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Model Student: A Conversation with Diana Silvers
by Elizabeth Katz
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY - 13 March 2016
It’s early Sunday morning in the Tisch student lounge, and Diana Silvers looks effortlessly cool.
Her hair is pulled up into a messy high ponytail and the very little makeup – if any – she wears still manages to look stunning. This should come as no surprise, since, when the freshman acting major in Tisch isn’t in class, or writing an essay, she’s modeling. I met with Diana to discuss artistic endeavors, ambition, and her “aesthetic.”
EK: How did you get your start in modeling?
DS: When I was about 15, I went into Wilhelmina (modeling agency) with one of my best friends – she was already a model with them and she had to pick up some cards so I just went with her – and they signed me.
EK: Were you interested in modeling before?
DS: It crossed my mind before then because – well, I’m an acting major and I’m super tall –when you’re tall and young, it’s really hard to act because it’s mostly TV work and most people are on the shorter side. You’re supposed to be 18, but look like you’re 12. I was 16, and I looked like I was 20. So, I started working with Wilhelmina and I booked this editorial for British Elle magazine. It was a big deal, but then, after that, they [the agency] didn’t really do anything with me – that summer they took me off the website, and it was very confusing. Then, IMG Models scouted me and I was thinking of leaving Wilhelmina anyway, so I thought, “This is actually great! My dream agency wants to sign me!” So, that’s where I am right now, just in development, figuring out what I want to do next.
EK: When did you start working with Brandy Melville?
DS: It was right after I signed with Wilhelmina, but they weren’t connected. I was just in the store with my friend and they liked what I was wearing so they asked me to work for them. I mostly do Product Research and Development – pitch ideas for them, create things on photo shop and send it to them – and I photograph girls and find girls; I model occasionally.
EK: So, were you acting throughout that whole period?
DS: Well, I don’t have an acting agent. I was just doing high school plays, but now I’m majoring in it here. NYU was my number one school. When I got in, I cried.
EK: And what acting studio are you in?
DS: I’m in Stella Adler. I like it, I think the reason they placed me there was because I was wearing all black to my audition! (She laughs.) No, in my audition I told them I had an interest in directing and writing and producing, and I’m going to minor in film, here at Tisch as well. So maybe that’s why I’m in Adler – we do a little bit of camera work.
EK: Wow, so you have a lot of interests – how do you manage it all?
DS: Ah, this is the question everyone always asks me. Well right now with IMG we’re just doing the basics, but I’m staying in New York over the summer, which I’m really happy about. And I’ll probably start working again then; if things take off and Tisch wants to kick me out, I’ll go to Gallatin! Karlie Kloss and I are in the same agency – she’s Karlie Kloss, I’m no Karlie Kloss! – but she wants to do school, so she’s in the independent study in Gallatin. It’s great that NYU offers a program like that; I don’t think any other school does; where you can create a major and not have to be in class every day.
EK: So it must be difficult to manage modeling with 9-6 studio days.
DS: Yeah, my friends who are also in development – they don’t go to school, they just move to New York and live in an apartment, and all they do is exercise and go on castings. And I would be doing that, but I’m in school! But it’s better that way, because I’m getting an education and studying something that I love. I love to learn. I like to feel like I’m working towards something, like a diploma. And what you put into your education is what you’re going to get out of it.
Photo from Instagram, @dianasilvers.
Photo from Instagram, @dianasilverss.
EK: If you had to prioritize all the things in your life, is acting first?
DS: Yeah, definitely. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was…well I started acting when I was about six, but I didn’t really care about it until I was 11 or 12. And the hobbies that came along with it – it just adds to it. It’s all in the same artistic division of visual arts basically. But acting is like the star on the Christmas tree.
EK: So you’re also into photography and you have a specific Instagram for your photography where you’ve posted pictures of Cole Sprouse (@dianasilversphoto). How did you meet him?
DS: Ah okay, this is a funny story – well, it’s actually not that funny. But this photographer was shooting my friend Emma and me for Brandy, back in August, when I first moved here. And that day, she was like, “I’m going to meet up with Cole and Natalie after the shoot.” I said, “Natalie Fong?” She’s a photographer who I keep up with on Instagram and Tumblr. And I wanted to meet her, so we tagged along. I met Cole there and we just clicked – he’s one of my really good friends.
EK: Where do you go to take your pictures?
DS: Well, two weeks ago I just decided to take a train to Montauk – I pulled my Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind! – with one of my good friends. But usually, I just do urban exploration. I take the Hudson Line train up to different spots, or I’ll just go to Long Island and find a place.
EK: So you have quite a few Instagram followers (138K to be exact) and most of them are young girls, right?
