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Job Interview

Model Subject By Jack Shamama Madrid-born Inès Sastre, 25, was "discovered" by director Carlos Saura at age 13. Although she's attended the Sorbonne and been in films by Wim Wenders and Michelangelo Antonioni, she's still primarily known in the U.S. as a model. In 1996, she succeeded Isabella Rossellini as the face of Lancôme. Metropolitan met with Sastre while she was in San Francisco, doing Macy's 53rd annual flower show, "The Colors of Provence." Where do you live?: I live between London and Paris. What do you consider your job?: It's very hard, actually. Every time you have to fill out a customs form, I'm like "What should I do?" It was much better when I was a student. It's always been tricky, because I was always in between worlds. I started very young working as an actress; then I was probably the only actress who wanted to be much more in fashion. And then I came back to cinema, but sometimes people in cinema will say, "No, she does things for fashion," and some people in fashion will say, "She is not a proper model, because she works for cinema." So that always put me in a corner--in a strange position. But I think that's the excitement of what I do. Did your modeling career come as a result of your acting?: Yeah, it came after I did those three movies when I was younger. They went to Cannes and Berlin, and you have to do promotion. For a young girl, it's quite amusing to do all that, so I started to get interested. Then John Casablancas [from Elite] met me in Madrid for the Look of the Year award. And I won in Paris in 1989. I am the only Look of the Year winner who didn't sign a contract. Your career (actress/supermodel) is probably the job everyone in the world wants. Not everybody! [Laughs] What does your daily beauty regimen entail?: I try to sleep as many hours as possible. I try to drink lots of water. I try to eat normally. I've never been a fanatic, and I find it scary when you see such skinny people. I think you have to eat, you have to work, you have to spend your energy by movement or doing something. Do you ever wake up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and have an ugly day?: Yeah [laughs], I do. Of course. Like everybody else. It's psychological: you're feeling bad or you're feeling down. Sometimes I just go "I feel awful today!" and then my girlfriends are like "Shut up!" I think when you feel the most pretty is when you are the happiest, the most serene. The theme at the flower show this year is the colors of Provence. What are your favorite colors of Provence?: I don't know why. It got into my mind, and lately I am talking French with a very meaty [Provençal] accent. And I think it's a wonderful place. Very untouched. It's very popular in the summertime, but I like spring and midseason; it's a fantastic time to be there. [ San Francisco | MetroActive Central | Archives ]