Camille Rowe

"Camille Rowe isn't just a model. It's not who I am." It's a brisk Sunday night in the City of Lights, and Miss April is in her Le Marais apartment, preparing a dinner of fish, fennel and Moroccan carrots. “I'm grateful for all I have,” she continues, “but I've also had sleepless nights of feeling misunderstood. I had to learn how to separate myself from my job." She pauses and puts her focus back on dinner. "The thing is, my entire family is in the restaurant business.
My siblings, my father and my grandparents all started as chefs and got their own restaurants. I'm a good cook, but in relation to them, I'm terrible," she says, laughing. Indeed, Camille, a native Parisian, veered from her family's rich history as restaurateurs when a modeling scout discovered her at a café. Next came campaigns for Louis Vuitton and Dior, numerous magazine covers and a move to New York City when she turned 21. But tonight, she's back in her hometown to shoot her first major film role—and like the delicate cuisine she prepares, the film is a toast to her roots. “I can't reveal the title yet, which is annoying, but I can say it's a comedy by a popular, respected French director. And yes, I speak French in it." Camille hopes acting, along with her PLAYBOY cover, will propel her into a higher stratum where her voice is as recognized as her face. "You're in the public eye as a model, but you're rarely asked to speak—and even then, they ask only about your beauty routines. Now, though, people are starting to care what I have to say. It's why I wore my own clothes and styled myself for this shoot," she says. "This was my vision, and it's a proud moment for me."