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Acting and Modeling

Joke: What does a person do when she fails at modeling? She becomes an actor. What does a person do who is very successful in modeling? She becomes a bad actor.

Well, all through the times, acting and modeling have come hand in hand. The line between acting and modeling is often blurred as models cross over into the acting world. It is assumed that if people like looking at a person in a magazine, they will love looking at her or him 20x their natural size on the big screen. And yes, people do love to look at such beautiful actors, but it does not necessarily mean that they can act.

There are most definitely models who have become actors and have been quite successful – Cameron Diaz, Claudia Schiffer, Fabio. There are also actors that have not crossed over into the acting world quite so smoothly, like Cindy Crawford. Sometimes, it is not the model’s fault – it is her fault that she can not act, but it is not necessarily her fault that she thinks she can.

Agents and managers know that the people would like to see a model up on screen – that model knows it, too. She is highly encouraged into such parts. After all, she thinks, I have been in front of a camera for half of my life.

It is, though, much different to pose in front of a still camera than to have a movie camera catch your every move and your voice. Also, models spend much of their time looking into the camera, making contact with the viewer. Actors must concentrate on not looking at the camera – it is as thought the audience is eaves-dropping on their lives. Acting and modeling have very different mediums.

We have only talked about models become actors, but surely there are, some actors have become models, too… but can you name any?