GLAMOUR - July 2002

An American Beauty...

The woman we'd all love to look like has definitely changed. She's still as American as fireworks on the Fourth of July, but she isn't blond, blue-eyed or even particularly tall. Perfect example: mulitcultural, multifaceted, multitalented Josie Maran.

By Barbara Sgroi

...is naturally healthy

Over the last few years, there's been a change in our ideas about beauty. "People want to see a model who inspires strength and self-confidence now," explains modeling guru Katie Ford, president of Ford Models. Open any current magazine and you'll find fresh-faced American beauties like Josie Maran, whose look exemplifies the new ideal. A 23-year-old [she is now 25], 5' 6" California-born woman, Maran has the confidence to face the world looking perfectly unadorned and natural (she came to our photo shoot...straight out of bed!). "I think the emphasis on cleanliness is very much an American tradition," explains Kathy Peiss, author of Hope in a Jar: The Making of America's Beauty Culture (Owl Books). "American women make up their faces to have a clean look." And unlike the blond-haired, blue-eyed standard popular in the seventies--"That's when the American images was actually Swedish," laughs Ford--today there isn't one look that represents a national fantasy. "My dad is Russian and Polish; my mom is French, Dutch, and German," says Maran. "I'm an American mutt!"

...is happily flawed

Not perfect? Not a problem. Maran is living proof that feeling beautiful can have as much to do with your mind as with your mirror. When an emergency appendectomy at age 12 left her with a big abdominal scar, Maran tried to keep it out of sight. "Growing up, I was very self-conscious about it," she recalls. "I always felt that everybody was staring at it. But I've learned to love it. Now I don't even try to hide it anymore--my scar is part of me." And happily, she's not the only American beauty with that I-love-myself-warts-and-all attitude. "Americans are more accepting of their bodies than before. More and more women are saying, 'This is how I am--this is my body, and frankly, I like it,' " says Gunnar Peterson, personal trainer to stars such as Jennifer Lopez, Penélope Cruz and Jennifer Connelly. "Their goals are different. The scale no longer dictates what makes them happy. Now it's more about the way you feel and function than just the way you look."

...can transform herself at night

Looking glamorous is a state of mind, not just the state of your makeup, insists New York City makeup artist Charlie Green: "American women don't go for an exaggerated look when they go out, whereas French women won't leave home without red lipstick." And morphing from Girl Next Door to Gorgeous is surprisingly simple. "Women know that putting your hair up is like slipping on a pair of high heels--it instantly makes you feel sexy and dressed up," says New York City hairstylist Colin Gold.

"Being comfortable in your own skin makes you incredibly attractive," says Maran.

...can be a tomboy and still feel girly

You're more likely to find Maran chasing a Frisbee on the beach or outside playing basketball with friends than sweating away in a gym. "Running on a treadmill is a drag--I'd rather make working out fun," says Maran. "I love nature and trees. I grew up playing in the dirt." So it's not surprising that when it comes to wearing makeup, this tree hugger chooses an outdoorsy glow. "An American beauty is a woman who looks fresh and healthy," explains Ford. "She might be wearing makeup, but it looks completely natural." Green agrees: "American women take care of their skin--the last thing they want to do is hide it under a lot of foundation." Maran doesn't need layers of eyeshadow or yards of frills to feel beautiful. "I feel just as feminine barefoot in jeans," she laughs. Now that's a beautiful thing.

"American women want to look approachable; European women want to look unattainable," explains Green.

...has a sense of humor

Maran was born with that winning smile. (Thanks to her grin, she's landed on six Glamour covers.) "Smiling is very American," explains author Peiss. "It's a deeply embedded cultural pattern that goes back at least to the eighteenth century." And these days, we value a smile more than ever. "It's a very difficult time in the world right now," says Ford. "People need to see happy images and a positive attitude." Whether Maran is cracking jokes in front of the camera or just clowning around with her family, the last person she's likely to take seriously is herself. "Being very positive has helped me a lot," says Maran, who at age 12 set her sights on becoming a supermodel. Where does her total confidence come from? "My family," she says with a smile. "They provided so much support and love that I always believed in me."

Gene Simmons TONGUE - Spring 2002

writer MICHAEL MOSES

FOX ON THE RUN
Breaking the rules with Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and actress Josie Maran. Or, advice on squirting cows milk, hugging pigs and having sex twice a day.

When Maybelline signed Josie Maran to a spokesmodel contract in 1999, the makeup manufacturer thought it was getting the same doe-eyed ingenue who had graced the covers of Seventeen, Shape and Glamour, and appeared in ads for Levis and Guess? Jeans. But there's more to the stunning Maran than meets the eye. Amid carefully packaged mannequins, the 23-year-old [she is now 25] Northern California native is disarmingly candid. One minute she's talking about sending a vibrator to her mother (it was a gift), then she's discussing her need to have sex at least twice a day.

