Ella Thomas is fearless.

In fact, the real-life supermodel and actress takes on "The Storm" in an upcoming NBC two-part series that premieres July 26.

Moviegoers can also see the statuesque beauty portraying a robot opposite Bruce Willis on the big screen in director Jonathan Mostow’s new Sci-Fi movie "Surrogates" opening September 25.

A rising young star in Hollywood, Thomas was born to an Eritrean mother and an American Air Force Officer.  She grew up in Germany but moved to the United States as a teenager.

"I’ve been extremely fortunate," she says, reflecting on her quick ascension through the Hollywood ranks.

In addition to movie roles, Thomas has guest starred opposite Sean Combs on the hit CBS show "CSI Miami" and played the role of Viveca, a model who attempts to seduce Vince (played by Adrien Grenier), on the HBO hit "Entourage".

During a recent phone interview, Thomas found herself waxing philosophical about her career, technology in today’s society and the future of mankind.

 "['The Storm'] raises the question: ‘How far are we willing to push technology,’" Thomas says. "How far will we go before we lose our humanity? What will be the fallout from our tampering with nature?"

Thomas stars alongside James Van Der Beek and Luke Perry in the "The Storm," which is part of "Survival Sundays" on NBC, a three feature drama series focusing on disasters that could possibly lead up to the end of the world as we know it.

She plays Anna Roberts, a newly single New York City bartender that must reunite with her ex-boyfriend to save her best-friend, who is trapped outside when a massive storm hits the city.

According to Thomas, the three-month long shoot was the first time she had an opportunity to be involved on a day-to-day level for an entire movie production. During the physically exhausting shoot, the former Vogue and InStyle magazine model, did almost all her own stunts.

Thomas also got to work closely with director Bradford May, who allowed her to offer input into developing her character.

"He was just so kind and generous," Thomas says of  the director.

As a former biology major, Thomas also found herself right at home dealing with the movie’s themes of science, nature and technology.

"There’s a butterfly effect," she says about humans tampering with nature. "There are exponential consequences to our actions."

According to RHI Entertainment, "The Storm" plot revolves around a billionaire named Robert Terrell (played by Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Treat Williams) who fulfills a lifelong obsession and makes history with "weather creation" technology though his Atmospheric Research Institute.

But during a test run, a blast of energy is sent into the ionosphere with unexpected results. The experiments hurtle the planet towards destruction — hurricanes change course, winds go instantly from hot to cold, torrential rains bring regions to a standstill, and buildings crumble into ruins under explosive lightning storms.

Speaking about the movie’s themes, Thomas says: "Our human nature is to push thing’s to the brink… to push to make thing’s better. However, that raises the question of morality? Does the ends justify the means?"

An accomplished model in real-life, Thomas has appeared in ads for Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Dodge, GAP and Tiffany & Co. and graced the pages and covers of such top tier fashion magazines as Greek Marie Claire, Elle, Glamour, Vogue and Mademoiselle.

The surprisingly witty Thomas says that she "never set out to be a supermodel."  In fact, it was just pure luck that she ended up working as a model.

"Most of us just kind of fall into things," she recalls. "I was tall so people would tell me I should play basketball or run track, both of which I did. But the other thing was to be a model."

As luck would have it, a friend on the high school track team eventually helped her enter into the world of modeling.

Born in the little town of Kindsbach, Germany, Thomas says she moved with her family to the United States when she was fifteen. Her mother worked four jobs so that she could attend a private school.

But as Thomas puts it, her modeling work was a way to repay her mother’s support and help put her sister through private school.

"Modeling was a means to an end," says Thomas, who speaks German, as well as several other foreign languages picked up during her travels.

She also says that working as a model helped to build her confidence and develop the fortitude needed to work in film and television.

"You learn to do the work without compromising yourself or your ideals," she says. "It’s such a subjective business… you can’t take it personally…. I find going into an audition now is a cake walk compared to modeling. You’re either going to be right or your not."

Thomas added that in many ways modeling and acting are similar in that it isn’t just about "being the best" because it’s about "so many thing’s other than just talent."

She points out that sometimes it’s something as seemingly random as having the right eye color, hairstyle, height, or just the person’s energy and overall look.

"It’s just something you can’t learn in class or prepare for," Thomas says. "In athletics there are specific measurements for success. But [with modeling or acting] there’s no real measurement of success other than that you’re as good as your last booking. For me a good measure is to ask myself:  ‘Are you happy with what you’re doing?’ and ‘Did you do your best?’"

A firm believer in living life with a positive attitude of gratitude, Thomas admits her friends sometimes call her a "Pollyanna" because of her rose-colored glasses perspective.

