Emily Ratajkowski

Emily Ratajkowski
Emily Ratajkowski interviewed in 2016 for LOVE magazine
Born	Emily O'Hara Ratajkowski (1991-06-07) June 7, 1991 Westminster, London, United Kingdom
Citizenship	United States
Occupation(s)	Model, actress
Years active	2004–present
Modeling information
Height	5 ft 7.5 in (1.71 m)
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Brown
Agency	Ford Models
Website	Official website

Emily O'Hara Ratajkowski (/ˌrɑːtaɪˈkɒfski/; Polish: [ratajˈkɔfskʲi]; born June 7, 1991) is an American model and actress. Born in London to American parents and raised primarily in California, she rose to prominence after appearing in the music video for Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines", which became the number one song of the year 2013 in several countries.

Ratajkowski's modeling career has progressed from retail adwork to arthouse erotica and high fashion. She appeared on the cover of the March 2012 issue of erotic magazine treats! This led to her being asked to appear in two music videos. Among her other cover appearances are GQ, British GQ, Cosmopolitan, InStyle UK and FHM. Ratajkowski appeared in the 2014 and 2015 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues. She made her professional runway modelling debut for Marc Jacobs at Spring/Summer 2016 New York Fashion Week in 2015 and has walked subsequent runways at New York and Paris Fashion Weeks. She was a spokesperson for Buick in a Super Bowl commercial for its Cascada during Super Bowl 50.

Ratajkowski's acting career began with youth acting roles in the San Diego area before she gained a recurring role on iCarly and later roles in major films. Her feature film debut was as the mistress of Ben Affleck's character in the 2014 film Gone Girl. Her 2015 films included Entourage, We Are Your Friends with Zac Efron (her first leading role), and The Spoils Before Dying.

She has been an advocate for women's health issues, especially as a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood. In addition she has supported the right of women to express their sexuality and has spoken out in support of Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.

Early life

An only child, Ratajkowski was born in Westminster, London, to American parents. At the time of her birth her mother and father were aged 39 and 45, respectively, and not married. Her mother Kathleen Balgley, a professor of English and writer described by Ratajkowski as a "feminist and intellectual", was in London temporarily to teach under the Fulbright Program. Balgley had met Ratajkowski's father, John David "J. D." Ratajkowski, a painter and art teacher, when they both taught at San Dieguito Academy in Encinitas, California, near San Diego. The family settled in San Diego when Ratajkowski was five. She was raised primarily in Encinitas in a small house near the ocean.

Ratajkowski is of Jewish, Polish, Irish, and German descent. Her father was raised Catholic while her mother was raised Jewish, and teaches at the San Diego Jewish Academy. Her mother formerly taught at California Polytechnic State University, known as Cal Poly. When asked about her heritage in 2012, Ratajkowski answered "Polish Israeli", although she had not yet been to Israel. She lived in and traveled to many parts of Europe during her youth, and has described spending long periods in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, and Mallorca, Spain. From her early youth to the start of her career as a full-time model she spent each summer in Ireland. She has said that she grew up without the influence of television. Before modeling, she tried soccer, acting and ballet.

Exposure to the nude female figure in photography and art during her formative years, including the work of her father, prepared Ratajkowski for her eventual nude and semi-nude appearances before the camera. Among her influences was exposure to the photography of Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts in books. Ratajkowski said she is comfortable with the naked body due to her background and life experiences, stating "We have this culture of men, especially, watching pornography, but then [are] offended by a classic nude portrait or photograph, and I've never felt that way". Ratajkowski also frequently visited nudist beaches during her youth in Europe; she said, "Mom was topless on the beach every summer in Majorca". As a young teen who experienced early pronounced physical maturation, she endured pressure from friends, family and society to repress expressing her sexuality. She was urged to censor both her expression and how she presented herself.

Career

Ratajkowski enjoyed doing theatrical performances for her family as a child. Her first formal acting role was as Elsa in a production of The Little Match Girl at the Theatre School of the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach, California. She also appeared as Harriet in the 2004 interactive production of Harriet Potter and the Throne of Applewort at Lyceum Theatre in Horton Plaza. After gaining local youth acting experience, she was told that modeling could be a gateway into an acting career. She was inspired by Bianca Jagger and Patti Smith. Ratajkowski was signed by Ford Models at age 14. She continued to attend high school in San Diego at San Dieguito Academy, while she modeled and acted in Los Angeles.

