taylor Lautner – brief dating rumors in 2016 turned her into tabloid fodder, though both moved on quickly and amicably.
- TALOVA founders – Kyra parlayed her social‑media savvy into an equity stake, working closely with the brand’s lab team to champion “ancestral ingredients, modern science” skincare.
