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LARA
CROFT MODELS - LUCY CLARKSON
It
was Lucy Clarkson’s father who first
sensed the possibilities. "You’d make
a great Lara Croft" he said to his
daughter as he took in yet another
media appearance by the world’s number
one cyber icon. A year later it was
Eidos Interactive’s turn to recognise
that the model from Rotherham in Yorkshire
had the requisite attitude, looks
and - let’s face it - physical dimensions
to fill the star of the Tomb Raider
series’ famous boots. Lucy, of course,
is thrilled.
As
Lara Croft, she will travel the world
and be feted wherever she goes. She’ll
also become an instant cover girl
- something most models never achieve.
But, perhaps best of all for Lucy
is the fact that, as Lara, she can
be as curvy as nature intended. Another
rarity in the stick-thin world of
modelling. Not that Lucy, a no-nonsense
Northern girl, ever had much truck
with this kind of body fascism.
She
says: "I’d been in South Africa on
a modelling job and they’d told me
to lose weight. I didn’t fancy that
so I was on my way home. And that
was when I got the call telling me
I was the new Lara. It was such fantastic
news. It’s such a high profile job
- and one of the few that lets you
keep your boobs and bum."
Lucy’s
modelling career began when her mum
entered her in an Elite Model Agency
competition hosted by a national newspaper
and a toothpaste manufacturer. With
no prior experience at all, Lucy was
named one of the 12 winners out of
16,000 wannabes.
It
didn’t take long for the work to pour
in. As a tall, shapely girl Lucy became
a favourite of maverick British designer
Vivienne Westwood. She was also kept
busy with lingerie and swimwear shoots.
Lucy finds them preferable to fashion
work for one very good reason. "They
pay the best money!" she says.
For
Lucy, the cash and the travel are
the best facets of a modelling career.
And the worst? "Without doubt, other
models. They can be unbelievably bitchy.
In all the time I’ve been working
I’ve made friends with two of them.
Mostly I prefer the men," she says.
In
fact, one lucky male model is now
Lucy’s boyfriend. And, double bonus
for him, he’s a huge fan of Tomb Raider.
"He’s obsessed with games and loves
Lara. Well, now he’s got a Lara of
his own!" she says. Whether Lucy will
indulge his fantasies by donning the
costume on her days off is another
matter!
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