Cara Delevingne doesn’t want to be defined by her sexuality

CARA Delevingne has been candid about her bisexuality but doesn’t want to be defined by it. The model is now a role model for others struggling with their identity.

Cara Delevingne has recently chopped her hair and says she feels liberated because she can no longer hide behind it. Picture: GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP

CARA Delevingne has always been candid about her bisexuality, but nothing irritates the supermodel-turned-actress more than people defining others by their sexuality. “Why should I have to explain who I am to you?” she says, sounding firm and frustrated. “You should know that. If you have a question, ask me and I’ll tell you what you want to know. People should be allowed to just be who they are and others need to stop putting others in a box.”

It’s this no-nonsense attitude that has turned Delevingne into an inadvertent role model for young girls struggling with their sexual identity.

“It’s not just girls, but also boys growing up struggle with being labelled. They also feel that they have to be someone they’re not. They should know that to begin to understand yourself you need to completely demolish labels. I don’t think anyone has to be (something they’re not) and no one has to explain themselves. It’s an old-fashioned way of thinking and people have been stuck in that [mindset] for such a long time. Now even more.”

Cara Delevingne and dated musician St Vincent on and off and says she doesn’t want to be defined by her sexuality. Picture: Rex Features / Splash News

She’s in LA to promote her new sci-fi movie, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. With her newly cropped ‘do’ she resembles Kristen Stewart. Happy to have joined the short-haired club, she laughs, “Whoo hoo! It’s a cool club. I like it. It means the maintenance is a lot less which is nice.”

Her new look has also inspired a greater self-confidence. “There is definitely something I’ve learned about using hair as something to hide behind. Now I feel a lot more open and a little more vulnerable than when I had long hair. It’s actually very liberating and kind of amazing.” She smiles. “So many people tell me that I look nice with short hair which I never, ever thought I would ever do. I was always so weird about it, which is funny.

“On the other hand, I look like a 14-year-old boy, which is not necessarily bad, but definitely not something that you want to go for as a 24-year-old woman,” she laughs.

The last time we spoke, two years ago for the movie Paper Towns, she declared herself a hopeless romantic. Back then she was in an on-again off-again relationship with musician St. Vincent (Annie Clark). She also dated Michelle Rodriguez and Harry Styles but isn’t currently in a relationship.

How does she see herself these days? “I’m still a hopeless romantic. When I say that I just believe in love so much. I think love will save the world and I think that love has the power to save all of us. I love love I guess in a way. And as far as what’s romantic, I think probably having a song written about me or writing a song for someone, that is probably the most romantic thing. But will I ever get married? Who knows? I have no idea.”

What she is sure about is that her already impressive tattoo collection will increase in number. “Oh, they are ever growing! They should probably stop at some point because of the three hours that I have to spend in hair and makeup for a film. If it was up to me I’d be covered in them,” she says. “I don’t know which one is my favourite,” she muses, looking over her arms. “Probably the one I got in Bangkok on the back of my neck, the more traditional one,” she decides. “They mean different things to me. Sometimes it’s for a person or for a time in my life or a memory for a feeling I was having. [She has a tattoo of St. Vincent’s initials, AC.] They all represent something very important, whether it was spontaneous for fun or something deeper than that.”

In Valerian, set in the 28th century, she play Laureline, a time-travelling operative alongside the titular character (Dane DeHaan). Together, they maintain order and protect the human territories. “The message of this movie is extremely positive for girls. I am not a damsel in distress,” she explains.

Rihanna and model Cara Delevingne have been friends long before they starred in Valerian together. Picture: Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images

Her old friend, Rihanna, also stars in the movie as a shapeshifting entertainer. “Having known Ri for six years and now to be on set with her, it brought tears to my eyes. We met when she was doing the Victoria’s Secret show and I was a model. So we joke about it all the time about where we first met compared to where we are now. It’s the most amazing thing ever.”

Unsurprisingly then, Delevingne has a strong core group of female friends, including her Instagram feed regulars Taylor Swift, Kate Moss, Miley Cyrus, Kendall Jenner, and Iggy Azalea.

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“My friends save my life all the time. I wouldn’t be anywhere without them,” she insists. “One of my favourite things in the world is listening to my friends’ problems and giving advice.

“If I wasn’t going to be an actress I always wanted to be a therapist, to be honest. I think people are so interesting, I want to study anthropology. The way people work and the way people manoeuvre themselves in life is an incredible thing and, because I’m interested in that, I’m lucky to be an actress.