In her adolescent years, Ratajkowski decided to pursue an acting career, but in auditions she was often cast as a "bitchy girl", cheerleader, or other limited roles she did not want. After two nondescript movie roles, Ratajkowski appeared as Gibby's girlfriend Tasha in two third-season episodes of Nickelodeon's iCarly. Despite her previous minor film roles, she described her 2009-2010 iCarly role as "my first and only acting job". Her acting manager, Evan Hainey of Untitled Entertainment, discouraged her from pursuing many acting engagements until she was in a position to be more selective.

External videos
"Frederick's of Hollywood – Holiday 2012" posted December 4, 2012
Frederick's KNBC Valentine's Day 2011 segment posted February 11, 2011
Carl's Jr. "BBQ's Best Pair" Commercial (uncut) posted February 19, 2013

Ratajkowski attended University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for one year in 2009, then decided to model full-time. She found the fine art education from the School of the Arts and Architecture at UCLA arbitrary and in conflict with her artistic concepts, and didn't enjoy socializing with fellow students. She worked for Forever 21, Kohl's and Nordstrom, swimwear and lingerie clients, but became recognized as a fashion model after shooting several campaigns and editorials with photographer Tony Duran. She also did nude and clothed art magazine photograph shoots, including a June 2012 shoot with Jonathan Leder, and modeling work for Frederick's of Hollywood. As of March 16, 2016, two videos in which she appeared for the company—a featured Holiday 2012 video and a local Valentine's 2011 video—were among the five most popular videos on the company's YouTube channel.

The March 2012 Issue 3 treats! cover featuring Ratajkowski is the image that led to her being cast in the video for "Blurred Lines"

After her work with Duran, she began shooting more fashion editorials and posed for several of the first few issues of the Los Angeles-based artistic erotica magazine treats!, and appeared on the cover of the magazine's March 2012 third issue. She credits the magazine for bringing her the two unsolicited, high-profile, music video roles.

Ratajkowski was featured with Sara Jean Underwood in a Carl's Jr. commercial in August 2012. The advertisement was produced in a 30-second version and an uncut version lasting over a minute. At about the same time she became a Nikon model. She has worked with photographers such as Tony Kelly, with whom she shot the March 2013 cover of GQ Turkey. The images from that cover story were later re-used in the July/August 2013 issue of American GQ after her music video appearances were launched. As a 5-foot-7-inch (1.70 m) model with "curves that put her in a different class from runway models", Ratajkowski considers herself to have the potential to break barriers for shorter and more curvaceous models, saying, "I want to be a model that breaks down the traditional body boundaries. You don't have to be 5'9" and an A-cup to be a successful model, and that's nice."

Music video performances

Ratajkowski is well known for appearing in Robin Thicke, T.I., and Pharrell Williams' video "Blurred Lines". Before her "Blurred Lines" performance, Ratajkowski had been cast in two other music videos; "Fast Car" by Taio Cruz, which was released on November 5, 2012, and Maroon 5's "Love Somebody", which was released two months after "Blurred Lines". Both "Love Somebody" and "Blurred Lines" were produced in 2013. A YouTube video about the making of the "Love Somebody" video shows that it was shot on January 16, 2013. The "Love Somebody" video was released on Vevo on May 21, 2013. It was directed by Rich Lee, and shows barechested Adam Levine using inverse green screen technology to rub paint onto Ratajkowski with his hands. As they touch they reveal each other. Levine "caresses and serenades" Ratajkowski during the video.

Thicke had seen Ratajkowski on the cover of treats! magazine in what Bee Shapiro of The New York Times described as a "an artfully composed black-and-white photograph of Ms. Ratajkowski sitting completely nude with her knees tucked to her chest" and convinced director Diane Martel to cast her in the "Blurred Lines" music video. Upon viewing the cover, Martel decided that "She looked smart and stunningly beautiful". Ratajkowski initially declined the role, but Martel persuaded her to accept it. She had feared being classified as a music video model. The "Blurred Lines" music video was released on YouTube on March 20, 2013.

