MODELLING 101. Things I wish I knew…

*Screaming* SEASON IS FINALLY HERE EVERYBODY!!  There are literally beautiful people smiling at you everywhere you look. This is thanks to the simple fact that it’s almost winter in European countries and the States thus every model who can, packs their bags and runs to mama Africa where it’s warm and nice :). Don’t get me wrong, there are beautiful people in Cape Town all year round but in summer… that’s another story all together. It’s like an ‘all you can eat’ buffet of good looking people.

Aaaany hu!  Enough of my drooling. In 2011, I moved to the mother city (read: Cape Town) for the first time. I had just turned 24 and fresh from university. It was time to live my dream. The vision was simple: stay in CPT for one year, become a supermodel, have an on again-off again relationship with Jon Hamm then end up getting married to Bradley Cooper. Well… let’s just say things didn’t pan out exactly as planned. Jon Hamm is with Jennifer Westfeldt (though I hear rumors of a break up, can someone PLEASE confirm this) my hubby Brad is very busy cosying up to Irina Shayk and career wise, I ended up acting. I only had three wishes Universe, not even one was granted. Wow! Just. Wow!

This season hunderds of models from all over the world will come to Cape Town to try out their hand at modelling. Some for the first time, others not. Here are a few things I wish somebody told me four hears ago:

IT’S GONNA TAKE LONGER THAN YOU THINK

My agent says it takes about seven years for a model to book a worldwide campaign. Yes. Seven years. You will not nail your first audition or your second, not even your tenth but one thing is for sure, your break will come. It is not unheard of for some models to come in and book every job available but that is less than 1% of the time. If you are not lucky enough to make that golden percentage then hold on tight coz it’s gonna be a long ride.

BIG IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER

Getting yourself a big agency may not always be a good idea. Agents have favorites. If you are not ‘big’ enough in their books they are likely to forget about you and focus on models that are bringing in money. A smaller/boutique agency has less models to work with which means the agents have time to market you properly and push for bigger jobs for you. I don’t blame them though. It’s a business at the end of the day. If you are still starting out I’d advice you to stick to a small agency. Better belong to an unknown agency and work than a big agency and be miserable and unemployed.

MODEL HOUSES ARE THE WORST!

A model house is exactly that. A house full of models. I used to live in one when I first arrived. Hated it. From the noise to the fights to very low standards of hygene. It was a nightmare. Worse than model houses on America’s next top model. I agree you need to stay together especially if it’s your first time here but if you can, do yourself a favor and move to a normal house with normal people. It will save you a lot of head ache.

DON’T LISTEN TO WHAT OTHER MODELS SAY

Models will always talk about how many auditions they are going for and how much work they are booking. Piece of advice, take it with a pinch of salt. Some models are compulsive liars. They do it to hide their embarrassment of not working or simply to demoralize you. I experienced this with one model. She told me of how she was booking work every single day. I was so naive I believed her. At that point it had been a month and I hadn’t booked a single job. It killed my morale. I thought I wasn’t cut out for this till I discovered it was all a lie. She is still my friend but to this day I take everything she says with a truck load of salt!

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Modelling is like Tinder… but in real life. SOMETIMES you go for castings and you are judged purely on looks. No one cares that you single handedly brought peace to the middle east, know who shot Tupac or even solved the Malaysia Airline MH370 mystery (too soon?) As long as you look like you can be on a Playboy cover you get the job! Sad but true. This explains why so many models have self esteem issues. They judge their self worth or beauty based on how often they work. This is a wrong approach to take. If you do this, you lose confidence in yourself. Always remember that you are beautiful. It starts from the inside then radiates out.

EAT! FOR CHRIST’S SAKE. EAT!!

A hungry man is an angry man. This proverb has never been more true. Some models starve themselves to remain skinny. I once had A roommate who only ate cookies and drunk water. Her skin was full of acne and she was in a bad mood all the time. Of course this affected her work but she was determined to do anything to remain thin. Soon she stopped booking work coz of her bad skin and nasty attitude. The sad part is, a salad was enough to solve this problem. Models, listen and listen good… HEALTHY IS THE NEW SKINNY !!

EYES ABOVE THE WAVES

Don’t give up. Nobody said it would be easy. There are going to be a many MANY rejections but that doesn’t mean you are less than. Keep the faith. This is just a passing wave, you must keep your eyes above it. If you do this then I PROMISE you your turn will come… Your number WILL be called. Just be patient and all the best 🙂

Image: Tegan Smith.

Epic Line: Beware of your beauty amongst strangers

-Book of Negros-

Disclaimer: this blog is proudly brought to you by the voice(s) in my head. It does not intend to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any personal issues. If symptoms persist, click here