Cara Delevingne Breaks her Silence On The #Dark Side Of Modeling

From the outside, it looks like Cara Delevingne has lived a fairytale life. Discovered when she was just a kid, the now 23-year-old model-turned-actress was embraced by the glitz and glamour of the fashion industry.

Walking in runway shows for famous designers, having a squad of celebrity friends, traveling the world, appearing in high profile campaigns for Burberry, TopShop and DKNY (among others), Cara has had the kind of career most aspiring models would kill for.

So it almost seems crazy she would give the modeling industry the middle finger and walk away from it all, but thats exactly what’s she’s doing and it’s not just for the allure of acting on the silver screen.

Opening up to UK publication The Times, Cara shared the #dark side of modeling and the seriously negative effects it had on her physical and mental health.

“I am not doing fashion work any more, after having, like, psoriasis and all that stuff,”she shared. “”Modeling just made me feel a bit hollow after a while. It didn’t make me grow at all as a human being. And I kind of forgot how young I was… I felt so old. I was hit with a massive wave of depression and anxiety and self-hatred, where the feelings were so painful that I would slam my head against a tree to try to knock myself out.”

Ummmm…that sucks. In addition to her mental and physical struggles, Cara isn’t down to make a living by objectifying herself for the sake of sexy campaigns.

“I am a bit of a feminist and it makes me feel sick,” she said. “It’s horrible and it’s disgusting. [We’re talking about] young girls. You start when you are really young and you do, you get subjected to…not great stuff.”

Ahhhh…as awful as it sounds, there is a bright spot in Cara’s experience which is it made her a stronger and more confident person who won’t shy away from speaking up when something is amiss. “I am very good at standing up for myself now, and for other people. If there is injustice I will flip out,” she said. “If someone is crossing a line, they will know about it and so will everyone else.”

eep! Don’t mess with Cara.