Earlier this year, Cara Delevingne announced, ‘I didn’t like myself as a model. I didn’t like what I stood for. I didn’t like what it was turning me into.’ She had previously said that the fashion industry made her feel ‘sick’ and ‘hollow’, and that, ‘I want to act. I want to do something that doesn’t make my skin erupt’.
And yet, since publicly discussing her plans to swap the catwalk for Hollywood, there have been campaigns with YSL Beauty, watch brand TAG Heuer, Rimmel, Puma, Beats by Dre headphones and, just last month, a Christmas Burberry campaign.
The reason? According to insiders, the 25-year-old star ‘can’t afford to quit’ modelling to pursue acting alone. Documents seen by Grazia reveal she made £10m this year – £27,000 a day. But according to one well-placed source, less than a third of that came from her film roles, meaning she’d struggle to maintain her lavish lifestyle on acting alone.
Indeed, Cara is yet to star in a film that has been a financial and critical success. Her most recent, Tulip Fever, performed disastrously at the US box office (it wasn’t even released in the UK). Meanwhile, despite enormous hype, Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets – the Luc Besson film that also starred Rihanna – received mixed reviews and failed to break even financially, eliminating previous talk of a sequel. Last year, Kids In Love failed to get wide distribution and went straight to video-on-demand and, earlier this year, *Suicide Squad *might have made money, but received catastrophic reviews. Cara later admitted, ‘The critics have been absolutely horrific... really, really horrible.’
‘Cara has been very open about her desire to transition from modelling to acting, but her Hollywood career seems to have stalled,’ said the source. ‘When she started acting there was huge buzz about her, but so far she’s failed to prove she’s a bankable star. She hasn’t had that big role yet to push her into the next league and there’s a feeling that time is running out for her in Hollywood. Cara finds having to rely on modelling to finance her lifestyle demoralising – it’s not a passion for her.’
Cara has herself previously hinted that her acting career is yet to prove financially viable on its own. ‘People say to me, “The money’s probably not enough, it’s not the amount you usually get paid,”’ she told The Guardian. ‘And I sit there going, “No, that’s not the point. I would pay to do this film because I care about it so much.”'
Meanwhile, following her split from following her split from following her split from following her split from St Vincent (real name Annie Clark) in September 2016, there have been rumours that the pair are 'rekindling' their romance after Cara was spotted attending the singer’s concert in Dublin in October. They are also said to have met up in London the month before.
Speaking to Vogue in September, Annie said, ‘I’ll always love her.’ Just a month before their split, Cara told an interviewer, ‘Before, I didn’t know what love was – real love. Now I know the meaning of life is love.’
‘The split was not Cara’s decision and she hasn’t ever properly gotten over Annie – she’s absolutely the love of her life,’ said a second source. ‘They’re taking things slowly, enjoying spending time together. Nobody would be surprised if they did end up making things official again – but while those close to Cara felt that Annie was a good influence on her during their relationship, they don’t want to see her heartbroken again. As we enter a new year, there are concerns that, professionally and personally, Cara is standing still.’
NOW READ: A Complete Guide To Cara Delevingne's Tattoos (And Their Meanings)
SEE: A Complete Guide To Cara Delevingne's Tattoos (And Their Meanings)
The tattoo on her back (first seen at her sister Poppy's wedding)
This is one of Cara's most intricate tattoos, a magical symbol on the back of her neck inspired by yantra tattooing.
The white dove tattoo on her finger
Cara got her white ink dove tattoo at the same time as the white 'breathe deep' tattoo on a visit to Bang Bang NYC.
An elephant on her arm
Though the actor has yet to debut the elephant tatt, Doctor Woo unveiled the artwork on his Instagram.
A serpant on her left hand
Her go-to tattoo artist - Doctor Woo - revealed a darker inking for the model-turned-actor. Could there be a hidden meaning behind her new skeletal snake tattoo - debuted days after her ex, musician Annie Clark (aka St Vincent) made her first red carpet appearance with Kristen Stewart. Hmm...
The Roman numerals and
During a trip to Rio de Janeiro, Cara got a couple of tattoos from tattoo artist Daniel Tucci - including the number 12 in Roman numerals on her side and a Southern Cross behind her ear.
The coat of arms tattoo on her left ribcage and 18. the mysterious white dots above it
In January 2015, Cara got a tiny coat of arms with a 'D' at the bottom on her ribcage, inked by tattoo artist Dr Woo in LA.Just above it, she also inked five white dots, which she has said represents the members of her immediate family.
Her mum's name, Pandora, on her bicep
Cara kept it in the family for her fourth tattoo by getting her mum's name, 'Pandora', on her arm. She got the tattoo on a trip to Bang Bang NYC HQ with her friend Rita Ora, who got a tattoo of an Alberto Vargas pin-up girl on her ribcage.
The 'breathe deep' white tattoo on her bicep
Cara has 'breathe deep' in white ink on her bicep, a reminder to herself to keep cool.
The 'Made in England' tattoo written on her left foot
Cara explained to The Guardian that her 'Made in England' tattoo on her foot represents how she feels as a model. 'You're looked through, you're not looked at, you are treated as a kind of mannequin. I got a tattoo saying 'Made in England' above my foot to represent that, that I felt like a doll for so long. Because you are just a kind of puppet, you know, entertainment. You kind of feel that you need to have no soul really, to do that job, a little bit.'
The bacon tattoo on the botton of her left foot
Cara has a 'Made in England' tattoo on the bottom of her right foot, and a 'Bacon' tattoo on her left. Cara explained the tattoo to The Cut: 'The tattoo was inspired by my love for bacon, obviously. I think of bacon every five seconds. It's the meatiness. I love the salt. Bacon is love to me. Bacon will always love me back. It's unconditional.'
The initials 'CJD' on her right hand
Cara's 'CJD' tattoo on her wrist stands for her initials, Cara Jocelyn Delevingne. This was also done by Bang Bang NYC.
The diamond in her right ear
Cara had a diamond tattooed inside her ear in February 2014 - perhaps a nod to her pal Rihanna's song Diamond?
The 'DD' tattoo on her hip
Cara and Jourdan have matching 'DD' tattoos on their hips, inked by Bang Bang NYC back in June 2014.
The toemoji tattoo
Following actor Joel Kinnaman and director David Ayer, who allowed fellow Suicide Squad members to ink the word 'SKWAD' on various body parts, Cara decided join to them. Margot and Cara gave each other matching toemojis - which is the art of a smiley face etched on to the bottom of one's toes.
The wasp tattoo on her middle finger on her left hand
On the other hand to her lion finger, Cara has a small black wasp on her middle finger. She posted a picture of the new inking in November 2014.
The 'silence' tattoo on her wrist
Cara added the word 'silence' to her wrist claiming, 'Silence speaks when words can't'. The ink was done at Cara's tattoo parlor of choice, Bang Bang NYC, run by the artist Keith McCurdy who goes by the name Bang Bang.
The red heart on her pinky
Cara got the outline of a red heart drawn on her pinky by - you guessed it - Bang Bang.
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