Jonsson’s reluctance
America’s most gorgeous male model Jon Jonsson is not exactly feeling on top of the world. RUBIN KHOO finds out why.
THE reluctant model is probably how one would describe Jon Jonsson, “America’s most gorgeous male model”. The winner of the US reality TV show Manhunt, who clinched a US$100,000 (RM380,000) contract with the international modelling agency IMG, is having reservations about the industry, just four months after strutting the catwalks and striking poses.
“I don’t really want to be a model,” he confesses while in Kuala Lumpur recently for a Channel [V] recording. “The whole profession of male modelling makes very little sense to me. Before I got into it, I used to see these photos and I know these guys are making money off them but I didn’t know why. The photos don’t sell anything. It’s just weird.”
The 23-year-old, who was studying astrophysics at the University of California Santa Cruz when he was approached by a group of people to participate in the reality show, has had to make quite an adjustment since becoming a professional model.
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Jon Jonsson: ‘I don’t really want to be a model.’ |
Although he was born in Iceland, Jonsson grew up in California where he spent his days basking in the sunshine and swimming in the ocean. New York by comparison was cluttered and frenzied.
“I was pretty miserable,” he admits. “If you are just stuck in the city and there’s no way out, it can be depressing.”
Jonsson has been spending the last two months in tropical Singapore though to him it hasn’t been all that different. His way of coping is basically to focus on the good stuff – the money obviously and the opportunity to travel.
His most memorable modelling experience to date has been working with the legendary photographer Bruce Weber. Jonsson had two shoots with Weber; the first was in Santa Barbara, California, and the second, in the Dominican Republic, which he describes as the high point so far in his modelling career.
“It was amazing,” he says. “It was a nice place, he was a nice guy and he had no ego although if anyone deserves to have an ego it’s him. It was really cool.”
The stresses of the job, however, come in many forms. The male modelling industry is fiercely competitive and there are times when his self-esteem has taken a severe beating.
“You can be in the best shape of your life and can feel great but they’ll still find something wrong and drill it into you. Your feelings and your high spirits just go down the tubes and you can become quite annoyed and depressed,” he laments.
The criticism is usually followed by lots of advice from a lot of guys who according to him “don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.” The key to dealing with it, he says, is to just let it go.
“You just do what you do and not stress out,” he says.
Which was pretty much the philosophy Jonsson adopted on Manhunt as well. If there was one criticism that the judges had of him, it was that he was too laid-back. That has changed somewhat.
“It’s not very cool but I do tend to get bugged more easily these days.”
There have, however, been good moments as well – travelling and meeting new people. Jonsson has also had the opportunity to dabble in a bit of television presenting. While in town, he did some hosting for Channel [V] with VJs Sarah Tan and Paula Malai Ali. The experience was quite enjoyable and seemed to be more in line with his laid-back personality.
“It’s fun, “ he says. “The people are nicer.”
No stranger to television having been on Manhunt, the male version of America’s Next Top Model hopes to do more hosting in the future. While Manhunt may have prepared him well for what the industry is about but Jonsson is still unsure as to how long it will last. He has a four-year contract but he can basically choose when to stop.
“I just don’t make the money,” he laughs.
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