Gisele Bundchen: The big nose is coming with a big personality
Gisele Bundchen has been uncharacteristically chatty over the past year because she’s been promoting two coffee table books, full of images from her career. The first book came out last year, and it sold out of its limited-edition printing quickly. The second book, out now, is a more reasonable $44 (on Amazon) and 536 pages. All about Gisele. So, to promote the latest coffee table book, Gisele chatted with the New York Times about her career, her life, her drive to succeed and more. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
She was never the pretty model: “My career was never based on pretty.”
Angela Missoni says Mario Testino used to hate Gisele’s nose: “Mario wasn’t 100 percent sure about her. He was worried about her nose.”
She was bullied: “Even before I got into the business, I was used to being bullied because I was always tall and skinny and stuck out. I got really red all the time from playing volleyball, red like a pepper. So I thought bullying was just the way life is. In the beginning, you know, everyone told me, ‘Your eyes are too small, the nose is too big, you can never be on a magazine cover.’ But, you know what? The big nose is coming with a big personality.”
She always focused on being hard-working: “I always knew that, even if I was not the most beautiful girl, I’d be the most energetic and hard-working. If you want to know the truth, that’s the reason for my success… I’m a twin, I’m a Cancer, I’m always taking care of other people. I’ve always been the fixer in the family, the responsible one. I’ve always been a hard worker, never late for a job in my life. Really, ask anyone.”
Her youthful goals: “Modeling was the farthest thing from what I ever thought I would do with my life. From the beginning, looks did not define me in any way. I have a different idea of what I am. I wanted to be Jane Goodall. In my mind, I’m still Jane Goodall in bare feet.”
She’s irritated by fame: “To me, the idea of being famous is irritating. The attention is strange. Everyone has an opinion… It can overwhelm you when people attack you or make comments. But when people are saying those things, the haters, I try not to let it in. Given what is, I tell myself, what am I to do?”
At several points during the interview, Gisele makes reference to loving the way she looks as-is, that she would never succumb to plastic surgery to “correct” whatever problem areas she has, or is perceived to have. Except that we know that’s bullsh-t, right? Because last year she wore a burqa as she entered her French plastic surgeon’s office, and reportedly underwent breast augmentation and eye work. Not to mention the fact that I’ve always believed she did have some work over the years, before her plastic surgery visit was “outed” last year. While she didn’t get a nose job (or did she?), she’s been surgically tweaked. While that’s something a lot of women and a lot of models do, it’s “off brand” for what Gisele is selling, which is that she’s this healthy, all-natural person who got ahead in this world with hard work rather than a surgeon’s scalpel.
These are photos of Gisele at a Chanel show a few weeks ago in Havana. BONUS GASPARD ULLIEL. My French Bae!!!
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
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