an old interview ( she's got a good head on her shoulders)
As the first face of Prada's Fall/Winter 06.07 runway show, Anna-Mariya Urajevskaya shot to fame immediately, landing editorials and campaigns of the highest caliber as well as the coveted covers of Vogue Paris May 2006 and Vogue Italia July 2006. Even at her young age, she has handled her in-demand status with grace, and we are very happy to have the opportunity to have Anna-Mariya as the first interview subject for Supporting Cast.
Supporting Cast: How were you discovered?
Anna-Mariya Urajevskaya: First, a friend of my father's introduced me to my mother-agency-to-be: IQ models from Moscow. Secondly, IQ models arranged my first-ever test shooting with a very talented Russian photographer. Third, I attended catwalk lessons and started working with Russian magazines. After a few months, I went to Tokyo, and that was my first modeling experience outside of Russia.
SC: Before you became a model, did you have any other prospects or ambitions? what were they?
AMU: I've always wanted to be a lawyer, and even now I think that law practice would be the best choice for me after I finish my career.
SC: How do you keep in touch with your family when you're traveling all over the world for jobs?
AMU: My mom and dad travel with me quite often. Tokyo, London, Milan, Paris - you can see us together almost everywhere! And even if they aren't able to travel with me, we talk with each other by phone 100 times per day, so I always feel like they were somewhere nearby.
SC: How would you describe the feeling you had when you were opening the Prada show?
AMU: Since Prada told me that I was going to open the show less than 5 minutes before the show itself, I just didn't have enough time to fully appreciate what's going on. Only after midnight did I realize that something very, very important happened to me that may completely change my life.
SC: You're the youngest face to ever grace the covers of both Vogue Italia and Vogue Paris within the same year -- how has this kind of honorable feature changed your outlook of a modeling career?
AMU: It wouldn't be a violation of the truth if I told you that being on the cover of either Vogue Paris or Vogue Italia was the most special dream of mine. Frankly speaking, I have a very strange and rather complicated feeling about my pictures on the covers of the both of the greatest fashion magazines last year. From one side, it was very good for me, because it immediately granted me worldwide publicity and recognition. From another side, with these covers at the age of 15, I already got to the topmost point of the modeling career -- something that most models must work hard for years to achieve. I'm very grateful to my parents and my managers that helped me to understand that the bigger deals I get now, the harder I must work.
SC: Out of all the designers you have worked with, who has been most inspiring and how?
AMU: You know, I met so many talented people in fashion industry that it is always difficult and maybe even unfair to pick out any single one. Prada gave me my first chance -- it was my first experience in big business, and Prada still remains in my memory as something absolutely special.
SC: If you could work with only one photographer for the rest of your career, who would it be and why?
AMU: Oh! Not again! Every great photographer that I worked with had a talent for creating great pictures, but they also had a talent for leaving a feeling inside of my heart that he/she is the one I'd really die for to work with over and over again! The last great photographer I worked with was Ellen von Unwerth, so now Ellen owns a big part of my heart and soul.
SC: Besides modeling, what other plans do you have for the next few years?
AMU: I have studying plans. I wish to enhance my English first. Maybe I will even study one more language.
SC: What would be your dream campaign to book?
AMU: One campaign? Only one? I have a dream to book at least ten campaigns at once!
SC: If you could say one thing to your fans and others who aspire to model, what would you tell them?
AMU: I would say this: If you have a dream, you must never stop trying to achieve it!
supporting-cast.com
I'm sure Anna's still making bank away from the HF runways in NY, Paris, and Milan.
And her murderous glare is just priceless 
