Chuluuny Khulan born 1984, is a Mongol actress who first gained international notice as Börte

Börte

Börte was the first wife of Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire. Börte became the head of the first Court of Genghis Khan, and Grand Empress of his Empire. Little is known about the details of her early life, but she was betrothed to him at a young age, married at 17, and then...

, the wife of Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....

, in the 2007 Oscar nominated Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n film Mongol

Mongol (film)

Mongol is a 2007 semi-historical film directed by Sergei Bodrov. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Bodrov and Arif Aliev. Producers for the film comprised Bodrov, Sergei Selyanov and Anton Melnik. The film is based on the early life of Temüjin, who later came to be known as...

.

Career

Khulan was a student in 2006 hoping to join the country's military

Military of Mongolia

The military of Mongolia has four branches: general purpose forces, border defense forces, internal security forces, and air force. This is a peace-time structure...

 and enroll in a military school when she was "discovered" by Guka Omarav, the casting agent for Mongol, while standing in a visa line at the Chinese embassy in Ulaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar

Ulan Bator or Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. An independent municipality, the city is not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 is over one million....

. Bodrov and Omarav had wanted to cast a Mongol woman as Genghis Khan's wife but with two weeks to go before filming they were uncertain about their choices. After meeting with her, Bodrov decided to take a risk on the non-professional actress and subsequently cast her in the role of Börte.

Personal life

Khulan met and fell in love with Naryn Igilik, Bodrov's Kazakh assistant, while on the set of Mongol. Later, the couple were wed as part of the film's opening night celebrations in Kazakhstan. She and her husband now reside in Kazakhstan near the city of Almaty

Almaty

Almaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...

.