Who played Lara Croft in the first "Tomb Raider" movie?

Alright, adventure seekers and pixelated pioneers, strap on your dual pistol holsters - we're diving headfirst into the polygon-to-Hollywood pipeline!

Back in 1996, Lara Croft burst onto our chunky CRT screens, bringing with her a new era of 3D action-adventure gaming. With her impossible proportions and dry British wit, she quickly became a cultural icon. Suddenly, being an archaeologist seemed less about dusty books and more about swan-diving off cliffs and fighting a T-Rex. Sorry, actual archaeologists - we know you're cool too, just in a less "explosions and mystical artifacts" kind of way.

But Lara's reign wasn't confined to the digital realm. As the '90s drew to a close, Hollywood had developed a nasty habit of turning beloved video games into cinematic train wrecks. We're talking a string of flops that could make even the most optimistic studio exec weep:

"Super Mario Bros." (1993) turned the Mushroom Kingdom into a dystopian nightmare. "Double Dragon" and "Street Fighter" (both 1994) roundhouse-kicked our expectations into oblivion. "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" (1997) finished off what little hope we had left, and "Wing Commander" (1999) crash-landed so hard it left a crater in box office history.

Yet Hollywood, ever the eternal optimist, decided to roll the dice once more. The mission? Turn Tomb Raider into a blockbuster and break the dreaded video game movie curse. Landing in theaters in 2001, "Tomb Raider" promised to bring Lara's death-defying stunts to life. The film industry and gamers worldwide held their collective breath. Could this be the one? Spoiler alert: ...not really.

Despite mixed reviews from critics, the movie was a bona fide box office hit, raking in $275 million worldwide. It even snagged a few awards, though perhaps not the kind you'd brag about at fancy Hollywood parties. We're talking Teen Choice Awards and MTV Movie Awards – the kind of accolades that say, "Hey, the kids think you're cool, even if the stuffy film critics don't!"

But let's not raid the Rotten Tomatoes tomb just yet. The "Tomb Raider" movie proved that female-led action flicks could draw crowds and spark franchises. In a Hollywood landscape dominated by muscle-bound dudes grunting one-liners, our British butt-kicker carved out her own niche with dual pistols blazing.

The real magic, though? The actress who brought Lara to life. She had to embody the impossible - an iconic character that, until then, had existed only in the fevered imaginations of gamers worldwide. This mystery lady had to pull off death-defying stunts, deliver quips with a stiff upper lip, and make running around ancient tombs in shorts and a tank top seem like a totally reasonable career choice.

Which Hollywood starlet traded her red carpet gown for cargo shorts and took on the mantle of gaming's First Lady of Exploration? Remember, no cheat codes!