It's my job in Hollywood to find roles where I get to be a character not a bathing suit.
I was born in Northern California and lived there until I was about eight years old. Then my parents moved me up to Seattle. I lived there from ages eight to 16. When I was a California kid, I remember running around in my bathing suit and barefoot all the time and getting a suntan.
When you have a gown, there's much more to be concerned about. Where is this crease falling? Are you making a weird shape with the dress? Are you doing the designer justice? With a bathing suit, it's more about you and the mood you convey.
When I was 13, I was in my tent at Girl Scout camp, trying to change out of my bathing suit and talking at the same time. I fell out of the tent in front of everyone with my bathing suit around my ankles. I was humiliated - but no amount of humiliation has ever seemed to stop me.
The specific story line that people have responded to the most has been the horror of bathing suit shopping.
My girlfriend suggested a bathing suit line, and we are creating it together. We are calling the line Sew Unique Bathing Suits. My girlfriend and I are designing, and there will be some unique pieces. For example, you might find jewelry on some of the suits. Some of the line will just be for show - you do not swim in them.
Whenever I wore a bathing suit, I kept a sarong around my hips that went halfway down my thighs. The tops of my thighs are like baby skin. Where the sarong ended, I can see sun damage: I've got dark spots and places where there is no melanin. The spots are not pretty, so I encourage everyone to protect their skin from the sun.
You're in a bathing suit pretty much all year round working for Victoria's Secret. There's so many shoots, and we're always in lingerie, so you kinda always have to be prepared and ready.
I grew up in San Diego, California, and I spent a lot of time in the summer basically living in a bathing suit, you know, get in the car and drive straight to the beach and spend the entire day in that thing, so I always approached bathing suits thinking that they are very much like outfits.
For me it's always about trying to consistently maintain a fit and body-conscious eating schedule so three days before I'm not like, 'Oh my God - I have a bathing suit shoot I have to do.'
