Laetitia was born in Pont-Audemer, Eure, France. Casta's mother, Line Blin, is from Normandy. Her father, Dominique Casta, is from Corsica. She has an older brother, Jean-Baptiste, and a younger sister, Marie-Ange. She spent her childhood in Normandy and Corsica. On October 19, 2001, she gave birth to her eldest daughter, Sahteene Sednaoui. Laetitia has also two other children: Orlando Accorsi, born on September 21, 2006, and Athenà Accorsi, born on August 29, 2009.
At the Ondine's age, she was discovered by the photographer Frederic Cresseaux and an agent of
Madison Models while building sand castles with her sister on the beach of the Marine of Sant'Ambrogio in Corsica. After her father agreed to let the agency take some test photographs, her unmistakable potential was recognized by the founder of
Madison Models - despite the fact that the shoot occurred without the aid of makeup and a designer wardroom which many models rely on to promote themselves. Within weeks of her first shoots, she was walking the runway for Jean-Paul Gaultier. However, her career began to take off when Odile Sarron, the casting director of the French edition of
Elle, saw and was impressed with Laetitia's Beauty. Modeling contracts ensued and in 1993 Laetitia signed on with
Guess? Jeans for a very successful advertising campaign.
She was contracted with
Victoria's Secret in 1996, gracing many covers of the catalog as one of the Angels, the name attributed to the other four models of the company.
In 1997 Casta joined fellow models by appearing in the popular
Sports Illustrated swimwear edition for a consecutive three years. A year later she was honoured by
Rolling Stone. They named her Hottest Model of the Year, and placed a nude Casta on the cover of their 'Hot' issue. In a short period of time Laetitia became one of the most popular new models. Laetitia ranked second in
Maxim Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful Women" issue. She made her big screen debut in a French film,
Asterix et Obelix by Claude Zidi with co-star Gerard Depardieu. She appeared in the controversial Chris Isaak video for "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing", shot by Herb Ritts.
In addition to
Rolling Stone, Casta has adorned the pages of many other magazines, including
Glamour;
Vogue; and
Cosmopolitan. In 1998, she became spokesperson for cosmetics company
L'Oréal Paris. Since 1998 Casta's public outfits have all been personal Yves Saint Laurent creations.
Her appearance in the exclusive
Pirelli calendar, considered a collector's item because it consists of beautiful shots taken by the most prestigious photographers, is considered one of Casta's accomplishments. In the 1999 issue, themed "Women Through the Decades", Casta is featured as representative of the 1950's woman.
Laetitia became a French national obsession in 1999 when she was elected by the French mayors to be the representation of Marianne's effigy, the French Republic symbol.
Time magazine has named her one of the top-ten most-influential people of the year. She's appeared on hundreds of covers of major magazines including
Glamour,
Vogue,
Elle,
Marie-Claire,
Cosmopolitan,
I-D,
Zoo magazine,
Stiletto, etc. She has been featured everywhere...including
Guess? Jeans ads, the
Victoria's Secret catalog,
H&M lingerie, in
Sports Illustrated swimsuit editions,
Louis Vuitton,
Roberto Cavalli,
Tiffany & Co,
X.O.X.O,
Chanel,
Bulgarie,
Ralf Lauren, the very exclusive
Pirelli calendar (3 times), and as a spokeswoman for
L'Oréal Paris.
In 2012 Laetitia is nominated Knight in Order of Arts and of Letters.
Laetitia can look forward to a bright future as an accomplished actress thanks to her nomination for the César Award for Best Supporting Actress in Joann Sfar's movie
Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque) for her role of Brigitte Bardot, the Golden Swann of the Best Actress in Cabourg Film Festival for her role of Catherine in
Born in '68 by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, her role of Salome in
Visage by Tsai Ming Liang and her interpretation in theatre Antoine of
Ondine.