Model Selita Ebanks stars in Kanye West’s new film Runaway as a phoenix. Below, she discusses her part with Vulture. Remember, the flick premieres this Saturday on all the big music channels.
What can you tell us about the plot?
I come to earth in a fireball, and I cause a bit of destruction, and he finds me. He’s driving along, and he carries me from the scene, and there’s a huge explosion behind us. I don’t think it’s the car blowing up, I think it’s just a big fire as a whole, because there’s a forest. And then he takes me to his place and he tries to teach me the way of his world, and I think that’s the moral of the film: The world doesn’t accept, or they try to change, what is different, instead of trying to understand it. There’s this huge dinner scene, and as soon as we walk in people are talking, and there’s this really great line. Someone says to him, “Your girlfriend’s very beautiful. You know she’s a bird, right?” And he says, “No, I didn’t notice that.” There’s also really graphic scene in the middle, where he takes me to this amazing carnival, and there’s this huge Michael Jackson head that he had made in Prague, and there’s a whole band, and these people marching.
What did you think of the album cover? According to his Twitter, it’s another representation of the phoenix character.
I know he’s a really huge fan of art, and just things that can be interpreted in different ways. Its kind of the same with his music, the things that he raps about. You shouldn’t take everything as literal as it may look. I think it’s all about that douchebag thing. You know, there he is on that couch with a drink in his hand and a phoenix naked. There’s nothing wrong with that.
You’re mentioned on Kanye’s “Christian Dior Denim Flow” verse along with a bunch of your modeling colleagues. Did you have advanced notice for that?
No, not at all. He actually e-mailed me and was like, “Hey, do you like the new song?” And I was like, “I think I missed it Friday.” Went back, checked it out, thought it was super-cool. I’m in great company with all the other great models, and he’s always very respectful and considerate of my feelings. He’s a great friend.
http://rapradar.com/2010/10/19/selita-e ... s-runaway/
