Russia's Brazilian Beauty Goes Greek
MODEL
Irina Shayk smiles benevolently (if a little sexily) from the posters of the new
Hercules movie and, while appearing to be the perfect Grecian goddess, the first-time actress's greatest asset is her indefinable heritage.
"People don't believe I'm Russian, they always say, 'You look Brazilian' - but my father was a Tatar, which is close to Mongolia, and I get my colouring from him. I always say that I'm a Russian spy," she laughed. "Megara, my character, is a Greek mythology character; she's the wife of Hercules. It's my first time, but hopefully not the last time! It was a very small role but a very important character for the movie and I felt this was something I could definitely handle for my first role. Also, my name is Greek, Irina, so I felt attached to the film right away."
Shayk loved the atmosphere of being on set - where the scale and the grandour of Greek mythology was recreated in Hungary and Croatia, where filming took place - and relied on her fellow actors, including Dwayne Johnson who plays Hercules, for tips on how to handle difficult scenes.
"It was really great to work with Dwayne, he's very professional," she nodded. "He helped me a lot, just him being there, looking at me, really helped. I felt very attached to my 'husband' which made it easier for me. I'm not a professional actress, it's my first movie, so it was great to have that support. I think the most difficult scene for me was the death scene, because you have to lay in the ground and obviously you can't move, you can't breathe, you can't blink your eyes!"
Johnson (he'll always be "The Rock" to us too), who plays Hercules, undertook a gruelling eight-month training regime to transform into the "man who would become a legend" but Shayk only had to have her body in shape for a nearly nude scene - surely something that she took in her stride?
"When you're on set for modelling,
even for a lingerie shoot, you have maybe 10 people behind the camera, but on a film you have 200 people!" Shayk said, shaking her head incredulously. "You have to perform and you have to forget that you're a model; you have to be real. It's very different. You have to really believe in your character."
Considering her enthusiasm for acting, it seems feasible that she may make it her full-time or at least primary role - but Shayk is keen to keep her options open.
"I love fashion, and I love to be a model, but definitely I enjoyed making this movie and I would like to act again," she said. "If something different or something great comes along I'll give it a try. You can never plan, it's like a lottery. Modelling opens so many doors - television hosting, acting, designing - so you can never plan. Let's see."
And as for her footballer boyfriend, Cristiano Ronaldo - who she starred on a couple's
Vogue cover with earlier this year for
Vogue Spain - is there any chance that he might try to move in on her modelling territory after his first high-fashion experience?
"You know, the
Vogue cover was so much fun, it was a great team," she nodded coyly, without ever mentioning the Portuguese superstar him by name. "You can never go wrong with Mario Testino."
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