From Naomi Campbell playing Vanilla Ice’s backing singer, to Cindy Crawford’s thrilling escape from the KGB
The on-screen cameo always makes for a deeply satisfying cinematic moment, whether it’s prompted by a director taking a minor role in their own film – see Roman Polanski popping up as a gangster in his 1974 masterpiece Chinatown, for example – or more postmodern iterations, such as when the real Erin Brockovich appeared as a waitress called Julia in the 2000 biopic starring Julia Roberts. When fashion and cinema intersect to create the model cameo, however, stars truly align. Here, we present six unlikely and unforgettable moments which saw supermodels step off the catwalk and onto the silver screen.
1. Twiggy in The Boyfriend (1971)
Directed by Ken Russell, The Boyfriend parodies the 1920s musical, featuring a young Twiggy cavorting about on stage with the likes of ballet dancer Christopher Gable and his Women in Love (1969) co-star Glenda Jackson (who makes a brief apperance in the film, albeit uncredited). Twiggy won two Golden Globes for her role as Polly Browne, a theatre assistant who must fill in for the leading lady after she – quite literally – breaks a leg. With fabulous costumes designed by Russell’s first wife, the late Shirley Ann Russell, the comedy was also nominated for best score at the 1971 Academy Awards, but lost out to Fiddler on The Roof. Oy vey.
2. Tamara Dobson in Cleopatra Jones (1973)
Dubbed “the soul sister’s answer to James Bond” and “six feet two of dynamite”, model Tamara Dobson plays Cleopatra Jones, the titular character of this 1973 blaxsploitation film. Jones said of her career in fashion: “it’s true there are very few black models. I’ve seen ugly white girls on magazine covers. But black girls must be safe. They must have straight hair, or hair that can be pressed, and they must have Caucasian features”.
Coinciding with the Black Power and second-wave feminism movements, Cleopatra Jones garnered particular appeal for its empowered representation of a woman of colour. The motto ‘Black is Beautiful’ comes into its own here; Jones proudly sports plenty of uber chic looks and an afro throughout, simultaneously kicking ‘the Man’s ass with her deft ability to karate chop.
3. Naomi Campbell in Cool as Ice (1991)
Falling into the ‘so bad it’s good’ cinematic category, the early 90s rom-com Cool as Ice showcased rapper Vanilla Ice’s acting skills (or lack thereof, as the case may be). Ice plays Johnny van Owen, a nomadic rapper drifting from city to city, meeting his love interest Kathy Winslow (played by Kristin Minter) along the way. The role of Kathy was originally offered to Gwyneth Paltrow, but her father forbade her to accept it for fear that it might ruin her career. Naomi Campbell’s agent, however, obviously saw it as a great opportunity for the supermodel, and she was cast as a backing singer miming the words to the film’s title track Cool as Ice (Everybody Get Loose). Evidently, this had little effect on Campbell’s future successes. Perhaps Bruce Paltrow was mistaken.
4. Elle MacPherson in Sirens (1994)
Peak bumbling and floppy haired Hugh Grant hears the siren calls of Elle MacPherson and Portia de Rossi in this 1994 film based on the life of artist Norman Lindsay. Grant plays Tony, an Anglican priest who travels to Australia with his wife Estella, where he meets Lindsay, portrayed by Sam Neill. Tony and Estella have “nothing to lose except their inhibitions” and British stiff upper lips, and with MacPherson delivering lines such as “you even lie on the ground with your eyes closed whilst he licks your belly button,” in her inimitable Aussie twang, the director’s serious intentions are rendered farcical. Sirens presents obscure 1990s film at its finest.
5. Cindy Crawford in Fair Game (1995)
In Fair Game you’ll see Cindy Crawford as never before: being catapulted of a window by a comedic explosion intended to kill off her character Kate McQuean. McQuean is a Miami-based attorney targeted by KGB agent Ilya Pavel Kazak, for reasons that are quite unclear, but it has something to do with a yacht. Enter Max Kirkpatrick, a rule-breaking detective characterised by one of the many Baldwins, here to save the day. Crawford pulls off a white tank top stained with evidence of her fight to stay alive like nobody else could; it’s much like the cotton vest she sported in her 1992 Pepsi commercial, but this time with added pyrotechnics.
6. Devon Aoki in 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
2 Fast 2 Furious, the sequel to seminal 2001 automobile motion picture The Fast and the Furious, has it all: there’s the late Paul Walker making a return as protagonist Brian O’Conner hustling for a living by street racing with his childhood friend Tyrese Gibson; Eva Mendes as an undercover cop, generally fierce throughout; and Ludacris, who makes a welcome appearance playing Tej Parker, “the best circuit man on the east Coast”. Devon Aoki plays Suki, Parker’s on-off girlfriend, who has a real passion for designing vinyl car graphics. Her pink Honda S2000 – complete with fluffy interior and neon strip lighting – is perfectly complemented by a pair of low-waisted cerise trousers, embellished with corseted slits and a second Bumster-esque pair made from bubblegum leather.
