Selita Ebanks
Why celebrate birthday #31 in Portand, Jamaica?
I have a long relationship with Jamaica. My father is Jamaican, from Kingston, and both my grandparents are from Jamaica as well, and their parents. I have a long lineage. I love Jamaica. I always tell people all the time, there are so many different parts of Jamaica — you can’t just take one trip to Montego Bay and think that’s all Jamaica has to offer. This is my first time to Port Antonio and I have to tell you that it is the most beautiful, relaxing, serene…everyone here is so nice and sweet…Jamaica is not one colour, it’s not black and white, there are different shades of grey in-between, and I love them all.
Supermodel-dom to the big screen.
I have been studying acting for so long and finally I am really honing my craft and trying to take it seriously. I have been so blessed to work with amazing actors. Recently I was in Real Husbands of Hollywood with Kevin Hart. I have been studying for so long, but I never took a comedy timing class. Being on set with these amazing comedians and watching and seeing their professionalism and their comedic timing and how important it is to be so animated, almost like a Lucille Ball. They kept saying: “Selita, you could be the Lucille Ball of fashion, just relax and have fun with it,” and I tried and I think I did a good job but I learnt so much. It was like Acting: Comedy Timing 101.
I also just had the movie, About Last Night that came out on Valentine’s Day with Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Joy Bryant and Regina Hall. I have a really cute cameo in that and I get to kiss Michael Ealy, which was fun. But it’s about those experiences, being on set with amazing actors who have paved the way for aspiring actresses like myself. It’s an empowering thing — a girl from the Cayman Islands from very humble beginnings. I don’t take any of it for granted. I like pushing myself, pushing the envelope, pushing myself to another level of expectations. I like being nervous and uneasy and not really knowing what the outcome could possibly be. I always say my mantra is ‘Commit and proceed’. You can’t go wrong if you just try.
Proud moments.
Walking in 2005 on the Victoria’s Secret runway for the first time, I didn’t really understand how amazing an opportunity it was, especially for a brown girl, but as years went on, every year I never took it for granted. For all five years I walked on that catwalk, I always brought 100 per cent and I was like, this is freaking awesome. I also shot Sports Illustrated here in Jamaica in Negril in 2007. That was amazing, and then the following year I shot in the Cayman Islands. So I got to shoot SI in both my homelands and I thought it was a great experience to share with my family and pay homage to what has raised me. The whole experience in acting is just enormous for me because I never thought it possible to be on the big screen.
Fave Victoria’s Secret memories.
I was honoured to have been given the privilege to wear the million-dollar bra. Tyra is the only other brown girl who ever wore it before I did, and it doesn’t happen every day — to be a woman of colour in the fashion industry, you can’t take it for granted. Especially here in Jamaica, I know there are so many aspiring models who are gorgeous. At my agency in New York, at One Management there is a beautiful Jamaican girl there named Kai Newman and I love her to death. She is 17. When I met her, she came to a test shoot that I was on and through life she will grow into her own, but right now, it’s so natural for her but I want her to remember she’s young and experiencing life and don’t try to rush it because time goes by so fast.
Has being an island girl shaped your life outlook?
Absolutely. I think being an island girl I was raised to be domestic. I have seven brothers. I am not afraid to get my hands dirty or to work for something, and that makes things even better. Being an island woman, you are raised with a certain amount of integrity and respect for yourself. So if this is what I want, I am going to accomplish and gain that and know that I did that and worked hard for it. Nothing is given to you. I lived in mango and guinep trees and picked guavas and sea grapes along the beach. If we were hungry, we ate fruits. It’s the same model for today.
Life inspiration.
Definitely my mother, Anita Ebanks. She came from a different generation of the Caribbean world. My mother has phenomenal stories and she is very black and white, she will tell you straight to your face how she feels and I get a lot of that from her. But she is so driven and hard-working. Even to this day, I take care of my mother. I bought her a big house in Georgia and I take care of all the bills. I give her money and whatever she needs. She is my queen. She worked so hard to make sure that I am where I am today as a woman, so she’s like, ‘You know what, I want to move to London. I’m 55 and I’m going to be fabulous in London’ and I’m like ‘You’re crazy’ but she’s fearless. I am sad that my mom is leaving me but it’s so inspiring and encouraging … It doesn’t matter how old you are as a woman, what you have gone through and your struggles and accomplishments, you are never too old to fully take on life and continue to live. That’s why I love my mom.
Oscar ambitions?
Absolutely. My publicists have always encouraged me to go to those awards and I have always said I will wait until I am nominated. It might not happen tomorrow, it might happen 20 or 30 years from now, but I will get there. That’s my goal.
Check-list for 2014.
This year, my goal is to own everything that I do and try to become the CEO of my brand. We are working on a new show called Celebrity Grounds. It is a construction, home makeover show, so it’s Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous meets Cribs meets Extreme Home Makeover. We have a distribution deal with NBC Cozi TV. I am hosting and my co-host is a constructor/contractor guy named Keyser. He has a contracting company in Brooklyn which his family has had for 30 years. We take a fun, young approach to home makeover. I am executive producer and it’s one of my first projects being in that position. I’m super-excited. We are doing a kick-starter to raise a million dollars. We already invested $900,000 of our own money which is a large amount of money, but to put things on TV is expensive. We are trying to raise an additional $100,000 at kickstarter.com and I’m excited.
I also have a personal brand called SASS — it’s my baby that I’ve worked on for two years. I am introducing a new app, SASS by Selita. It’s a go-to app for hair and make-up, so if you are anywhere in America, whether Miami, Texas, Los Angeles, New York, and you need your hair and make-up done, it locates the professional that is available, and you choose who you are most comfortable with and you set up time and appointment and they show up to your house. No money transaction, everything is done on the app and you leave fierce.