According to Thomas, her rosy outlook developed from watching her mother, who worked hard to take care of her family, never smoked or drank, but was taken by cancer.

"My baseline is that if everyone around me is healthy and no one is sick or dying then it’s a good day," she says. "[Working in Hollywood] is a bonus. It’s a remarkable bonus."

Thomas scored her first big break in show business when she met Brenda Hampton, creator of the TV series "7th Heaven," while volunteering at Child Help, a charity helping meet the physical, emotional, educational and spiritual needs of abused, neglected and at-risk children.

As it turned out, Hampton was not only amazed by Thomas’ stunning looks but also her heart.

Thomas soon found herself being cast on “7th Heaven” as an angel who comes back to earth to thank a family for adopting her young children after she had died.

However, the one person Thomas says she wishes she could share her success with is her mother.

"She taught us to be fearless," Thomas recalls. "She raised us to hold our heads high. No one can dictate what we can or can’t do."

With that fearless mindset, Thomas believes that we are all responsible for setting our own benchmarks for success.

"Every time I book something I’ve already beat the odds," she says. "My first hurdle is just to try."

Ultimately, Thomas felt that "commitment" to the process is one of the biggest keys to her success.

And while most Hollywood stars might feel a sense of entitlement once they’ve reached a certain status, Thomas likes to point out that it’s that "sense of entitlement in any form" that sometimes can be detrimental to the process.

"It’s like when you are trying to get from point A to Z without understanding its A-B-C-D…" she says. "We have to all follow that path of growth."

A "Sci-Fi geek," Thomas says she grew up watching "Friday Night Creature Feature" movies in Germany and would stay up late watching movies like "Alien" and director John Carpenter’s Sci-Fi / Horror classic "The Thing" starring Kurt Russell.

"I love horror movies," she says. "I even watched ‘Tentacles‘ with the subtitles."

Although most stars would never admit to some of their early movie roles, Thomas proudly proclaims she did in fact work on a horror movie, in which she portrays a "prostitute alien that dies."

Of course, when the opportunity to work with a mega-star like Willis and acclaimed director Mostow on the big-budgeted "Surrogates" came up, she couldn’t resist.

"I was so excited," she recalls. "It was my first feature. I found myself thinking, ‘You want me? You’re going to pick me up and fly me? Thanks!"

Thomas also says that working on both "Surrogates" and "The Storm" was a bit "intimidating" because of all the massive sets and rows of star wagons, makeup trailers and equipment trucks.

"It’s not that I was ‘intimidated’ in the sense that I couldn’t do the work," she says, "But rather, the sheer enormity [of the two movie projects]."

In fact, Thomas gleefully laughs and mentions being happy just to be part of it all when asked about her experience on the set. 

"It was my first big movie and here I was working with all these people I had admired and watched," she says. "It’s like that feeling of just wanting to pinch yourself… and thinking ‘I get to be a part of this?!’"

As for meeting Willis for the first-time, Thomas says: "There’s a reason he’s a star. There’s just this [charisma] about him…. he’s so gracious… he took time to greet everybody… and he didn’t even use a double or stand-in…."

In the movie, Thomas plays Lisa, a friend of Willis’ character’s wife.  Or as she puts it: "I’m a ‘bad’ little surrogate with purple eyes."

According to the filmmakers, "Surrogates" takes place in the year 2017, when humans live in isolation and interact only via robotic bodies that serve as their surrogates."

"Crime doesn’t exist, but after several humans are killed when their surrogates are destroyed, a cop, played by Willis, investigates the crimes through his own surrogate. After a near fatal encounter, his surrogate is destroyed, which forces him to bring his human form out of isolation and unravel a conspiracy behind the crimes."

Thomas says the movie explores "the idea of playing god and the backlash from that."

She points out that although recent films like "I, Robot" and the "Terminator" franchise have dealt with the cyber-organism themes, "Surrogates" takes moviegoers to "the next step beyond that."

"[The surrogates] are not separate from the humans that control them," she says. "They carry the emotions, thoughts and will of their operators. Whatever they do, they are an extension of the person."

Thomas felt the movie will leave audiences asking, "Where do we have the potential to go with [technology] and do we want to go there?"

So would Thomas like having a surrogate of her own?

"It’s cheating," she says. "It would be cheating."

As for having the power to create whatever she wanted in the future, Thomas says, "I think of all those films that have dealt with cloning… and you see the consequences of that… I think too much power can be dangerous in the wrong hands… but then who decides who should get to have the power?"

Audiences can decide for themselves when "Surrogates" opens in theaters on September 25.

For more info go to:  www.chooseyoursurrogate.com