An explicit version of the video, with extensive nudity, was posted by Thicke on March 28, 2013. Ratajkowski danced topless in one version of the video and was scantily clad in the other. In the explicit version, the models cavort about the stage in shoes and nude-colored thongs for a large portion of the video, while the fully dressed men flirt with them. Although YouTube banned the explicit version of the video on April 1 for violating its Community Guidelines due to its sexually explicit nature, the explicit video remains available, although age-restricted, on the site.

Ratajkowski said she felt the attention given to the nudity in the video illustrated that American culture had not advanced as far as it should have. She said, "We're at an interesting time where women have been told to take the [birth control] pill is cool, to sleep with whomever you want, or wear what you want. But if you're naked, it can be offensive or sexist in some way." She said sexuality is repressed in contemporary society, which is bad for both sexes.

That eye contact and that attitude really puts us in a power situation.... I think it's actually celebrating women and their bodies.

–Emily Ratajkowski, discussing her role in "Blurred Lines"

In addition to creating controversy for the nudity in its video, "Blurred Lines" was criticized as being sexist and for its approach to rape, particularly in regard to the repeated phrase "I know you want it". Ratajkowski told Esquire she did not think the video is sexist. She told Complex magazine, "I think there's different kinds of nudity, and there's different kinds of sexiness, and obviously it's hard to distinguish those things. I think that the video was tasteful, beautiful, and there's nothing offensive about it." She also said she interpreted the video to be about "these ladies being silly and a little sarcastic". In a September 2014 cover story for Ocean Drive magazine, Ratajkowski said the song "gave me an opportunity to say the things that I felt about feminism today and about women in general in pop culture".

"Blurred Lines" went on to become the number 1 song of 2013 on music charts in many countries, including Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, and United Kingdom. Although the song placed second on the year-end US Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song's twelve consecutive weeks at number one made it the longest-running number-one single since "I Gotta Feeling" held the spot for fourteen consecutive weeks in 2009. It was the longest running number one song of the 2010s decade until "Uptown Funk" surpassed it with a streak of fourteen consecutive weeks at number one in 2015.

Rise to fame

Emily Ratajkowski for Day 16 of LOVE Advent 2014

The "Blurred Lines" video garnered Ratajkowski much fame and attention, especially as a sex symbol. On October 22, 2013, Esquire named Ratajkowski the "Woman of the Year", beating Jennifer Lawrence in the final round of an online fan voting contest. In December of that year, Rolling Stone listed her among its 20 hottest sex symbols (from both sexes) of the year. On February 4, 2014, Sports Illustrated named Ratajkowski as one of its 12 rookies for its 50th anniversary Swimsuit Issue. On April 30, 2014, FHM ranked Ratajkowski the fourth sexiest woman in the world. On May 23, 2014, Maxim included her at #62 on its annual Hot 100 list. She also was invited to the 18th annual May 15, 2014 Condé Nast Traveler Hot List Party. Ratajkowski won the "Our New Girlfriend Award" at the Spike Guys' Choice Awards on June 7, 2014. AskMen ranked Ratajkowski the third most desirable woman of 2014 and the hottest model of the year.

She also appeared topless on the cover of Carine Roitfeld's magazine CR Fashion Book in erotic scenes with Karlie Kloss and male models, photographed by Bruce Weber in July 2013. Ratajkowski parlayed her sudden prominence into supporting roles in major films. She played Andie Hardy, the mistress of Ben Affleck's character, in David Fincher's 2014 film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel Gone Girl. She got the part through a New York City "cattle call" audition and a subsequent Los Angeles reading with Affleck and Fincher. Fincher was seeking an actress who could bring a divisive element to the film. Affleck encouraged Fincher to consider Ratajkowski for the part after seeing her in the "Blurred Lines" video. Her hometown newspaper U-T San Diego described Ratajkowski's performance in Gone Girl as "nuanced". Styleite's Ben Barna said he received positive feedback on her performance. Much of the commentary about her appearance in the film focused on her sex appeal, but some noted that her small role as a "duplicitous and manipulative former student" was critical to the film.

