I grew up in the Ukraine and then I went to Paris in 1996. I went there because there was a modeling agency that invited me there to work so I thought, 'Sure.'
Modeling was never a passion of mine.
I started modeling when I was about 2 or 3 years old; I started with Baby Guess, and I did Guess Kids, and that was the extent of my modeling career as a kid. I took all of my elementary, middle and high school years off to focus on school and sports.
I started acting when I was 17. I started modeling when I was 13. It helps in the way that you don't get fazed by cameras too much.
Unfortunately, modeling takes you with no transition from being a girl to being a business woman.
When I first started modeling, I realised I was very different from many of my colleagues, but I welcomed the opportunities my career in fashion offered me and the support from many inspiring individuals in the fashion industry.
My first modeling job was Gap, and my first time in front of the camera was for a Soda Pop Girls commercial - it's one of those Bratz dolls, Barbie dolls... one of those.
I'm definitely focusing all of my attention on acting. Modeling comes up by default, and I love it - of course I think that it's great - but I'm definitely focusing all of my attention on acting.
Motherhood has brought me many joys and insights, but the new perspective it granted me on the role I had inadvertently played in young women's lives for the 2 decades I spent in the modeling industry was downright sobering.
Back when I was modeling, the first time I went to Italy, I was having cappuccinos every day, and I gained 15 pounds. And I felt gorgeous! I would take my clothes off in front of the mirror and be like, 'Oh, I look like a woman.' And I felt beautiful, and I never tried to lose it, 'cause I loved it.
I almost had to exhaust myself at modeling before I could say, 'O.K., I'm ready for school.'
Modeling is a profession where your worth is tied up with looks.
Since I was 8 months old, till I was 12, I did commercials and ads and cute little stuff for kids. Then I had braces on my teeth. They took them off when I was 16, and then I started modeling more seriously and doing more fashion.
By no means am I trying to change the modeling industry.
When I came out of school I didn't even think that modeling was a job.
I did a lot of modeling in the U.K. A lot of it wasn't high fashion because I don't have the body or the face for high fashion modeling. I did a lot of sportswear, swimwear, and beachwear.
The problem with middle age, at least when it comes to modeling, is you seldom see a model who is past 27, 28. If they use anyone older, then it becomes automatically a 'personality' story.
I've always had it inside - this ability to read people, how to get into someone else's head and help them with their problems. And I love when people trust me with their feelings and I can get into any kind of dialogue with them about their inner stuff. I think it's the thing I enjoy most besides modeling.
I went to a modeling agency and said I wanted to be a model. I worked, worked, worked so much while I was studying.
I started modeling, doing the Sears catalog kind of thing, then did a lot of commercials when I was growing up.
I was studying to be a dental hygienist and working as a dental assistant. I met a photographer and decided to put my job on hold for just a summer to begin modeling.
I did a shoot with massive iguanas in Costa Rica when I was modeling back then. They were like little dinosaurs, and they sat right across my arms and by my face. The guy told me not to make any sudden movements because they had enormous claws. The guy said he would rip my skin if he attacked.
I was a tomboy growing up. Even after I started modeling at thirteen, I didn't learn how to do my makeup.
I just fell into modeling.
I have always found photography magical, and became more taken with it whilst modeling.
One of the first times I came to New York was for a modeling and talent competition, IMTA, which I won. I came with a group, like a modeling school from Fresno.
I was very ambitious. It all started because my first boyfriend dumped me when I was 14. I'd always wanted to be a model and thought, 'Right, he's going to see me everywhere.' I was relentless in my pursuit of modeling. It was revenge.
I had already been approached to do modeling, but in the beginning, I didn't want to hear of it. Then, after two months of delivering pizza, I changed my mind, and I presented myself at the agency.
Modeling is a lot of fun, but I prefer acting. It's so much fun to get to play different characters and transform into someone else for a while.
I got scouted for modeling, and it was really scary - I was walking my dog wearing heels for the first time ever because I had a party to go to the day after, and I wanted to practice, and this black car kind of started following me, so I, being dramatic, picked up the dog and started to run.
My mom was a model. She met my dad when he was building the Ritz-Carlton in Colorado and she was modeling there. Although we were very blessed, my parents never wanted us to believe we didn't have to work. They didn't want us to think that our situation would get us through life.
I haven't left modeling completely; I just took a step out, and I now have the rare luxury of picking and choosing how to spend my days.
With the whole supermodel thing, even when you're not really modeling anymore, people still call me that. And I'm like '... retired.'
Modeling is not a passion of mine. I have been having fun with it, but it's just to pay the bills.
I started modeling with a very negative part of me - I didn't really like myself or how I looked because I was very tall for a Japanese girl.
I also want to try acting - give it a shot - maybe take some lessons, I think that could be fun. I feel like that could even help me with modeling, because in a way you have to act.
