Travis Fimmel was born in Australia on July 15, 1979 to parents Chris and Jenny.Raised with two older brothers on their dairy farm, located 40km outside of Echuca, Victoria, Travis spent much of his youth fishing, camping, and riding motorbikes. His mother Jenny, described him as a having "an adventurous spirit". He was a "small, little guy", and was quite reluctant to dress up or wear shoes. Hence, the nickname Rangi (a cartoon character in Footrot Flats) handed down to him by his brothers.

-THE EARLY YEARS: Growing up in Australia, College Football, Chadwick Modeling Agency-

While most his childhood was spent on his parents' dairy farm, at 17, Travis moved on to Melbourne to play football and at 18 he began studying project management at RMIT University.

An accident resulting in a broken leg ended Travis' dreams of a professional football career. But in 1998, while working out in a gym in Melbourne, Travis was discovered by Matthew Anderson from Chadwick Model Management. With a great deal of reluctance and embarrassment, Travis signed on for some small jobs with the agency.

Back at RMIT, the courses were a mixture of architecture, commerce, and engineering, but Travis felt he'd learn more by traveling.

-WANDERLUST: European Adventure, Thailand, Nicole Appleton-

He dropped out, packed up and set off for Europe and Thailand for two and a half years of exploring and finally settled down in London.

A regular on the nightclub scene, Travis worked in a pub, "hosted" wealthy tourists and helped organize their social lives on the party circuit. He dated All-Saints singer, Nicole Appleton for a short while, then the wander lust hit him again and he left London for a visit to the United States that would soon make him a superstar among the male modeling elite.

-THE DEAL: Signing up with LA Models and the modeling deal of the decade-

The events that led up to Travis being signed with LA Models have become pretty much common knowledge. His first night in Los Angeles was spent carousing at a local nightclub where he spent the last of his $60 on drinks and in the morning, a cab ride over to the LA Models offices. Model booker, Paul Nelson gave Travis the once-over and signed him on the spot. "He had a beautiful face, a very funny personality- it all clicked," Nelson says.

The agency set Travis up with a place to stay and money to start a new life, and very soon, the jobs started rolling in. He did print ads with L'Oreal, and Gap, and appeared in numerous fashion magazine editorials. Cast as an extra in Janet Jackson's "Someone to be My Lover" and Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" music videos, Travis describes both experiences as being "cheesy".

A new opportunity turned up for Travis when information started making the rounds about an upcoming Calvin Klein campaign. When approached by his agents about submitting his composite card Travis immediately balked at the idea of modeling underwear.

Thankfully for us, the agents sent along those pictures anyway and Travis was included in a group of young men to meet with Calvin and his creative team in New York. After introductions and a brief interview, all the attendees were asked to leave, except Travis, and the rest is history.

- PHOTOSHOOTS: The Inside Look-

Travis was immediately signed to an exclusive contract to promote CK fragrances, body wear and jeans with what was rumored to be a six-figure payout. The shooting for the "infamous" underwear campaign with Stephen Klein was first up.

Shot entirely in classic black and white, these series of pictures would firmly set Travis in the spotlight and cause no small amount of controversy.

Sporting nothing more than a leather thong about his neck and a pair of "well-packed" shorter-than-short briefs, Travis? image turned up in men and women's fashion magazines the world over.

Huge billboards in Great Britain and the United States' major cities caused a stir among the general public and in London, quite a few fender benders. The billboard at the intersection of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street was taken down by officials citing "road safety" reasons.

Many chalked it up to heavy criticism that the entire underwear-ad campaign was "indecent, sexually suggestive, and demeaning". Travis took it all in stride with his own brand of non-fussiness.

- MINDSPEAK: Travis and his thoughts on modeling-

"Who gives a sh*t, man? It's funny. People get over it. It's just a joke to me."

And that really is Travis' whole philosophy when it comes down to the subject of modeling and the business that revolves around it.

"Who'd want to do it? It's boring. I'm definitely doing it for the money. Modeling is a joke. The people I work with are pretty funny. They worry about the wrong things. Be yourself. Wear what you want to wear. I'm just an Australian guy in the wrong place at the right time."

-IT'S ALL ABOUT THE IMAGE-

But with all the controversy and exposure given to him because of those revealing CK ads has afforded Travis a lot of time spent in the limelight whether he likes it or not.

He's been named one of the World's Sexiest Bachelors by People Magazine, and Calvin Klein recently launched a new "Crave" fragrance campaign that was reportedly built around him.

Provocative commercials featuring those patented low slung Calvins and a wildly gyrating Travis have become popular main stays on national television stations as well as the official online site.

But regardless of all the hoopla that surrounds him, Travis seems content to remain the low-key, fun-loving Aussie at heart.

Much of the money he received from the exclusive CK contract was sent back to his parents in Australia. He likes to spend his downtime at his home in the Hollywood Hills channel surfing the big-screen TV's, swimming in his pool, cruising about in his 1985 Ford Bronco, or catching a few of the motorbike races in Pasadena..

TARZAN

Despite gaining fame for his shapely bod, Travis hasn't given up on his original goal of acting. He takes the profession seriously and has been taking drama lessons for some time. "People take years learning how to act. It's a skill, not just a job… It's not the kind of thing you can get into just because of your looks," he says. The model's perseverance has paid off – after beating hundreds who tested for the part, he's set to star in the title role of Tarzan in an autumn 2003 US TV series.

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