‘America’s Next Top Model’: Talking with Lauren, a friendly sort of punk

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What are you up to now?
Well, you have to go back to everyday life, so I had to get a job: I work in an art store. The show took a few months to film, and somebody has to pay the rent. If I want, I’ll pursue modeling. Before the show I never had a background in modeling. I found a different side of me: I’m kind of scared by it, but I like it.

Did you feel we saw the real you on the show?
Yes and no. At panel they panned me as this meek, mousy girl, and I’m not. I have a habit of being lewd and offensive and be all things to people, and we saw a little of that when I went a little crazy, but my buttons were pushed, and I don’t let people walk all over me, and that’s what happened.

What are your buttons? What was bothering you?
I don’t like when someone puts you in your place and that person has no authority over you, and they just are really pious. And I’m bugged by people who manipulate situations to have things go their way, like Fatima.

Who are you referencing when you mention ‘pious’ and authoritative?
Dominique. She likes to push her ideas on everyone else, even though I don’t really know what her ideas are or if she has one.

Are you still close with anyone from the show?
I would like to keep in touch with Marvita and Amis -- they’re hysterical and they’re good people, and Kat. And Claire -- she’s into zombies, I like that.

Claire said that it’s hard to be yourself when you’re on the show. Did you feel that way?
When we’re in the house, we are subject to insanity: We’re not allowed to watch TV, read books, listen to music, and that’s an outlet normal people have to escape. We were put in these awkward situations to make the drama happen. It’s like scare tactics and sleep deprivation. It’s obvious that something’s gonna happen. It’s hard. Some people lose faith in who they are more easily. I had no problem being myself. I think that’s one of my downfalls too: I’m willing to change who I am. I like to hone things, but I’m very stubborn.

Which was your least favorite part of being on the show? Most favorite?
It was fun to see these different personalities, but sometimes it was too much. To them I’m completely alien. They would judge me on how I look and how I act. It was cool to see these different girls I would never associate with otherwise. It was cool to get makeup done. It was stuff I would never do on my own, that was cool.

You did wear makeup extremely well.
It was crazy! I’d look in the mirror and be like, who the hell is that? My background is completely different. A lot of these girls have had better pasts than me, some have had worse, but it’s all different. I was homeless, I lived in a squat sometimes, I train-hopped and panhandled. You can’t really wear makeup when you’re panhandling. I think, considering the crappy past I’ve had, life hands you things and you go with it. This was an opportunity, so I went with it.

You didn’t talk about that too much on the show
No. I liked the shoot, though. It touched on this topic that’s not really discussed.

Is there a reason why you didn’t discuss it much? It seems like they like to play that kind of stuff up on ‘ANTM.’
It didn’t get the kind of reaction they were looking for because I was like, ‘Yeah it was fun. I loved it!’ All that bad stuff that was handed to me, I turned it around and made it something positive. It didn’t bring me down. It sucked when it happened, but it was a good thing too because it made me discover who I was, and it was a gift. I’m not embarrassed by it, and it happened because it was meant to happen. I would train hop again. It’s not for everyone. It’s very, very dangerous. You appreciate life from a different point of view when you do that.

How do you think the other girls viewed that?
I think some people liked it. Some people didn’t know what to think of it. In their happy, white picket fence, it could disturb them. I’m the antithesis of that. It’s not who I am. Wearing makeup and looking pretty is weird to me, it’s totally foreign, but to someone else, I’m foreign to them.

Did you enjoy being in Rome?
It was fun. I wish we could appreciate it more for the great city it is. We were rushed in, and the crew told us, ‘OK, scream!’ If you go to the Met, though, you don’t scream when you see a great piece of art. You take it in and appreciate it. I thought how it was edited made me look bored. And I’m like, why are you people acting like freaks? Who screams when they see the Colosseum?

You were portrayed as having given up on the competition. Is that what happened?
I was more annoyed by how these girls were acting.

Your Cover Girl commercial could have been a Fellini film if it were filmed in black and white and had sad music playing.
It looked like someone had a gun to my head the whole time!

Were you familiar with the show before you tried out?
I watched it before, but I never saw myself like one of the girls. I watched the show because I thought it was utter trash, and I loved it for the fact that it was a train wreck, but I never thought I would be on the train wreck. That’s why I was a little scared at panel, I was wondering when the theatrics would come in.

You reminded me a little of Adrianne from Cycle 1.
A lot of people compare me to Heather. I don’t see it, though. She’s pretty but, like, I don’t have Aspberger’s.

What inspires your art?
My past is a little dark, and it touches on that. My art is me trying to filter all the dark stuff out. It’s a little scary, and it turns a lot of people off, but it also turns a lot of people on. A lot of art isn’t meant to be pretty, but that’s where confusion lies: There can be an ugly beautiful, and it has meaning. It’s a nostalgic gesture, and it’s a fond memory.

Can you explain the concussion pictures you have on your Myspace page?
A lot of people thought I was beaten by cops, but that’s not true. The bruise on my leg was from when I tried out for the show. I had gone to a show and I got this huge bruise and I went to the audition with this huge bruise on my leg, and we had to wear bikinis and stuff, and I had this huge bruise that was the entirety of my leg, so I thought it would be hilarious to put that up. As for the concussion, I have low blood pressure -- I was on my way home and I fell, ‘cause I passed out and I cracked my head open.

Best of luck to you, Lauren.
Aaw, thanks. I hope something comes of this! Have a nice day.

--Claire Zulkey