Many of the Vogue-watchers predicted this, that Cara Delevigne would get her first solo American Vogue cover for the July issue. It seems like a boring, predictable choice, although how in the world is Cara somehow “more worthy” of a Vogue cover than someone like Taraji P. Henson? Cara is transitioning from modeling to acting, and she’s already promoting the hell out of Paper Towns, the teen romance-drama in which Cara plays the most beautiful girl in the world or whatever.
The Patrick Demarchelier editorial is kind of blah – you can see Vogue’s slideshow here. That blah-ness is not on Demarchelier either, I just don’t think Cara has much of an “it factor” in most editorials. She looks like they just picked up some unkempt teen off the street and put her in some gowns. As for the profile… it’s actually a pretty good read. Cara is self-absorbed but she’s also wild and she’ll tell you anything. She talks about her sexuality, feeling suicidal, how much she hates modeling and growing up a rich girl. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
Being on the straight & narrow for Suicide Squad: “I’m not allowed to drink. I’m not allowed good food. After turning 20 and eating McDonald’s all the time and drinking too much, it started to show on my stomach and on my face. But I’m playing a homicidal witch, so I need to look ripped.”
Her body is not a temple: “I say my body is a roller coaster. Enjoy the ride. But can you believe that? That I have to exercise restraint after I’ve succeeded in a business where for years I had no restraint, where the whole point was excess?”
The bubble of the fashion industry: “I’m not sure I understand what fashion is anymore. I admit I was terrified to leave. I mean, the bubble gives you a kind of dysfunctional family. When you’re in it, you get it. And the second you’re out of it, you’re like, What the hell just happened?”
Her background: “I grew up in the upper class, for sure. My family was kind of about that whole parties–and–horse racing thing. I can understand it’s fun for some. I never enjoyed it.”
Her partying lifestyle: “I had to be doing things with people at all times. The life of the party is an easy part for me to play. It rots your insides, though. Honestly, I don’t think I did anything different from other people my age. But I definitely have that addict gene. For me it comes out in an addiction to work. I’d probably have done more drugs back then if I hadn’t been working like mad.”
Her bisexuality, falling in love with St. Vincent: “I think that being in love with my girlfriend is a big part of why I’m feeling so happy with who I am these days. And for those words to come out of my mouth is actually a miracle. It took me a long time to accept the idea, until I first fell in love with a girl at 20 and recognized that I had to accept it. But I have erotic dreams only about men.”
Whether dating women is just a phase: “Women are what completely inspire me, and they have also been my downfall. I have only been hurt by women, my mother first of all. The thing is if I ever found a guy I could fall in love with, I’d want to marry him and have his children. And that scares me to death because I think I’m a whole bunch of crazy, and I always worry that a guy will walk away once he really, truly knows me.”
She talks a lot about the “morass” she fell into when she was in her mid-teens. She self-harmed, she was depressed and she was put on psychotropic drugs. She also says she still goes through phases where she parties too hard and bottoms out and has to go away to get her head together. I come away from this profile thinking both “oh, poor little rich girl” AND like she needs some better doctors. Like, I think she has some undiagnosed condition or anxiety disorder that would be easy enough to manage if she wasn’t constantly self-medicating with drugs and alcohol.
Photos courtesy of Patrick Demarchelier/VOGUE.
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