Eva Marcille, out with a new film, credits Atlanta, ‘Top Model’ for success
Eva Marcille is always on her ‘Top Model’ behavior.
As she entered The Atlanta Journal-Constitution office Thursday morning, she strutted and posed across the building to create content for her social media channels. It became immediately clear how she, along with her signature cheekbones, won the third season of competition reality series “America’s Next Top Model” more than 20 years ago.
Marcille adopts a modus operandi of never living in fear, especially in the often unstable world of entertainment.
“Though it might be the scariest thing ever, walk through your fear, jump through your fear, run through your fear,” the Los Angeles-bred Atlanta resident said.
Marcille possesses a confidence and faith that’s built for show business, a key to her post-“America’s Next Top Model” success that includes a long list of acting credits in TV and film. Since winning her season in 2004, she has appeared on hit series such as “The Game” and “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.” The 41-year-old remains booked and busy, gearing up for a new season of the BET+ series “All the Queen’s Men” and recently announcing a new cannabis line, Sunflower by Eva.
Next up is her new Lifetime film, “Pushed off a Plane and Survived.” The film, shot in multiple locations throughout Georgia, airs at 8 p.m. ET Saturday. Marcille plays Jaynie, an ambitious woman who’s constantly betrayed by her husband (played by Tyler Lepley) and manages to survive a near-fatal skydiving trip.
The timing of the film coincides with the popularity of Netflix’s “Reality Check” docuseries, which debuted earlier this month. Over three episodes, the series takes a deep dive into several harrowing circumstances that occurred on “America’s Next Top Model,” including what Season 2 contestant Shandi Sullivan described as an unwanted sexual encounter that was framed as a cheating scandal on the show.
Although Marcille cites the show for her success, she said what happened to Sullivan and other contestants should not “be underappreciated, swept under a rug, underacknowledged.”
“I was given the title of ‘America’s Next Top Model.’ So my requirement is to go and be America’s next top model,“ Marcille said, looking back on her experience. ”For me, that meant represent Black women to the best of my ability, from the way I wear my hair to the roles that I take to how I speak... it is for us and by us."
The AJC caught up with Marcille to discuss her new film, how she feels about her “America’s Next Top Model” journey now and her love for Atlanta.
“This city has taught me that I can be anything and I can do anything.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: Your new Lifetime film debuts this weekend. How are you feeling?
A: I love living in a world and making up a world. But there’s nothing like playing (in) a world that exists that no one even could imagine. And so this project, when tapped to do it, was an easy yes (with) Tyler Lepley (as) my co-star and my charming and witty and charismatic psycho that he does oh so well. It was a lot of fun.
Q: What made you want to reunite with Lifetime for this new film, which is a follow-up to 2024’s “Buried Alive and Survived,” which you also starred in? These are such sad stories.
A: I’ve been working with Swirl Films, the production company, for years, so to just be there at its infancy, to see it grow to so many amazing heights, that’s one of the reasons, just because work doesn’t feel like work (with them). Then, Tyler Lepley. He is an absolute doll to work with. He is so much fun. There’s nothing like doing what you love to do for a living, enjoying it and then also knowing that you’re safe because you’re also pushing the limit. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill rom-com. It’s sad, it’s happy, it’s hopeful, it’s scary, it’s all the things that you want from a proper Lifetime film.
Q: Your character, Jaynie, experiences so much abuse from Cole (played by Lepley). Were there any parts of your personal life that you took into this role?
A: I am one of those (women) that are (a) hopeless romantic, and I am so optimistic. And though I have had my ups, my downs, publicly and privately, I’m still hopeful. I’m hopeful for a better day. I’m hopeful for a better community. I’m hopeful for a better reality for my children. I’m hopeful for love again. And so going into this film, I took all the hope that I had in humanity and in life and the promises of God, and not just the ills that we see every day, but that hope that you have to have inside of you that makes you keep going.
Q: Is there any specific moment in your life that was so drastic you felt like you were pushed off a plane?
