Cindy Crawford has opened up about her brief attempt at an acting career, saying she came to understand that she felt more comfortable in front of the camera being herself rather than playing a role.
Speaking at the Forbes Power Women's Summit 2026, the 60-year-old supermodel reflected on career moves that did not pan out the way she had hoped.
Crawford said that even the things you try and that do not necessarily work out the way you hoped still end up being experiences you learn from.
A brief run in film
Crawford took on a handful of acting roles in the 1990s, including the 1995 film Fair Game and the 1998 film 54. She said that once a model lands on magazine covers, scripts start arriving, and some people want to see her act.
She recalled one of her early auditions, saying she was handed a script and asked if she could read it. She said she simply began reading it aloud. The director was Mike Nichols, who told her afterwards that she clearly knew how to read. Crawford said he never asked her whether she could perform the part, and because she takes things very literally, she assumed only afterwards that he had actually meant she should interpret the role, adding she wished he had said so directly.
Mike Nichols was an acclaimed film and theatre director whose credits include The Graduate and Working Girl, and who worked across both Hollywood and Broadway.
Harsh reviews and a realization
Crawford said that when she eventually landed a film role, she faced harsh criticism. She soon recognized that modeling suited her better, since it allowed her to be herself rather than inhabit a character.
She said that making that film taught her she felt very comfortable in front of the camera as Cindy Crawford, but that the moment anyone tried to put words in her mouth that were not her own, she could barely believe it. Professionally, she said, it felt like she could simply close off that path.
Doubling down on modeling
Crawford said her decision to stop pursuing an acting career was liberating. She said it helped her put twice the effort into the things she enjoys, feels comfortable doing and believes she is good at.
Crawford rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s as one of the era's leading supermodels, appearing on countless magazine covers and building a career that has spanned modeling campaigns, television and business ventures over four decades.
