LUCY CLARKSON TALKS TO EIDOS PART II
Copyright 2001 www.eidosinteractive.co.uk

[ October 1st 2001 ]

Tomb Raider publishers Eidos Interactive have released the second part of their interview with real life Lara Croft model Lucy Clarkson.

Has playing Lara opened up lots of different doors for you and enabled you to do things you normally wouldn’t have been able to do ?

I still do other jobs as I’m a full time professional model. I appeared in an Airwaves advert, and because the company behind it wanted someone fit and athletic, as soon as they found out I was Lara Croft they decided that I was exactly what they were looking for.

Even though I had the wrong colour hair, and had to dye it all blond I still got the job! When I tell people what I do and they see on my modelling card that I’m Lara Croft, I stand out from the rest, and they’ll have a second look at the card. Being Lara has definitely opened a lot more doors for me.

Do you find you travel abroad a lot being Lara ?

Yes! When I got the job it was only supposed to be a years contract, but they renewed it for a second year. The first ever job I had was doing the E3 show in Los Angeles and that really opened my eyes - it was an unbelievable experience. After that I’ve been to Portugal, Paris and Dublin where I took part in the Late Late Show. That was quite good because it was live and also a little nerve wracking too.

What’s been the highlight for you so far during your time as Lara Croft ?

I think the main thing for me would be the E3 show just because of the size and scale of the event. It was an experience that I’ll never forget. But I also really enjoyed the Croft Manor weekend - mainly because I’ve never dressed in anything else apart from the original Lara Suit or the black catsuit and because I had to welcome the guests as their host Ms Croft, I got to wear a really slinky dress with the gun strapped to my legs! Doing a bit of acting as well made the Croft Manor event more enjoyable too because normally I keep quiet and smile a lot!

Do you have a funniest or most embarrassing moment?

Oh, at Croft Manor again. I had to do an appearance at around 11o’clock as the guests were having a BBQ and just walk by so they could see I was around and I had the dark shades on and I fell down some stairs.

Everyone started laughing and I didn’t know what else to do so I just bowed at everyone. I managed to miss the first step and just started walking. I didn’t actually fall over, I just tripped but if you could see the size of my boots I can hardly feel anything underneath them anyway! That’s the most embarrassing moment, but I’m usually quite careful and alert. At first when I met people I didn’t know what to say so I felt a bit stupid then, but know I’ve settled into the role at more and I’m used to that now.

Do you know what you’ll be up to in the future as Lara?

I don’t really know to be honest. Some jobs, like the Croft Manor event I’ll know about for a month or so before it happens, but mostly I get booked the week before. I prefer it like that though as there’s a little more surprise and I don’t know what I’ll be doing.

Have you ever had any strange experiences getting the guns through customs when you travel abroad?

Not through customs, but we did have a strange time in Dublin. I was opening a mobile shop there and someone had seen me come out of the hotel dressed as Lara Croft with the guns and phoned the police! They told the police that they’d seen a woman with two guns getting into a car!

They’d seen me dressed as Lara with the guns and they actually thought I was going to rob a bank or something! We got stopped and pulled over but nothing came of it!

Are you a Manchester City fan yet?

Err, I am now. I’m not really into football but when I went to see the Man City Vs Man Utd game, I couldn’t watch because I had to do appearances and I was quite upset about that. But now they’re playing in the same league as Rotherham United who are my local team so that’ll be a good one to watch! It is good to go though, and I get a lot of wolf whistles from the players and fans when I go to be in a team photo for example.

Lastly, do you have a message for your fans that are reading this ?

Keep on playing the games and whenever I’m about, come and see me!