The Verge: Colin Egglesfield

Then what happened?

The next thing you know, it was a couple months later and I was on a beach in Florida, shooting Ralph Lauren and Versace with Bruce Weber and Naomi Campbell. A few months after that, I was in Milan walking down runways for Gianni Versace and Armani. It was this world of high fashion, and where I came from, high fashion at the time was Banana Republic. It was this amazing experience where I got to to go to parties at Donatella Versace's, meet celebrities, go to Tokyo and Paris and London...it was incredible.

At what point did you decide to give acting a shot?

I had been exposed to acting as a kid in summer theater camp, but it was never something I really took seriously. Once I got to New York City, I thought, "I might as well give it a shot." I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, because a thousand failed auditions later, I started booking stuff. What I've learned from my experiences in the acting industry is that [the job] doesn't always go to the best actor -- and I don't claim to be the best actor in the world -- but with each experience, I feel like I've learned something and I've taken it into the next job that I've done. A lot of it has to do with being in the right place at the right time and there's definitely a bit of luck involved, but when things line up and come together, it's pretty magical. That's why I keep doing what I do, even though there's a lot of disappointment involved in this industry.

Was it disconcerting to go from modeling -- where you were at the top of the game so quickly -- to acting, where you had to put in all that time and all those auditions that never went anywhere?

Well, I wouldn't say modeling came easy either. I mean, it's not that it's the hardest job in the world -- once you get the job, you're there in front of the camera smiling with all these beautiful people -- but you definitely have to watch what you eat and work out. Some people might say, "Boo-hoo," but you have to be pretty savvy in knowing who the players are in the industry and go to parties and meet as many people as you can. It wasn't just like I showed up and people said, "You're amazing! We want to take your picture!"

So what did you have to do to make it happen in acting?

Coming from the work ethic of the midwest, I never expected anything to happen easily, so when it came to acting, I just started doing research on how did all the people I look up to get where they're at? Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt...I searched out who the acting teachers were who coached them. Someone like Brad Pitt, you think, "Great-looking guy, talented, a natural," but having read articles about him, he would be one of the hardest-working students in Ivana Chubbuck's acting class. He would stay after class and want to rehearse even more. I knew it would be hard work, but I like working toward something that isn't easy to accomplish. I love having something challenging to shoot for and then overcoming all the obstacles to get where I want to go. Then, when it's all said and done, I feel like I've grown as a person and as an actor, and I can go to the beach afterwards and know that I've earned it.

Like you did with Something Borrowed.

When you land a gig like this, there's nothing better. The audition process for this lasted a month and I had to go in there four different times for them to narrow it down until finally it was between me and another guy. When my agent and manager called me up to tell me I had gotten this, it was a Friday morning at 9 o'clock, and I think everyone in my neighborhood heard me. I jumped up on my bed and started screaming. [Laughs] It's pretty exciting when things do come through.

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