On June 24, 2014, Ratajkowski appeared topless on the cover and in a photograph spread in the July 2014 edition of American GQ. She gave men dating advice in the online videos and cover story. The magazine caused controversy at retailer Lands' End, which had arranged for its best customers to receive a free copy of the issue. Some of the company's customers objected to the racy cover and accompanying images in the associated story. As a result of the customer dissatisfaction, Lands' End CEO Edgar Huber made a public apology.

Ratajkowski became the new face of Italian retailer Yamamay on August 15, 2014. In September, she was among a large group of female celebrities targeted in a wave of hacking and internet posting of nude photographs. A few days after Gone Girl premiered at the 2014 New York Film Festival on September 26, Ratajkowski was announced as the covergirl for the November 2014 issue of Cosmopolitan. In the cover story, she stated that she enjoys freedom of sexual expression to "wear what she wants, sleep with whom she wants, and dance how she wants, while still being a feminist." On October 30, 2014, she appeared with Taylor Kitsch in the live-action trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare in advance of its November 4 release. Ratajkowski appeared on the cover of the February 2015 issue of FHM, but she claimed via Twitter that her picture was used without her consent. FHM has stated "We liked the pictures so much we stuck one on our front cover".

Ratajkowski co-starred in the 2015 film Entourage, in which she appeared as a fictionalized version of herself. Her role as Vincent Chase's (played by Adrian Grenier) visually appealing love interest was described in a myriad of sexist ways in the press, with several mentions of her as the object of multiple affections. However, her performance received critical commentary ranging from "less than compelling" by the The Hollywood Reporter's Sheri Linden to "uncanny realism" by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Steven Rea. Wesley Morris of Grantland described her role and performance with some sarcasm: "the holy presentation of the model and actress Emily Ratajkowski as a combination of Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, and a walking Viagra dispenser". Some critics, including A. O. Scott of The New York Times and Alonso Duralde of TheWrap, noted her early disappearance from the film.

Ratajkowski was cast in The Spoils Before Dying. She appeared late in the 2015 miniseries. Her performance in this role was favorably reviewed by Emily L. Stephens of The A.V. Club. Other critics noted in passing that she was among the key members of the solid supporting cast.

Early leading roles

Ratajkowski was cast in her first leading role, opposite Zac Efron, in We Are Your Friends, a musical drama which was released in August 2015. Ratajkowski was part of the August 2015 promotional tour for We Are Your Friends that included stops in London, Paris and 6 North American cities (Toronto, Miami, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco). Around the time of the film release she was prominent in the media. She made cover appearances on the September 2015 issues of British GQ and harper by Harper's Bazaar as well as the October 2015 issue of InStyle UK. At the August 30, 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, she and Rita Ora presented the MTV Video Music Award for Artist to Watch.

Ratajkowski's We Are Your Friends performance garnered her mixed reviews for acting and broad support for her telegenics. She played Stanford University dropout Sophie, the love interest of Efron's character and girlfriend/personal assistant of Wes Bentley's character. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times and Wesley Morris of Grantland noted that Ratajkowski, who again played the attractive object of affections, had yet to demonstrate acting proficiency. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe said her performance was "lovely to look at and surpassingly dull". Nell Minow was also unimpressed. Kyle Smith of the New York Post, Jordan Hoffman of Daily News and Glenn Kenny praised her performance as "entrancing", "sweet", "sexy" and "sensible". Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph and Morris noted that she has maintained her rhythmic dancing skills and sex appeal seen in "Blurred Lines". After noting her beauty, Duralde of TheWrap stated that Sophie was a thin role (a sentiment echoed by Burr), while Christopher Gray described Sophie as a muse. Bilge Ebiri of Vulture.com and James Berardinelli noted that Ratajkowski's role in the love triangle takes a back seat to the bromance between Efron and Bentley as the movie's central relationship. Christy Lemire noted that towards the end the script allowed her to present some appealing character elements instead of playing herself.

Ratajkowski has a variety of upcoming roles. Her next role will be as Jessica Weintraub, the female lead in Cruise opposite Spencer Boldman, which is written and directed Robert Siegel. According to the Daily Mail, by September 2015 she had worked on the 2016 film Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur. On February 19, 2016, Deadline.com broke the story that she joined the cast of In Darkness alongside Natalie Dormer, Ed Skrein and Stacy Martin, Ratajkowski also announced in March 2016 that she would be involved in Joe Swanberg's Netflix project Easy.

