EMILY RATAJKOWSKI ON SEX, SUCCESS AND SELFIES WITH KIM KARDASHIAN
Appearing in the “Blurred Lines” video made her a global sex symbol — now Emily Ratajkowski is taking the film and fashion worlds by storm. The London-born actress talks to Elaine Lipworth about fighting for smart roles and why posing topless is a feminist act
An unusually grey day in Los Angeles and, on a poolside terrace high up in the Hollywood Hills, Emily Ratajkowski is perched on a white sofa.
An ominous layer of thick cloud blocks out the usually bright California sun but she optimistically removes her trench coat. Dressed head-to-toe in black — a cropped T-shirt and Ivy Park leggings, her face completely bare of make-up, she looks extravagantly beautiful.
You wouldn’t expect anything else. After all, this is the woman who, having been catapulted to fame by a nearly-nude appearance in the video for Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’s controversial 2013 “Blurred Lines” has gone on to appear on countless sexiest-women lists (among them GQ and Esquire) racking up more than six million followers on Instagram (her handle ‘Emrata’ is now used interchangeably with her name).
But if she’s flattered by the attention her beauty has attracted, she’s also alert to its complications. ‘It’s an interesting paradox,’ she says, in her soft lilting Californian accent. ‘If you’re a sexy actress it’s hard to get serious roles. You get offered the same thing that they’ve seen you in.
People are like sheep and they’re like “Oh, that’s what she does well.” What’s so dumb is that women are 50 per cent of the population and they want to spend money to see movies where they’re portrayed as three-dimensional characters.’
Ratajkowski (pronounced Rat-a-kow-ski) as it turns out, is far more outspoken than most up-and-coming stars. During our time together, the conversation takes in everything from the Hollywood ‘boy’s club’ to Piers Morgan and the forthcoming US election.
‘The truth of the matter is no one wants to hear me talk about this stuff. Definitely the men who are casting films don’t want to hear it, but I just can’t not — I’m angry,’ she says, pushing her hair out of her eyes. ‘It’s important to me.’
Fiercely intelligent, Ratajkowski was born in London, to two academics — her father, John, was an art teacher, and her mother, Kathleen, an English professor who she describes as ‘a feminist and an intellectual’, was in the UK teaching on a prestigious Fulbright scholarship.
The family lived in West Kensington and Bloomsbury before returning to the US when she was five. Growing up, her mother instilled in her the importance of being recognised for more than her looks. When people remarked that she could have a career in modelling: ‘My mum said “no, she’ll be a brain surgeon,” because she didn’t like the idea that I would think that [my appearance] was the only thing that I was going to be valued for.’
At the same time, ‘She always told me never to feel sorry or apologetic or embarrassed by my body, to never apologise for my sexuality.
In the event, Ratajkowski was signed at the age of 14 by Ford Models in LA, landing assignments for American magazines, doing ‘tweenie kind of stuff’. Initially, ‘I didn’t think of it as anything more than a fun activity and an opportunity to make money, to buy the shoes I’d been dying for and to put money away in a savings account’.
At school, her looks caused problems. She says she went through puberty aged 11 or 12: ‘I started to realise that I was being perceived differently. It was confusing,’ she says. ‘Basically it was more about the way that people had a problem with a girl looking like a woman because it confused them, it made them feel uncomfortable and I think there was a lot of guilt that they wanted to induce.’
Calvin Klein collection top, £740 (calvinklein.com). Chanel Fine Jewellery ring, £4,300 (chanel.com). Comète Spirale ring, as before. De Beers rose cluster ring, £13,300 (debeers.co.uk). William & Son white gold and diamond ring, £4,620 (williamandson.com)
Gucci dress, £3780, (gucci.com).
Cartier Maillon Panthère bracelet, £POA (cartier.com)
Chanel Fine Jewellery necklace, £17,500 (chanel.com). Dior top, £1,300 (dior.com)
BY ELAINE LIPWORTH
19 MAY 2016
An unusually grey day in Los Angeles and, on a poolside terrace high up in the Hollywood Hills, Emily Ratajkowski is perched on a white sofa. An ominous layer of thick cloud blocks out the usually bright California sun but she optimistically removes her trench coat. Dressed head-to-toe in black — a cropped T-shirt and Ivy Park leggings, her face completely bare of make-up, she looks extravagantly beautiful.
You wouldn’t expect anything else. After all, this is the woman who, having been catapulted to fame by a nearly-nude appearance in the video for Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’s controversial 2013 “Blurred Lines” has gone on to appear on countless sexiest-women lists (among them GQ and Esquire) racking up more than six million followers on Instagram (her handle ‘Emrata’ is now used interchangeably with her name).
But if she’s flattered by the attention her beauty has attracted, she’s also alert to its complications. ‘It’s an interesting paradox,’ she says, in her soft lilting Californian accent. ‘If you’re a sexy actress it’s hard to get serious roles. You get offered the same thing that they’ve seen you in. People are like sheep and they’re like “Oh, that’s what she does well.” What’s so dumb is that women are 50 per cent of the population and they want to spend money to see movies where they’re portrayed as three-dimensional characters.’
Chanel Comète Spirale ring, £4,075 (chanel.com). Tiffany earrings, £13,000 (tiffany.com)
Chanel Comète Spirale ring, £4,075 (chanel.com). Tiffany earrings, £13,000 (tiffany.com) / David Bellemere
Ratajkowski (pronounced Rat-a-kow-ski) as it turns out, is far more outspoken than most up-and-coming stars.
During our time together, the conversation takes in everything from the Hollywood ‘boy’s club’ to Piers Morgan and the forthcoming US election. ‘The truth of the matter is no one wants to hear me talk about this stuff. Definitely the men who are casting films don’t want to hear it, but I just can’t not — I’m angry,’ she says, pushing her hair out of her eyes. ‘It’s important to me.’
Fiercely intelligent, Ratajkowski was born in London, to two academics — her father, John, was an art teacher, and her mother, Kathleen, an English professor who she describes as ‘a feminist and an intellectual’, was in the UK teaching on a prestigious Fulbright scholarship.
The family lived in West Kensington and Bloomsbury before returning to the US when she was five. Growing up, her mother instilled in her the importance of being recognised for more than her looks. When people remarked that she could have a career in modelling: ‘My mum said “no, she’ll be a brain surgeon,” because she didn’t like the idea that I would think that [my appearance] was the only thing that I was going to be valued for.’
At the same time, ‘She always told me never to feel sorry or apologetic or embarrassed by my body, to never apologise for my sexuality.’
Calvin Klein collection top, £740 (calvinklein.com). Chanel Fine Jewellery ring, £4,300 (chanel.com). Comète Spirale ring, as before. De Beers rose cluster ring, £13,300 (debeers.co.uk). William & Son white gold and diamond ring, £4,620 (williamandson.com)
Calvin Klein collection top, £740 (calvinklein.com). Chanel Fine Jewellery ring, £4,300 (chanel.com). Comète Spirale ring, as before. De Beers rose cluster ring, £13,300 (debeers.co.uk). William & Son white gold and diamond ring, £4,620 (williamandson.com) / David Bellemere.
In the event, Ratajkowski was signed at the age of 14 by Ford Models in LA, landing assignments for American magazines, doing ‘tweenie kind of stuff’. Initially, ‘I didn’t think of it as anything more than a fun activity and an opportunity to make money, to buy the shoes I’d been dying for and to put money away in a savings account’.
