She makes modeling a skimpy bathing suit look effortless but Erin Heatherton has to deal with plenty of intimidation in her industry.
In her cover story for Ocean Drive magazine, the Skokie, Illinois native confesses, “In the beginning, I was surrounded by the most beautiful people in the world, and I spoke to these icons for five minutes and I didn’t think they were beautiful anymore. When you’re surrounded by the best of the best, it’s a really quick way to understand what does matter. Ever since I was a kid, I never really cared what people thought. I was kind of a loner.”
As for her self-perception, Erin notes, “I’m not perfect. I never identified with the way I look; I was just born this way. I don’t feel rejection if I’m not the right person for a job, because that’s not where I find my self-worth. I’m a beautiful person, and that’s not because of my modeling career. There are good shots, and there are bad shots, but it’s just like playing a character. If you think of the top five people that you care about the most in your life, you probably don’t care if they look good in every angle or photo.”
Heatherton also shares that her height was a social problem growing up. “That’s the standard tale of most models. I was always the tallest, so that contributed to me being a tomboy and playing sports. A lot of my friends were boys, but I didn’t have ‘boyfriends’ in high school, really. I was 5-foot-5 in fifth grade; I grew six inches in two years. When I was 15, I stopped growing at 5-foot-11.”
And these days Erin is no fan of having her private life on display for the world to see. “It’s not a comfortable feeling. With modeling it’s fantasy, so it doesn’t touch you, but when it’s your personal life, then it can burn. But that’s part of the job. It helped me to find more inner strength.”
Photo Credit: Randall Slavin for Ocean Drive
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