Before she began filming Cruise she made her runway modelling debut for Marc Jacobs at the Spring/Summer 2016 New York Fashion Week September 17, 2015, finale. This appearance contributed to her selection by Vogue as one of its 12 Breakout Beauty Stars of the 2015. For Fall/Winter 2016 fashions Ratajkowski again walked New York Fashion week for Marc Jacobs on February 18 and also made her Paris Fashion Week debut for Miu Miu on March 9, 2016.

Buick featured Ratajkowski and Odell Beckham, Jr. in its first Super Bowl ad during the second quarter of Super Bowl 50 on CBS on February 7, 2016 for the Buick Cascada convertible. The ad, in which Ratajkowski made a wedding bouquet catch reminiscent of Beckham's famous catch from 2014, received average ratings according to USA Today's admeter. The ad was filmed with a stunt double making the featured catch for Ratajkowski. Ratajkowski developed a relationship with Jacquie Aiche as a customer, and she was featured by the Los Angeles-based jewelry designer as the face of her Spring 2016 campaign wearing body chains, rings, bracelets, pendants, and chokers.

Activism and advocacy

Ratajkowski has done public service announcements promoting safe sex and birth control for Planned Parenthood. She has also raised funds for the organization and has described the organization as "the main charity that I work with" because of its prominence as a proactive women's health organization. She has gotten a wide range of responses to her involvement, including comments on her bravery. Her involvement has also caught the attention of right to life advocates and drawn ire from the likes of the National Right to Life Committee. Planned Parenthood has presented Ratajkowski as a spokesperson for its birth control support. Ratajkowski, is outspoken on her interest in going beyond speaking out in favor of birth control and using her celebrity to fight against the social implications of speaking out for empowerment of women and sexuality.

On the eve of the February 9, 2016 New Hampshire Democratic primary, Ratajkowski spoke at a Bernie Sanders rally in New Hampshire to endorse his campaign. One of the main points of her speech and her social media activity surrounding it was to counter Gloria Steinem's statement that young female Sanders supporters (and thus Hillary Clinton opponents) were in it for the boys.

Ratajkowski published her recollections on the pressure about her sexuality that she endured as a youth and her current thoughts on female sexual empowerment in Lena Dunham's Lenny newsletter on February 16. The letter was republished by many major media outlets including the websites of Elle, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. It was received favorably by a wide variety of media outlets: Salon's Erin Coulehan described the essay as a statement about the Catch-22 of being a woman in a society where showcasing sexuality in a way that may "accidentally offend, excite, or create envy" leads to criticism and body-shaming; Glamour's Hayley Spencer described it as "powerful"; The Huffington Post's Jenavieve Hatch said Ratajkowski "has a lot to say"; Cosmopolitan's Nikki Kinstlinger noted that Ratajkowski was "Preach"ing a message about society but not her modelling or acting professions. Georgia Simmonds of Marie Claire described Ratajkowski's statements as follows: "Fundamentally, she refuses to be apologetic - she is determined to define sexy on her own terms, shame-free and finds empowerment in that process." Rachael Moon of The Daily Mirror noted that the letter was a revealing discussion of "what it means to be sexual". In keeping with her letter, Ratajkowski got involved in the March social media controversy surrounding Kim Kardashian's posting of naked selfies by defending Kardashian's right in the context of women's rights to "express their sexuality and share their bodies however they choose".

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Andrew's Alteration	Young Girl	Short film
2005	A Year and a Day	Girl
2014	Gone Girl	Andie Fitzgerald
2015	Entourage	Herself
2015	We Are Your Friends	Sophie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009–2010	iCarly	Tasha	2 episodes
2015	The Spoils Before Dying		Main cast

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist
2012	"Fast Car"	Taio Cruz
2013	"Blurred Lines"	Robin Thicke ft. T.I. and Pharrell
2013	"Love Somebody"	Maroon 5

External links

• Official website
• Emily Ratajkowski at IMDb
• Emily Ratajkowski at Fashion Model Directory
• Emily Ratajkowski on Models.com