A: Going through a divorce, I felt like I was pushed off a plane with no parachute, no backup. Didn’t know where I was falling into only to end up landing, and not necessarily the softest landing, but I did, and I have survived, and today is a completely different day than then, and tomorrow will be an even brighter day.
Q: It’s also an interesting time for you because of the recent Netflix docuseries about “America’s Next Top Model.” You weren’t asked to be in it, but would you have participated if you were asked?
A: I don’t know if I would have participated. I obviously come with a bias (after winning “Top Model,” Eva was managed by producer Tyra Banks and Benny Medina for a few years). It’s like judging your mom today with something she did when you were a kid. All the best intentions. You know she loves you more than anything in the world. But was she perfect? No. But do I still revere her as my mother and the person that has prioritized me? Absolutely. Tyra Banks gave me my start in this business.
Q: Anything from the docuseries that stood out to you?
A: For me, it was such an eye-opener. You saw how little I was in it, and I wasn’t privy to what was going on... I think the saddest part for me was Shandi... I know there are a lot of Shandies out there. The courage for her to speak her truth, as difficult as it is, and how as long as it’s been — I’m sure it plagues her daily. It plagues me daily.
Q: How do you reconcile those situations with your support for Tyra?
A: I don’t think one has to do with the other. I support Tyra because I have love for Tyra. That has nothing to do with my disgust about what happened with Shandi. What Tyra set out to do was to change what the modeling industry looks like. I’m sitting here across from you today talking about my movie because of what Tyra tried to do. So two things exist. What happened to Shandi was disgusting, deplorable, and should have never happened at all.
Q: When’s the last time you spoke to Tyra?
A: I just messaged Tyra today, actually. Last time we spoke, I think she was promoting her ice cream (shop), and she was like, ‘Girl, I got a promo code, get your ice cream fast.’ The last time I saw her, she was promoting her 2011 novel “Modelland,” but it’s been awhile... there’s a world of like, you want to go and love on them. But then, having gone through trials myself in the public, there’s a world of like, just give me a moment.
Q: In your season of ‘Top Model,’ you were dubbed ‘Eva the Diva’ because of your attitude. I don’t know if that was fair.
A: Well, I think it was honest. I think that the courage and the confidence that I had at 19 was palpable. I think that the young lady you see in front of you today is that same little girl that has gone through a beautiful maturation, but walking in (that audition) and saying, ‘I don’t compare myself to anyone. I’m me.’ And that is the beauty of who I am.
Q: I mean, you were labeled as a b---- on the show.
A: Calling me a female dog was definitely not the nicest, but I also wasn’t the nicest. I mean, we were 18, 19-year old kids. But that did stick with me. Tyra saying (to me), “I don’t want to cast another Black b----” stuck with me because I didn’t think that I was that, but I definitely made sure I didn’t become that in life. I don’t think it was what she saw in me. I think what she saw was that my audacity is going to often be misinterpreted. There is something she told me that was not on camera. She said, “There is a difference between being assertive and aggressive. I believe that you are extremely assertive, but those that are afraid of you upon approach are going to take that as aggression every time.”
Q: What would you tell 19-year-old Eva, who’d just left Clark Atlanta University to compete on “Top Model?”
A: You got this. Don’t overthink it.... it’s gonna be OK.
Q: What does Atlanta mean to you?
A: Atlanta is a place where I found myself. Atlanta is a place where not only did I go to college here at Clark Atlanta University, but the (Clark Atlanta University professor) W.E.B. Du Bois motto was to find a way or make one. And it sounds so trivial. Coming in as a freshman in orientation, it’s like, this is our school’s motto? But I was at the airport yesterday, coming in from New York, and I saw a sister from Clark, and she comes up to me and she says, “CAU.” I said, baby girl, “Find a way or make one.”
About the Author
DeAsia is a music and culture reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She focuses on the intersection of arts, culture and diverse communities, as well as how emerging social trends are being expressed through the lens of the Atlanta aesthetic. DeAsia's work can be seen in Pitchfork, Essence, Teen Vogue, Elle and more.