Two years ago, Maran appeared on The Howard Stern Show with then-boyfriend David Blaine and talked about performing some magic tricks of her own, including bringing other girls into their bedroom. Said a hot and bothered Howard afterward: "She's the perfect girl."

Naturally, to a growing legion of drooling fans, Maran's irreverent candor makes her all the more alluring. There have been times, however, when her uncorked, fizzy id has landed her in hot water. She recently raised eyebrows -- and a few other body parts -- by appearing in a racy ad campaign for the Benetton-owned Sisley clothing brand. The provocative photos, which show Maran having fun with farm animals, have been studied like conspiracy theorists pouring over the Zapruder film. In one of the more controversial snapshots, she's seen shooting milk on her face from a cow's udder (try to imagine the Got Milk? campaign as filmed by Seymour Butts). "I was just having fun," says Maran. "I didn't think it was a big deal at the time."

The sight of moo juice dripping from Maran's pretty chin was more than Maybelline was willing to swallow. "That campaign definitely caused some drama in my life," she says. "Maybelline would like me to keep myself contained and ladylike and they're right. They let me get away with a smack on the wrist and I respect that very much. My mother keeps telling me to think before I do or say something, and make sure it's what I really want to project. I'm definitely learning."

The tricky part is figuring out which rules to bend, make or break. "I forget that when I'm having fun, the innocence of it might not come across in pictures," she says. "Those photos didn't feel sexual when we were shooting them. When I look at the pictures now, I can see that it's a little too much, but I believe in pushing the limit a bit. In one picture, I'm hugging a pig -- just because I like pigs -- so of course, people said I was humping the pig, which I wasn't. It sucks that people want to distort these things. I need to figure out where to draw the line. For starters," she laughs, "No more hugging pigs."

That's easier said than done, especially with Maran making the move to Hollywood. The 5' 7" model-turned-actress recently made the jump to the big screen as Mallory in The Mallory Effect, an indie comedy about a jilted boyfriend seeking revenge. "When I saw the finished version, I was freaked out and didn't want to watch it," she laughs. "People had to hold me down in my chair. But it's a funny movie and the laughter eased the pain. Although you can tell that it's my first film, I think I did a pretty good job. I was proud of myself."

Youthful hubris aside, Maran certainly seems to know what she's doing. Since her modeling debut at age 12, she's appeared in a Backstreet Boys video (after which Howie hit on her -- unsuccessfully), a gaggle of commercials and several magazines, including the 2002 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. "I'm just a girl who's soul-searching and living her life," she says with a smile. "And I'm trying to do both as creatively as possible."

REV - Spring 2002

Josie Maran really knows how to give a guy a breakup.
BY MARC WEISBLOTT

When you've been dumped by Josie Maran, you've been dumped by the best of them. In between collecting exes, this 23-year-old [she is now 25] model has been a Guess? Girl and a Maybelline maven, and she achieved mid-'90s notoriety for actually kissing a Backstreet Boy in one of their videos. (The horror! The horror!) Most recently, the native Californian took her tough-love experience to the streets of Hollywood, landing the lead role in The Mallory Effect, a movie about -- you guessed it -- a girl that guys just can't leave behind. REV gets Josie's breakdown on big breaks.

