Goldcoast.com.au – Rachel Syers

December 2nd, 2008

CATHERINE McNeil never liked smiling for the cameras … now she’s grinning on magazine covers in Australia, Paris and the US.

And she has plenty of reason to be pleased the Logan teenager is being hailed as one of the new breed of top models walking the global runways.

At 19, McNeil has a famous name to match the famous face.

She’s even had a touch a controversy catapult her into the news when, three months ago, she was a no-show on catwalks in Milan and Paris and there were rumours she was sick and missing home.

Like any self-respecting celeb, she didn’t take the gossip pages’ bait and even last week was refusing to comment.

However, in an otherwise candid interview with CoastConfidential, McNeil spoke of her rise to catwalk fame, her love of whipped cream, modelling’s biggest names, home, Superman, the `in’ crowd and that smile.

“I used to hate smiling … now I don’t care,” says McNeil from her New York base, where she’s just finished a substantial editorial for American Vogue with new Superman actor John Hamm.

“I have grown up and become more confident and learnt to move better in front of the camera,” says McNeil of her past 12 months on international catwalks.

“The whole process is much, much easier.”

And magazine editors agree.

McNeil is so sought-after she only need model for high-level campaigns like Gucci and renowned designers such as the iconic John-Paul Gaultier.

“There are not enough superlatives to describe the arrival of this young Australian on the scene,” swooned V magazine’s Stephen Gan, who says McNeil caught his eye when she opened a parade for Givenchy.

“Models with a true star quality are extremely rare but Catherine has it all the grace, the stature, the perfect blend of strength and beauty, and, perhaps most importantly, the brains and sense of humour.”

The past year for McNeil has been especially successful and hectic catapulting the tall and slim self-confessed tomboy into a realm where only a select few reside.

McNeil has amassed an enviable list of parades and campaigns already this year, including Versace, Donna Karan and Givenchy.

She also appears in the Louis Vuitton Cruise campaign and stars in the latest world-wide Dolce & Gabbana campaign alongside one of the original supermodels, Claudia Schiffer.

“You do meet the odd prima dona in the industry but I have to say Claudia is so down to earth and easy going,” says McNeil.

As for Superman, `he seemed very nice’.

But while walking tall alongside supermodels and smiling opposite celebrities may seem par for the course for McNeil nowadays, she rebutts suggestions she is with the `in’ crowd.

“I am not mixing with that crowd. I do my work, see my friends, work constantly and attend the odd event.

“I am really not into that whole celebrity notion … it does not motivate me at all.”

Her modelling agent at Chic Management in Sydney, Kathy Ward, says McNeil’s year ahead also is looking stellar, with news just in that her Hugo Boss campaign has rolled into 2009.

“Catherine appeared on the cover of last month’s Australian Vogue and has already achieved almost every editorial and major campaign opportunity in Australia,” says Ward, who has a soft spot for the seemingly unaffected Queenslander.

It was Ward who helped McNeil relocate from her family’s Logan property, where riding motorbikes was a favourite pastime, to Sydney in January 2006, when she was 16 years old.

McNeil moved into Ward’s home as part of the modelling agency’s strategy to ensure a smooth transition from country to city life. Ward has since had Samantha Harris, a rising young model from the Tweed, stay with her.

McNeil had been in the modelling industry for three years when she moved to Sydney. She won the national Girlfriend magazine model search at age 13, gracing her first glossy cover, and it was then she realised her dream of becoming a motorcycle mechanic had ended.

Also in 2006, McNeil appeared in many of the top Australian magazines Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, marie claire, Madison, Follow, Russh and broke into the UK market with editorial in Grazia.

High-profile advertising campaigns for Peter Alexander, Myer, Cue, Simona, Alannah Hill, Sportsgirl, Colorado and Kookai followed, as did international jobs in Thailand, Bali and New Zealand.

Fast forward to now and McNeil is hanging out for a return to her family’s home for Christmas, hoping to stay for a couple of weeks to relax.

“I have to get back in New York mid-January to get ready for New York Fashion Week,” she says.

“It is so different overseas. Living in New York and working as much as I have over the past couple of years does present its challenges.

“In Australia it is so much easier … less pressure.

“My time in Australia before moving to New York was like working in the industry with training wheels. What I am doing now is much more demanding.”

While McNeil prefers not to comment on the issue, the rumours about the model suffering from ill health or homesickness around October this year did take a toll.

Her grandmother, Sandra McNeil, was quoted as saying Catherine was simply ‘burned out’ and would be back at work soon.

So it’s little wonder when asked if she could have a week off and do absolutely anything she pleased, Catherine’s reply came as …

“Sleep, go to the beach in Australia and see my family.”

Still, McNeil readily admits she has been blessed with success.

“I have been really lucky with my career being at ‘the right place at the right time’, so I am definitely fulfilled on the professional front.

“My dream is to be able to do what I am doing but have my family around me.

“I do want to end up living in Australia … when that will happen I have no idea.”