March 28, 2007
It was a pleasingly refreshing Gerren Taylor who was awake and vibrant for an early morning interview recently as she prepared to make her way to Dallas for the American Film Institute’s Film Festival, featuring her in “America the Beautiful.”
“America the Beautiful” mirrors Ms. Taylor’s life—showing the ups and downs of being a model, as well as human obsession with beauty. Eve Ensler, Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, Marc Jacobs, and Tommy Hilfiger all appear in the movie.
“I hope this will be really inspirational for teenagers,” she said. “I want them to see that being a model is not the best thing in the world and you have to know who you are.
“I put God first. My image is very important to me.”
Working in an industry that focuses so much attention on looks, Ms. Taylor has experienced the trappings when she was “blackballed.”
“Agencies blackballed me saying I was obese, when I was a size four,” she recalled. “This industry can make you self-conscious.”
The first African American model to ever appear in a print campaign for Marc Jacobs, Marc by Marc collection, Ms. Taylor has been featured in Teen Vogue, Seventeen and on the “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The CBS Early Show,” “Extra,” “Entertainment Tonight” and “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.”
Cheryl can be reached at csmith@dallasweekly.com
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