Sasha Pivovarova Is the Face of Eternal Youth

PHOTO BY CRAIG MCDEAN

What do Sasha Pivovarova, Noah Mills, Jon Kortajarena, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley all have in common? Aside from the ability to work a catwalk, these are the latest models to go from the catwalk to the silver screen. This fall, the Russian beauty Sasha Pivovarova, known for her sniper-like stare, appears alongside Justin Timberlake in In Time, a movie about a future world where people stop aging at 25 and where, if you have the means, it’s possible to buy eternal youth. Here’s the catch: Pivovarova plays Clara, Justin Timberlake’s grandmother, even though she doesn’t look like she’s cracked her 30s, a plot device that raises the level of irony in the film.

Brooklyn-based Pivovarova, who makes art and reads the greats texts of Russian literature and cultural theory in her spare time—from Milan Kundera to Theodor Adorno—has been in fashion editorials in major magazines, including Interview, as well as appearing on the covers of nearly every fashion magazine, most recently her first cover of French Vogue. We caught up with Pivovarova and talked about what was like being on screen, the value of time, fashion as art, and what it’s like seeing yourself in the magazines.

MADISON MOORE: You play Clara, Vincent Kartheiser’s mother-in-law in In Time, which stars Justin Timberlake. How did you land that role?

SASHA PIVOVAROVA: One day I got a phone call from my IMG agent, Liz [Carpenter] telling me that I had an option to try for small but important part in a very interesting and exciting movie project. The working title of the movie was I Am An Immortal, and I liked that right away. I started reading the script and I liked it even more, and a few months later I flew to LA for a shoot.

MOORE: What do you think about the concept of time as currency?

PIVOVAROVA: I would not want to live in such a world, but the movie plot is very interesting, it makes you reflect on how precious time really is.

MOORE: Could you relate to your character?

PIVOVAROVA: I never thought my first role in a film would be a grandmother.

MOORE: As a child, did you ever dream about being a movie star?

PIVOVAROVA: As a child, I always thought about big screen and even played in a amateur theatrical studio. I would do more film roles if I am invited.

MOORE: You’ve been on the cover of Italian Vogue five times, and you recently had your first cover of Vogue Paris. Is it ever strange when you walk past a newsstand and see your face on the cover of one or more magazines ?

PIVOVAROVA: It feels really strange when I walk by newsstands and I don’t see any magazines with me in it! [Laughs]

MOORE: Before you became a model, you studied art back in Russia, and you’ve been working on specially commissioned art books for Prada and Karl Lagerfeld. What materials do you use for your art?

PIVOVAROVA: Anything that leaves marks, including tea, red wine, and lipstick.

MOORE: Do you see fashion as a kind of art?

PIVOVAROVA: I think people who are working in this industry are the greatest artists of our time.

IN TIME IS OUT IN THEATERS NOW.