DS: I think so, or really creepy guys from Turkey. You should see my DMs.
EK: So do you consider yourself as a role model for these girls when you post?
DS: I guess it’s something I have to consider, just because they are young girls, and they’re mostly 13-17, and I don’t want to post anything that could trigger or offend anyone. But, sometimes it does get frustrating, because I’m just a normal 18-year-old living in New York. I’m going to go through changes. It’s a weird place of, “I want to show you guys who I am,” but I also don’t want to offend anyone or hurt anyone’s feelings. I do feel a weird sense of paranoia at NYU, especially since I’ve started hanging out with Cole. People have come up to me and said, “Oh, you’re the Cole Sprouse girl!” That’s such a weird thing to say to someone. Or people have asked me to follow them, and that’s also weird because it’s like, “I don’t know you!”
EK: You mostly just post to share your life then?
DS: Yeah, if my followers are interested in that then, okay, but I’m not going to give a full explanation of my day. Sometimes I will let them know, “Hey, I had a really bad day today.” Even people with Instagram followers have terrible days! I think people place that Instagram fame on a pedestal, and honestly it’s like monopoly money – it doesn’t mean anything. As long as you remember that, it keeps you grounded.
EK: If you were feeling lonely in the city, what would be your cure?
DS: One thing my mom always told me, before I moved here – she lived in New York in the 80’s – was, “The thing about New York is, at the end of the day, you’re always alone.” And it’s something that stuck with me. I try not to let it bring me down, when I’m feeling sad. But if I’m feeling lonely, I’ll watch The Office, because they’re my friends. Or I’ll text my friends from home. But I try not to dwell on it.
EK: Who are your biggest artistic inspirations?
DS: David Bowie, very much so. Ah, I love this question. John Lennon is very important to me. Meryl Streep, she’s a queen. I really honor and admire her. As an actor, as a person, she’s someone who is soft spoken and humble. She’s the crème de la crème. Leonardo DiCaprio as an actor and an environmentalist – but just those two. (She laughs.) Taylor Swift – her music always just coincided with whatever was going on in my life. The older I get the more her music makes sense to me.
EK: Describe yourself in five adjectives.
DS: Um, weird…ambitious… genuine, honest – I guess those are kind of one – pensive, I think a lot, it’s terrible. (Music plays in the background.) The jazz music is helping me think. Passionate.
EK: You know how there’s the whole “Tumblr style”?
DS: Oh, like aesthetic? The grainy pink filter over the picture of a girl in a lace bralette looking over Paris in the summer’s afternoon.
EK: Yes, precisely. Why do you think that’s so popular and for you, is that genuine?
DS: People ask me what my aesthetic is and I think for me – my two favorite times of the day are sunrise and dusk, not so much the sunset, but that time period right after – and I feel like that lighting is what “my aesthetic” is to me. I can’t explain all the different aesthetics, maybe it has to do with the books you read and the films you watch, but I started getting into that when I began shooting film photography myself.
EK: On a few of your pictures on Instagram, your caption has something to do with your “already growing narcissism.” What’s the intention there?
DS: Well, I’m sort of kidding. But you know, as Bowie says, “Make love with your ego.” There’s clearly a huge difference between narcissism and confidence. But, in an industry where there are so many people who want the same exact thing as you, you have to want it. And confidence is a big part of that.
EK: Okay, here are just some easy, quick questions. Who are your favorite musicians?
DS: Oh, well I guess I have favorite bands. The Beatles, of course. Bowie, Coldplay, John Mayer, The Head and the Heart, Alt-J, Queen, Radiohead, Neutral Milk Hotel, Elton John, Prince, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Taylor Swift, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones.
EK: And some favorite films?
DS: American Beauty, Almost Famous, those are two of my favorite movies ever. The Royal Tenenbaums, I loved it so much I bought the soundtrack. I really liked Blue Valentine. And, oh, Into the Wild. The Shining. The Silence of the Lambs.
EK: What are your five favorite books?
DS: The Great Gatsby, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, Looking for Alaska – yeah, I’m one of those, To Kill A Mockingbird, and The Virgin Suicides.
EK: I’ve seen the movie adaptation of The Virgin Suicides, but I haven’t read the book.
DS: Oh, the book is amazing. The movie was very true to the book, which I appreciate. And the aesthetic of the movie is amazing! I guess that’s my aesthetic – Virgin Suicides mixed with a little bit of the 1960’s and 70’s.
EK: And what does the future hold for you? Do you plan to stay here after graduating?
DS: It kind of depends how the career plays out. I feel like the film industry is moving more towards New York. In a perfect world, I could be bicoastal and spend six months in L.A. and six months in New York. But, it just depends how the future plays itself out.
