Josie, American Beauty (January 2005)
by Laurie Sandell
reference: Glamour January 2005
note: find the images under galleries
It's Josie Maran's eighth time on Glamour's cover
-- and she's only 26. But this gorgeous California girl, seen in the new movie
The Aviator, is wonderfully down-to-earth.
GLAMOUR: When you see yourself on the cover of a magazine,
do you feel like that glammed-up woman is "you"?
JM: No, not at all. I have a good heart and I hope that comes through
in a picture, but looks are just the result of genetics. I'm very unglamorous:
Usually I'll just curl my lashes and put on mascara. Of course, I'm not a fan
of makeup until I see myself in a picture without it! Then I think, oh, maybe
just a little bit.
GLAMOUR: What's it like seeing your face on a humongous
billboard?
JM: It's really exciting! When I was doing the Guess campaign I remember standing
on the side of Santa Monica Boulevard, taking pictures in front of it. The billboard
was so huge I had to jump up and wave my arms above my head just to get into
the picture with it.
GLAMOUR: Who do you think is the world's most beautiful
woman?
JM: I'd have to say my mother. We have the same features, but she's pale, with
tons of freckles everywhere. I also think Christy Turlington is really beautiful:
I used to live near her neighborhood in New York, and I'd follow her around
and spy on her.
GLAMOUR: You had a ruptured appendix at age 12. Has
having a scar changed your ideas about beauty?
JM: Walking around on the beach in a bikini, I used to want to cover it up.
I could tell people were staring at me, wondering what went wrong, and it always
made me self-conscious. Now I think scars are beautiful--like a souvenir--but
it took me a long time to get to that point.
GLAMOUR: What's a beauty secret you learned from your
mother?
JM: Smile with your eyes. I try to think of something happy, like me standing
under a waterfall in Hawaii.
GLAMOUR: If you had to go the rest of your life without
getting mani-pedis, highlights or waxing, which could you live without?
JM: Manicures and pedicures, definitely. I've been getting them on jobs for
so long they feel like a chore. Friends will say, "Let's get our nails
done." And I'll say, "That sounds like work." Plus, I always
ruin my polish right after I leave the salon!
GLAMOUR: What beauty treatments would you have men try?
JM: Wax your crotch, boys--then talk to me!
GLAMOUR: Are the guys you date traditionally gorgeous?
JM: Not necessarily, but they all have a kind of "look," which is
similar to the way my father looks. Whenever I start dating someone new, my
dad will say, "Let me guess: nose? Dark skin?" And I'll say, "Uh-huh."
GLAMOUR: How do you feel about the idea of aging naturally?
JM: I'm totally into it, but as I get older I'll have to adjust to wrinkles
just like I had to adjust to have a scar. I think you can always tell when someone
has had work done, because something seems off. But it's still going to be a
challenge to say, "It's natural; it's beautiful."
GLAMOUR: You seem so happy. What keeps you grounded?
JM: I have a kind of inner peace, which comes from having had so much love as
a child. It has nothing to do with money or anything else--I honestly feel that
if everything was taken away from me tomorrow, I could go sit on a rock in Bali,
looking at the ocean for the rest of my life. And I would be totally happy.