Model/Actress Analeigh Tipton Has Two Loves

The mega-hit reality show America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) strives to turn model aspirants into model superstars. And though the show is currently shooting its 18^th cycle, very few models from the show have become breakout fashion stars. With the exception of Jaslene Gonzales (winner of Cycle 8 and a regular on Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week catwalks) Fatima Said (a successful model stateside and abroad from Cycle 10), and Dani Evans (winner of Cycle 6), and a few others, most of the ANTM contestants main claim to fame is having appeared on ANTM.

Model/Actress Analeigh Tipton is one former ANTM contestant that has used her fame from ANTM to knock on doors other than the revered doors of fashion designers and casting agents. While a contestant on the show, ANTM judge Paulina Porizkova suggested that an acting career might be a better choice for Analeigh. Well, those words of wisdom did not go unheeded. Though Tipton still models, her sights are clearly focused on the silver screen. And with a breakout role in last year’s Crazy, Stupid, Love and a recurring role on HBO’s Hung, Analeigh Tipton is poised for the big time.

“Damsels in Distress” image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Analeigh Tipton’s current star turn as Lily, a college transfer student befriended by an odd trio of girls from a self-help clique, in the soon-to-be released Sony Pictures Classics’ Damsels in Distress, promises to be another demonstration of Tipton’s affinity for celluloid. To put it more bluntly, the camera loves her. “I approached my character Lily [in Damsels in Distress] and her relationship with “the damsels” who have a philosophy of life that she doesn’t quite accept the same way I approach that same dichotomy with my real friends … Lily’s character is very skeptical about this self-help clique, but she is also searching for her own identity after being in a failed relationship. I think the element of self-searching brought a dimension to the character that I was able to connect with and gave the character a certain kind of depth,” details Tipton.

Tipton is correct. The combination of introspection and fresh-faced honesty are key ingredients to Tipton’s appeal. And she is oh so good to look at on screen, never leaving the model behind. With an upcoming role in Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies with John Malkovich, Analeigh Tipton has made that transition that so few models are able to make.