Tyra Banks started acting at age 15.
Tyra Banks . Born in Inglewood , California , she began her career as a model at age 15 , and was the first African American woman to be featured on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue , on which she appeared twice . Banks began acting on television in 1993 on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air , and made her film debut in Higher Learning in 1995 .