Cara Delevingne: Fashion Icon, Free Spirit, Instagram High Priestess...Movie Star?

A year ago, that last entry into the British supermodel’s increasingly diverse portfolio seemed far-fetched. But with this weekend’s hit film Paper Towns, Delevingne is poised for a major career change. In fact, over the course of the next year, she’ll star in six high profile films, as she looks to conquer an industry that has been notoriously prickly towards models-turned-actresses. (Apologies to Charlize Theron and Cameron Diaz, whose “modeling” careers were mere footnotes on their paths to stardom.)

Getty Images

Thanks to lucrative campaigns with luxe labels like Burberry and Yves Saint Laurent, Delevingne quickly turned from young Brit socialite to one of fashion’s most in demand models. So when comparing her impending crossover to those of her fellow cover girls, we must turn to the likes of Cindy Crawford, Elle MacPherson, Rebecca Romijn, Gisele Bundchen, and Milla Jovovich for context. In short, the trainwrecks (Bundchen in Taxi and more infamously, Crawford in Fair Game) far outweigh the triumphs (Jovovich’s Resident Evil franchise).

So why has Hollywood embraced Delevingne so willingly?

For starters, she’s paid her dues. While models like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (Transformers: Dark of The Moon), Kate Upton (The Other Woman) and Brooklyn Decker (Just Go With It) leapt into thankless starring roles that relied heavily on their genetic gifts, Delevingne took a decidedly different path.

“You have to pick projects that are cool, and not take the easy route by playing roles that are associated with your primary profession,” a top talent agent told us about what it takes to be taken seriously as a model trying to start an acting career. “It’s easy to go out and play a model, or a role that doesn’t have any substance. I think it’s about playing roles that are serious, and not necessarily big roles, but rather small roles with great filmmakers.” Delevingne did just that when she took on a small non-speaking part in Joe Wright’s 2012 adaptation of Anna Karenina. “She’s not just banking on her visibility as a model,” the agent added. “She’s selecting roles like an actor would select roles, which means having taste and having an opinion.”

Delevingne’s risk paid off.

In Paper Towns, the latest John Green adaptation—last year’s The Fault In Our Stars made Shailene Woodley a star—Delevingne plays the enchanting high school it-girl Margo Spiegelman, whose shiny veneer is shattered when she suddenly goes missing. With the publicity tour for Paper Towns in full swing, Delevingne has spun the narrative that she’s always been an actor first, and a model second. “The thrill of acting is making a character real,” she said in this month’s Vogue cover story. “Modeling is the opposite of real. It’s being fake in front of the camera.”

Delevingne reportedly beat out over 200 actresses for the coveted role, and though some observers may point to her built-in popularity as the likely reason she won the part—she has over 15 million followers on Instagram alone—those directly involved with her casting tell a different story.

“We went into the audition with skepticism that she would be right, but her performance grabbed us,” the film’s producer Wyck Godfrey told The Wall Street Journal. “Cara was put through her paces,” added casting director Jina Jay. “She worked very hard— she was prepped, focused, smart and brave.”

Of course, Delevingne’s massive online following certainly didn’t hurt her chances, especially as studios continue to embrace social media’s massive marketing potential. “I think it’s going to help her getting jobs,” the agent says about Delevingne’s ubiquity online. “Any time a studio can look at that kind of following and realize they’re getting built in marketing for free, they’re going to jump at that opportunity. We’re seeing more and more that an actor’s social media following factors into the decision making process.”

And while Delevingne has been aggressively promoting the film on social media by Instagramming the hell out of the massive press tour, the film’s brass wants to make it clear that she earned the part on merit, including director Jacke Schreier, who told Vogue that Delevingne’s audition was gripping. “She won the part in the room that day,” he said.

Early reviews have been positive, but how Paper Towns is ultimately received will have little bearing on Delevingne’s future career. Her already stacked filmography includes Tom Stoppard’s Tulip Fever, London Fields opposite Johnny Depp, Joe Wright’s highly anticipated Pan, next year’s massive comic book saga Suicide Squad alongside Will Smith and Jared Leto, and Luc Besson’s ultra ambitious sci-fi epic Valerian and The City of A Thousand Planets. It’s clear that Hollywood has already doubled up on Delevingne’s rising stock. “She’s having a Jessica Chastain moment,” the agent added, “where she has a million movies in the can but no one’s seen them. There’s a buzz there and everyone’s interested and wants her, and she has an aesthetic that’s appealing to filmmakers. She’s very hot right now.”

More from Yahoo Style:
Cara Delevingne Is Sparkly & Sexy for Date Night at the Premiere of ‘Paper Towns’
Cara Delevingne Clowns Around in Berlin (Literally)