Interview with Gabrielle Salinger
Gabrielle Sanglier is a 23-year old model residing in Los Angeles, California.
How would you introduce yourself to our readers?
I was born and raised in Boston MA. but I don’t have the accent. . . unless I want to. I love modeling, acting, writing and baking! I actually ran a successful home baking service for a few years called, “I Made It Myself!”
I have one older sister, Natasha, who works as an attorney in Boston. My father is an attorney as well and my mother is the Manager of Editorial Operations at the Massachusetts Medical Society.
When, how and why did you first get involved in the modeling industry?
I began acting when I was very young, maybe five or six years old, doing local theater. My first big role was as a mouse in a professional run of Cinderella!. When I was about fifteen or sixteen I went to get my first set of real headshots and the photographer asked me to come back and do a modeling session for a show he was having. I went back to the studio, had my hair and makeup done and did my first professional shoot! I loved it and have been modeling ever since.
What are your personal and professional goals? Where do you see yourself in five to ten years?
I want to keep working and experiencing bigger and bigger projects. I have a movie lined up that shoots in London, Scotland and New York! I’ve always wanted to travel for my work and my absolute goal right now is to get to do a shoot in Tokyo!
How often are you modeling and what does it usually consist of?
Modeling and acting jobs come when they come and in this profession, the old saying, “When it rains it pours” is especially true. Sometimes there will be weeks with no action, then all of a sudden you have three auditions, a movie and a photo shoot all scheduled for the same week! For modeling, I’m lucky enough to book mostly edgier, high fashion editorial shoots and art shoots which I think are the most fun! You really get to dress up and play a fantastical character as opposed to commercial shoots, where the goal is to be sweet, cute and accessible. I think editorials give you much more room to play.
Please tell us about the best and/or worst experiences you’ve had so far in modeling.
One of the best shoots I’ve worked on is actually my most recent. I shot with photographer Elizabeth Parker from Couture Portraiture for an editorial spread titled, “Things with Wings”. I portrayed a high fashion bat! Elizabeth works with an extremely talented crew and is a delight to shoot with! One of the worst experiences was actually a fake job, the “photographer” who booked me was actually just a scam artist. He tried to fondle my. . . “bikini area” and then told me I should lose ten pounds. It’s just a reminder that anyone can claim to be a professional, but some shoots are really just bait to try and take advantage of models.
Have you had anything funny, embarrassing or completely out of the ordinary happen during your modeling career?
I booked a fashion video for a well known clothing retailer, that had me portraying a high-end, conceptual “bird-woman” -which makes me guess I’m often cast as winged creatures haha- I spent two days half-naked craning my neck around and flapping fake wings as a frightened, little sparrow. It was a very professional set and very fun, but the room was ice cold to keep the lights from overheating and half the shoot was me lying on the, very cold, floor. I wasn’t allowed to move for the sake of continuity and couldn’t really speak because of a complicated beak contraption so during breaks they would throw blankets on me while I mumbled out a, “thank you!” I was pretty bruised and broken from all the floor laying and massively uncomfortable at the time, but looking back in retrospect, the mental image is hilarious!
Is there anything you would change about the modeling industry if you could?
There are many things I would change about the modeling industry if I could. For one there would be a lot more regulation for the safety and well being of the models. It’s indisputably a profession with a lot of potential for danger; and even with all the warnings, at the end of the day, it’s hard to be a small framed little girl in a predominantly male-run business.
Do you practice any sports and what do you typically eat? Please elaborate on the importance of nutrition and exercise in your life.
I do light cardio and strength training most days, just simple things I can do in my living room like planks and crunches, or I’ll go hiking with my friends when I can. I’m a pesca-tarian and I don’t eat dairy for the benefit of my skin. I try to eat a diet high in omega-3’s, so lots of avocados, salmon and almonds! I also try to drink the recommended 64 ounces of water per day and I add dehydrated aloe-vera flakes to one glass of water every day. Glowing, healthy skin is very important to me and I’m obsessed with aloe vera or what the ancient Egyptians called, “The plant of immortality.”
Please share something people don’t know about you.
I’m the grand-niece of Pierre Salinger, the former press secretary to President John F. Kennedy and the the great-granddaughter of Yiddish novelist I.J. Singer, who wrote “Yoshe Kalb” and “The Brothers Ashkenazi”, as well as the great- grandniece of Nobel Prize-winning Yiddish author, Isaac Bashevis Singer.
Would you change anything about yourself (physical or otherwise) if you could?
I go back and forth on this one. . . are there things I would change if I had god-like powers and could make myself more physically perfect? Yes, yes there are. But I don’t have those powers, all I have is me and I like what I’ve done with myself so far. When all’s said and done, having flaws drive you to work harder and achieve more. It’s normal to have things you wish you could change about yourself, but it’s healthier, and in the long run more productive, to focus on and emphasize the good, so that’s what I try to do.
What superpower do you wish you had? Why?
If I had one super power, I’d love to have the ability to fly. Very few people believe me, but when I was little I actually did fly once. I was outside in our driveway, we had just come back for the grocery store and my mom was bringing groceries inside, so I was alone. I had a powerful instinct come over me to just lay down on the grass and as soon as I did, my body lifted straight up off the ground and I hovered in the air, horizontal to the ground, and glided just above the tips of the blades of the grass. There is no doubt in my mind that this actually happened. When I went inside to tell my mom that I’d flown, she looked at me completely shocked and then told me how the exact same thing had happened to her when she was a little girl alone in her kitchen. I still remember the sensation, it was the most wonderful peaceful feeling I’ve ever had and I’d give anything to be able to do that again whenever I wanted!
Visit Gabrielle Salinger’s website for more photos and information