I recently saw the film The Kids Are All Right, and between marveling at Julianne Moore’s performance and Mark Ruffalo’s chest hair, I couldn’t help but notice the acting skills of another one of the film’s stars, Yaya DaCosta, better known as a Cycle 3 contestant on America’s Next Top Model.
Our Brown-educated girl (how could we forget that tidbit with the number of times she said it on the show?) has come a long way from smizing and losing to Eva Pigford (now Eva Marcille for acting purposes).
Before she landed the role as Ruffalo’s friend with benefits in The Kids Are All Right, DaCosta appeared on Law & Order: SVU and multiple episodes of both All My Children and Ugly Betty. In December, she can be seen seen in Tron: Legacy as one of two Sirens.
Tyra would be proud!
And let’s not forget the other contestants who’ve made a name for themselves in the modeling world: Toccara Jones of Cycle 3 and the aforementioned winner, Pigford, who enjoyed some moderate success with campaigns for DKNY and Samsung. (Cycle 13 winner Nicole Fox was rumored to be the face of the late Alexander McQueen’s campaign but the news was quickly squashed.)
But with the good comes the bad, like Cycle 1′s Adrianne Curry and her trainwreck of a reality show, My Fair Brady, and a Cycle 10 contestant who shall remain nameless — she was totally embarrassed when I said I knew her from Top Model — who has served me ice cream sundaes on multiple occasions at New York’s Big Daddy’s Diner.
I nominate DaCosta as one of the more successful contestants. Who do you think deserves the title?
Photo: Suzanne Tenner
What was the name of that one winner who had already been in fashion shows for America’s Next Top Model, not to mention Chanel and other big designers, before going on the show?
Oh, and isn’t Bree from season five on that Garnier Fructis commercial?
Yea, that’s Bre in the Garnier commercial
Not sure who you’re referring to, but I know I’ve noticed, of all people, Jaslene getting a lot of modeling work. Also Chantal, who should’ve won her season.
It was the girl who won instead of Chantal.
Her name was Saleisha.
Adrianne Curry didn’t have a trainwreck of a reality show… it was somewhat successful. I guess if you compare it to others yeah. But she is far from “serving ice ream at Big Daddy’s Diner”
Awful Kim is now a VJ or something, even though MTV doesn’t play videos. Success: You Decide!
She’s not actually a VJ; she’s a news reporter, and has even interviewed very powerful politicians.
She’s also not awful
I just saw Yaya on an ad for Army Wives too. She was in The Messenger and a John Sayles movie called “Honeydripper” as well. Not too shabby! She was the prettiest model the show ever had and I thought everyone went overboard making her a villain just because she was educated and understandably a little snooty in the presence of idiots.
Elyse from Season 1 is supposedly big stuff in Japan but I can’t really vouch for the accuracy of that anymore.
Unfortunately for Yaya, I’ve seen her on Top Model so I can never appreciate how successful an actor she is. Say “respieto” all that you want, you’re still the gil who spit out the umeboshi. Also, please apologize to the fake kente cloth hat, Yaya.
Elyse was definitely a very in-demand model in Japan for awhile, I’m not sure if she’s still hot stuff or not, either. I know she was dating one of the guys from The Shins until he beat her up or something like that.
It’s the same guy Elyse was dating when she was on the show – the one who visited.
I always thought that Yaya should’ve won over Eva in cycle 3 (shoulda been Yaya & Amanda in the final), so good for her. She’s done a lot of acting roles and really carved out a nice little career for herself.
Bleck, I couldn’t stand Amanda. She took decent pictures sometimes, but was not a ‘model’ in any sense of the word. Should have been Eva and Yaya in the final two.
I’ve gotten a few clothing catalogs in the mail with Dani (Danielle S4???) in them. Metrostyle, I think. She got her gap fixed but so far I’ve only seen her doing catalog modeling.
Mckey from cycle 11 is one my favorite winners. So was Nicole from 13 and Yoanna House from way back in cycle 2. Whatever happened to her?
I thought I saw Yoanna on the Tyra show awhile ago, and she just had a baby.
Yoanna hosts a show on the Style Network
Wasn’t one of them on Young And The Restless for a while playing the character of Tyra?
That was Eva
I haven’t really kept up with the other models, but I know many are successful in Asia. On another note,I my friend saw Allison from cycle 12 as a cater waiter. She brought it up, sneered, and never came back. Its a shame because she was my favorite.
Aw! She was my favorite that cycle!
I heard foxy, leggy, volleyball-y, Analeigh has a role in The Green Hornet. IMDb checks out. I’m sure it’s not a big part, but I bet she looks nice on the screen…
I thought she was really good, and was disappointed she didn’t win.
Analeigh was one of the “prettiest” girls ever on ANTM.
Last summer I went to a restaurant in CT and my waitress was Jenah from Season 9 (where they went to China). She was very nice and up-beat. She said she had tried modeling in NY, didn’t like it and was going to go back to school so she could “eat whatever she wanted and get a real job.” I’ve been back to the place a few times and haven’t seen her, so I hope she did what she said she’d do.
Good for her. Not saying models are stupid (hardly, look at Paulina) but some are just too smart to be a part of THIS show in its current state.
As long as she’s happy, that’s good for her.
Jenah was my fave from that season. But I have to ask: did she still have America’s Most Broke-Down Weave?
Haha, no. She had her real hair and looked a lot better.
What happened to the lovely Audrey Hepburn-ish girl with the short hair? Yoanna?
And what’s happening with Carrie Dee?
(Did not follow the show beyond these.)
Yoanna ended up hosting some show on a style network.
Carrie Dee was on an episode of Gossip Girl it’s first season.
Oh hell to the naw. Yoanna is horrible & my least fave ever.
Audrey is a goddess. That is all.
Via some online research I think Amis is the model who works at Big Daddy’s. She wasn’t that good anyway (at modeling I mean. Can’t vouch for her as a waitress…)
Either her or the other Amy from that year
Is she the one that got called ‘scruffy’ on one of the go-sees?
I thought Adrianne had 2 playboy covers and lives in some mansion in malibu? Is that where she serves ice cream?
Adrianne isn’t the ice cream girl, Sam. A Season 10 contestant is, according to the article.
If I remember correctly, Yaya also played a soldier’s pregnant girlfriend/wife in The Messenger. I thought she was pretty good, even though she was only onscreen for a few minutes. She cried a lot.
Anna (or Ann, I forget) who was frenemies with Eva on the show is one of Shape magazine’s go to models. She’s in each month’s issue demonstrating different exercise moves. I’m slightly embarassed that I so easily identified her.
Don’t be embarrassed, she was actually kind of memorable, though only because of her association/falling out with Eva. And it was Ann.
She also had a brief cameo in Made of Honor.
I recognized Anne in a TV ad for a travel site — Expedia, maybe?
Ann is also in that Triscuit’s commercial. And I saw Mercedes in an Applebee’s commercial a few years ago.
And Sarah from Jaslene’s season is in some rock band that played at some bar in DeKalb, IL where I went to law school..
Wow I’m sad
Ann was in a Travelocity commercial that was seen every week during The Amazing Race for a few seasons. She looked great!