At the young age of 18, Brittany Binger made a decision that has followed her for the last seven years. She decided to pose nude for Playboy. What was once a good move — she got $25,000 for that gig — has turned into an incredible burden for the beautiful model.
Because of that decision she made so long ago, Brittany has found it difficult to get serious modeling jobs.
Her luck has been changing, though. She recently signed to two different major agencies in New York and L.A.
She’s a fighter, and she won’t stop trying to make her mark in the modeling world.
We chatted with the stunning beauty and she told us more of her amazing story. Check it out below.
GlobalGrind: Tell us about some of the cool stuff you’re doing now.
Brittany Binger: I signed with VISION Los Angeles, one of the top agencies, if not the top one, in L.A. That took me a while. I went in there and they stripped me down. I walked in there—I had bright nail polish on. I had big highlights in my hair, and they were like: ‘you have a great look, but simple is best.’ So they had to strip me down and tone my hair down and take the fake nail polish off.
So it’s like you came in one way and came out another.
Yeah. And it’s a compliment. They were like: ‘you’re naturally beautiful, you’re tall, you’re long and lean. You don’t have to do all of these things.’ And so it was just a security blanket for so long. They say when you go on castings and do all of these things, that you don’t need that much makeup, maybe just some lip gloss and that’s it. You know, natural nails, natural everything. Because they molded me into doing that, I was able to sign with an agency in New York.
I’m doing a bikini company campaign next week and the other model that they’ve used is a supermodel, Lisalla (Montenegro), and she’s the Maybelline girl and everything. So it will be me and her, which is a huge honor. And I just auditioned for Nick Cannon’s School Dance movie. I went in and they told me: ‘you’re not right for this part but we want to write in a part for you.’ It’s not official, but they’re looking into writing a part in for me.
Have you ever acted before?
No, not really. I did little tiny things. I was in a Klondike bar commercial with Adam Carolla when I first moved here, and I had three lines and stuff, but I’ve never really done a lot of acting. I’ve auditioned for General Hospital and they keep bringing me back. That would be a dream job.
When did you sign to VISION?
That was late August of last year, more September, really.
So this is all relatively new?
Right. And I’ve been signed with agencies before, but not one of this caliber. These are top agencies, they are really hard to get into, they say no to everybody. So, for me it’s a big accomplishment, especially coming from doing Playboy at 18. Everywhere you go they just put you in a box because you did that, and a lot of people can’t look past it. I’ve worked really hard to try to get people to look past that. It was something that I did when I was 18. Was it the best decision? Probably not. Career wise, probably not. It’s not who I am. It was an impulsive decision. They kind of came to me with it. A photographer that worked with them said ‘oh, you would be really good for them.’ And at the time, I’m young, and I’m thinking, yeah, I’m not getting any work anyway, this will be awesome. And they offer you $25,000, and I thought ‘oh my God, I have to do it.’ But now it has hindered me from getting a lot of big jobs. So, career wise, would I take it back? Maybe. But I’ve met so many really close friends and good people through it, and I wouldn’t want to take that part back.
It’s interesting that Playboy can put a negative stamp on your career if you want to do high-end fashion in the future.
If you want to do what I’m doing, yeah. It’s blown up a lot of other girl’s careers because they went on different paths, but the path that I’m trying to take is a little harder. So I’ve been fighting tooth-and-nail to try and just get past that and then move on. It’s something I did when I was 18. I’m 25 now.
Wow, so it was seven years ago?
Exactly. Victoria’s Secret did a nationwide search, two years ago, before I was even signed to these things. And the girl said ‘you should try out for it.’ And they were doing one in L.A. I was standing around the block in this Victoria’s Secret line and it was probably thousands of girls who showed up. I was in the top eight, and they were going to fly me to New York and a test and everything. And they said, ‘you’re almost their favorite for this. All we have to do is do a background check.’ They saw that I did Playboy, and I never heard from them again. Stuff like that just sucks. That’s the kind of thing I wish people could look past. They said ‘we’re going to do a background check’ and that’s the last I heard from them because I know I don’t have a criminal record or anything. (Laughs)
What’s your dream gig? What would you want to be doing a year from now if you can plan it out perfectly?
My dream would be, obviously, Victoria’s Secret. But I’m very realistic. I realize that that dream is probably too far-fetched because of what I’ve done in the past. I’ve always wanted Sports Illustrated. I would die to be in even one page in Sports Illustrated — would die for it. That would be my dream modeling job. But, besides modeling, I know I can’t model forever, I would love to be in a soap opera.
Where are you based?
I’m in L.A. now. I live in Manhattan Beach.
You’re in the place to be if you ever want to transition to acting.
Right. And I’m possibly going to go to New York some point this year. We’re just talking with major models out there right now. They’re trying to find the best time for me to come out and maybe spend some time out there and do some jobs out there and do some shoots, maybe for two months or so.
What have been your modeling highlights so far?
Probably getting signed with a New York agency because everyone out here has told me ‘you’re too short for New York, you’re this, you’re that.’ Not only an agency there, but an agency that good is major. That’s one of the top five or 10 agencies, and to be signed with them…people told me I couldn’t do it. And I fought and I fought and I fought and I found a agency that wanted to sign me there and they’re actually really excited about me and they like me. And that’s a huge accomplishment for me. So, I’m really proud of that because it’s rare.
