Before Gilles Marini brought Sex to the City, he was popping up all over the place in editorial layouts and advertising campaigns. Here, the French-Italian model-actor put his best pec forward as the face of heart health in a February 2004 layout in Let's Live, a health magazine carried by GNC stores.

As a magazine art director, I've had the chance to work with talent ranging from desperate housewife Eva Longoria and Charlie's angel Cheryl Ladd to once-unknown model-actors such as Gilles (pronounced JHEEL, as my colleague recently reminded me). He was easily one of the friendliest people I've ever worked with.

When he visited our offices during casting for this shoot, he was humble and good-humored--a bit of a surprise, given the sometimes self-important and unamused looks models are forced to project in their catalog and ad work. Ironically, he was even a bit embarrassed when my colleague and I flipped past "artsy" shots of his backside in his modeling book. Downright approachable and engaging, he exuded a down-to-earth likeability and a zest for life that made him the clear choice for our shoot.

He didn't disappoint. Photographer Laura Doss (www.LauraDoss.com), who helped conceptualize this spread's fun opener, captured his charm in these images shot at a terrific beach house in Malibu. In the Polaroid outtakes above and left, Gilles poked fun of the "model pout" and spoofed his inner Italian. In between shots, he and his thick accent amused crew as he spoke fondly of his wife and son.

We hope Gilles made gondola-loads of money showing his, um, manicotti in Sex and the City: The Movie. Though we must admit we're a bit surprised by his recent exposure. He told us he was asked to pose nude during a fashion shoot in Europe a few years back. "When the photographer turned to reload his camera," the modest model said, "I ran for my life!"