Now that you're acting, are you going to retire from modelling?
I've been modelling since I was 12, but everyone always assumed I was an actress, not a model, because I'm only 5' 7" -- I don't fit into a lot of the model clothes! I feel short when I'm around other models.
Yet you knew you wanted to do this from such a young age?
Oh, for sure. It wasn't like I had a stage mom. We were at a family party and someone from an agency in San Francisco suggested I should sign up. And for the next five years me and my mom would make the drive together for me to do catalogue shoots.
The first widespread exposure you had was in that cheesy BSB video?
Yep. I got soooo much attention from doing that. The song was "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)," and Howie was sucking blood from my neck, like a vampire. They were very nice boys, that's all I have to say. Myself, I prefer listening to The Strokes.
So, what is it about models dating rock stars?
I wouldn't know. I never dated one. That's, like, something from the Cindy Crawford years.
You were dating a magic star, David Blaine, when he buried himself alive in a giant block of ice for 62 hours in Times Square (Nov. 2000).
He was preparing that stunt for an entire year, and it did get to him. He was hallucinating at the end. It just proved he was human, and he was bound to break down.
If you haven't hung around rock stars, what are magicians like to hang around?
I lived with David, but I didn't want to know his secrets. I wanted to be surprised. As for magicians I've met, I'd call most of them, hmm...interesting?
Are you worried about the model-turned-actress stereotype?
Well, I'm trying to not just play sexy obvious-beautiful-girl parts.
Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie) recently said she won't be doing any more nude scenes, since that's all she's known for.
I suppose she realized she won't get much respect just doing teen movies. I'm definitely gearing myself toward more respected roles.
Are there any actresses whose work you especially admire?
Not too many today -- Emily Watson, Juliette Lewis. But the old woman in Harold and Maude, Ruth Gordon, who is being romanced by a twenty-year-old guy, she's the greatest.
Can you see yourself at age eighty?
You know what? I can. I don't know where I'll be, but it will definitely be far away from here.
So was it difficult seeing yourself on the big screen?
I had to ask the people sitting nearby to hold me down so I wouldn't bolt from the theatre. But The Mallory Effect was the best-attended screening at the Slam Dance Film Festival (Jan. 2002). The audience seemed to find it really funny, and I was able to laugh that pain away.
And the character Mallory knows about pain?
I play a girl who breaks up with one boyfriend who becomes so obsessed with me, he'll do anything to break up my next relationship.
You've lived the part, perhaps?
For sure. All my exes have kept in touch, and they all suggest that we should still be in love. They still feel attached. I don't know what I'm doing to come off like that. Maybe it happens to every woman, I don't know.
Based on some guys I know, what you described arguably happens to every man.
Guys need to understand that I've moved on and I won't play the romantic part. I haven't learned to be cold. But I try to be straight-up. Really, isn't this the sort of thing I should be telling my psychiatrist?
Do you see a psychiatrist?
No, but I have an acting coach.

GLAMOUR - April 2002

cover confidential

Who is she, anyway?
We usually do a one-word interview with our cover model, but Josie Maran's been on the cover so often, she gets two!

Hey, you were just on our cover last year. How does it feel to be back?
Privileged. Special.

You recently returned from a month in Thailand. What'd you wear?
Bikinis, sarongs.

The best part was...
Not thinking.

If you weren't a model, what would you be?
An actress.

You've already done one movie. What's next?
Drama, hopefully.

Who's your role model?
Andie MacDowell.

You flew to New York and back to L.A. the day of our shoot. Any time for you?
Fifteen minutes.

At lunch?
My shower.

You travel a lot--what's your biggest travel peeve?
Airports--ick!

What bugs you about them?
The waiting.

What's your favorite hobby?
Eating sushi.

One last Q: What does this cover look say to you?
Comfortable, casual.

Sundance Stunner: Josie Maran

By Karin Nelson

Fashion Wire Daily - Park City, UT - January 16, 2002

"I'm a totally sexual person," claims model-turned-actress Josie Maran with a shrug. "And sometimes -- with the clothes and the poses -- I just don't know how sexy I can be."

At Sundance to do press for her first feature film, "The Mallory Effect," in which she stars alongside "Roswell"'s Steven Roy, the 23-year-old [she is now 25] Maybelline model is referring to some risqué Sisley ad campaign shots, snapped by Terry Richardson, in which she appears in compromising positions with a cow.

"I was on a farm, just having fun," she says of the ad. "Terry is like a good director - he frees you, and, well, Maybelline just wasn't psyched about the whole thing."

Of most concern to the cosmetic giant, which has Maran under a five-year contract? Well, besides the pic of the pouty-lipped minx lifting up her shirt, there's one in which a cow (who, apparently, hadn't been milked for two days) is relieving itself into Maran's mouth. Says Maran: "I was grossed out at first, but it was the most delicious milk I'd ever tasted - fresh and warm."

Maran, who's modeled now for 10 years, has recently made the move from New York back to L.A., started acting lessons, and, like the James Kings, Shalom Harlows, Amber Valettas, Michelle Hicks and Estella Warrens of the world, is attempting to segue from magazine covers to big-screen billboards. In her role as Mallory in "The Mallory Effect," she plays a gorgeous, sexual woman who breaks the hearts of several men. Fortunately for Maran, the role wasn't much of a stretch, for when shooting began she had yet to take any acting classes.

"It's hard to watch the film," she claims, hiding her face with her hands. "I was so nervous and scared that I was tight, instead of just having fun." Stressing, "I know now I have so much more to offer."

Presently, spending her days auditioning for big films, modeling for Maybelline, and dating a boy who she refers to as "just chill" (unlike her magician ex-boyfriend of two years, David Blaine, with whom she claims "things were too weird for them to be normal"), Maran's life is as easygoing as the khakis, Batz Maru comic tee, and old Pumas of an outfit she's sporting today. "I have the best life, and I have no idea how it happened. I have good stars, I guess, or there's someone looking out for me."