Gemma Louise Ward (born 3 November 1987) is an Australian model and actress
Gemma Ward was born on 3 November 1987 in Perth, Western Australia, the second of four children of Gary Ward, a doctor, and Claire, a nurse. She has an older sister, Sophie (who also became a model), and younger twin brothers, Oscar and Henry. She was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College and Shenton College. Gemma was the family clown whose ambition was acting. Her passion for acting was born in 1997, when she was cast as the witch in a school play of Hansel and Gretel when she was ten.
Ward's brush with modeling was an accidental one. She was discovered in 2002, at the age of fourteen,while accompanying her friends to the Australian modelling competitionSearch for a Supermodel. As she said herself in a Teen Vogue interview, she ended up being scouted herself:
I had come straight from my auntie and uncle's farm, and I was wearing this big gray barn jacket with mud all over it. When the scout came up to me, I said, 'No, thank you.' They forged my mum's signature [for mandatory parental consent], and pushed me in front of the cameras.
Ward didn't win the competition, but her fragile, unique look, got the attention of a spotter from Vivien's Model Agency who saw her potential and made a show reel. The show reel then landed on the desk of ace model scout David Cunningham from the New York agency IMG. "Look how confident she is. I mean, she looks like she's been doing this for years, and she's a 15-year-old kid walking in an alleyway in Perth [...] She's a supermodel, for sure," Cunningham said.
Modeling
It girl, 2004–2007
At 15 Ward made her Australian Fashion Week debut in May 2003. Within a year, she was in Italy meeting Prada designer Miuccia Prada.[5] Her look inspired a new generation of baby doll-like models such as Vlada Roslyakova,Heather Marks, Lily Cole, Lisa Cant, and Jessica Stam. In September 2004 at only sixteen, Ward became the youngest model to appear on American Vogue photographed by Steven Meisel as one of the nine "Models of the Moment" with Daria Werbowy, Natalia Vodianova, Gisele Bundchen, Isabeli Fontana, Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Hana Soukupova and Karen Elson. In February 2005, Ward appeared in no less than 20 New York runways for designers that included Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta and Klein, and was rumored to earn about $20,000 per show.[9] And at 17, she became the famous face of Calvin Klein’s Obsession Night perfume billboards – bumping Kate Moss out of a job in the process. Ward was reportedly paid $1.3 million for the Calvin Klein campaign and counted similar deals with Burberry and Valentino among her model earnings.
Ward then graced the Spring 2005 cover of TIME Magazine's Style & Design issue.[5][9] In September 2005, Ward secured a coveted place on the inaugural cover of Vogue Chinaposing between Chinese models Du Juan and Wang Wenqin and was shot by leading photographer Patrick Demarchelier. A staggering 300,000 copies sold in the first three hours. "She is every inch blue chip," Vivien's agent Suzie Deveridge said. "Right now she's considered the No. 2 model in the world – and she isn't even 18 yet."
By 2006 Ward became Australia's brightest fashion star since Elle Macpherson. At the age of 18, Ward became the first model ever to appear on the cover of Teen Voguemagazine. She was then featured in the Australian television program 60 Minutes as the "It Girl". She was earning $25,000 to stride the catwalk. In Allure magazine (October 2006), Ward is described as "the model of the moment." Allure's creative director Paul Cavaco stated: "We went through a period that was very va-va-voom, but now the pendulum has swung back. Gemma is ethereal, not earthy." Photographer Michael Thompson says, "She's an exotic blonde, the rarest of creatures."
In July 2007, earning at an estimated total of $3 million in the past 12 months, Forbes named her tenth in the list of the World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels. In October 2007 Ward appeared on the cover of the very first issue of Vogue India, centered between Bollywood actresses Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra. The cover was photographed by photographer Patrick Demarchelier (who also photographed her in Vogue China) and it became the second time Ward has appeared on an inaugural issue.[10] Vogue Paris declared her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.
Retirement claims, 2008–present
In August 2008, reports surfaced that Ward was to retire from modeling to pursue acting. However, reports were quickly dismissed by Ward herself saying: "I was surprised to wake up this morning and read news of my own retirement. While I am taking some time off currently to rest and enjoy the company of friends and family, I am still very much a (excited and enthusiastic) working model and actress. I'm only 20, for God's sakes."
Ward hasn't walked down a runway since the spring 2008 shows. Her last modeling gig was an appearance on the cover of and inside the October 2008 issue of Spanish Marie Claire.
Slightly over a year later, in November 2009, Ward's agent officially announced her retiring from the industry after her notable absence in the past few runway seasons.Following a series of criticisms about her weight gain a spokesperson from Viviens modelling agency in New York released a statement, saying: "Gemma hasn't committed to returning to modeling at any time soon", adding Ward had the agency's full support.Again, Ward quickly dismissed the retirement claims, confirming that she would return to modeling in 2010.
After avoiding the spotlight for three years, Ward opened up in an exclusive interview for The Sunday Telegraph in January 30, 2011. There she explained that her break from the media spotlight "was something spurred byHeath's death". As for her career she went on to say:
In terms of me shying away from modelling, I'd like to clarify in some way that I was taking a break from many things in my life and obviously what people in the public see is that I'm pulling away from what is more 'public'. I didn't know how long it would take, I didn't know if it would solve anything, but I set out to really focus inside myself.[23]
Ward shot her first pictorial in years in Australia’s Sunday Telegraph Magazine for the February 6, 2011 edition.
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