Not since Tyson Beckford in Toni Braxton’s “Unbreak My Heart” music video has a male supermodel upstaged a diva as Sean O’Pry did in Taylor Swift’s Blank Space. (To be fair, let’s also give shoutouts to Antonio Sabàto Jr. and Djimon Hounsou in “Love Will Never Do Without You” by Janet Jackson, Holden Nowell in “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, Noah Mills in Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and Tony Ward in “Justify My Love” by Madonna. And did you notice there is another virile vixen in Blank Space? That’s the Italian model Andrea Denver as Swift’s next victim.)
It’s hardly surprising, though, that Madonna “discovered” and cast Sean first in her music video for “Girl Gone Wild” in 2012. But Sean shared screen time with fellow Supers Brad Alphonso, Jon Kortajarena, Rob Evans and Simon Nessman. The black-and-white, Mert and Marcus-directed video has since been viewed 31 million times on YouTube. In contrast, Blank Space has about 758 million views and counting, catapulting Sean to the stratosphere of fame.
Not bad for a small-town kid from Kennesaw, Georgia, who is now recognizable from Serbia to Brazil because of his Matt Bomer hooded blue eyes and luscious pillow lips. Sean exploded into the modeling world via MySpace in 2006, and his ascent to the top is unprecedented by any standards. He signed up with VNY Model Management (also the agency of Ollie Edwards, Corey Baptiste, Estee Rammant and Tobias Sorensen) under Lana Tomczak and her husband Damian.
By 2007, the Irish-Native American debuted on the Paris catwalk by opening the fall show of Yves Saint Laurent, extending to stints in New York with Diesel, Lacoste, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez and Zegna. He has since had Versace, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss and Armani in his booking camp. His recent campaigns include Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb Fragrance, Armani Exchange with Pauline Hoarau, Kenzo with Rinko Kikuchi, Salvatore Ferragamo with Raquel Zimmermann, Hugo by Hugo Boss with Karmen Pedaru, and Colcci Fall/Winter 2015 with Gisele Bundchen.
With this long-standing, high-yielding fashion presence, local brand Penshoppe put out all the stops to ensnare the mercurial model to join its already phenomenal lineup of international endorsers: Mandy Moore, Ed Westwick, Mario Maurer, Zac Efron, Ian Somerhalder, Leighton Meester, One Direction, Nina Dobrev and Josh Bowman.
“As the epitome of good looks and great personal style, Sean is the perfect face to represent our Spring/Summer 2015 collection, which showcases stylish casual wear with refreshing twists that definitely make a statement,” Penshoppe Brand Director Jeff Bascon said.
During the presscon at Fairmont Hotel in Makati City, Sean easily endeared himself to the giddy press, posing for selfies and gamely answering even mundane questions (except about dating).
“You learn it in school but you never get to see the actual culture and taste the food and meet the people. When I arrived off the plane, it was right off the bat. We got whisked away to El Nido and you just meet the nicest people,” Sean gushed about his trip to the country. The Penshoppe campaign reunited Sean with fashion photographer Guy Aroch, who previously shot him a la Elvis Presley for a British GQ editorial. The Penshoppe shoot was done in Los Angeles.
Sean leads Forbes magazine’s multicultural clique of highest-earning male models (based on “estimated earnings from licensing ventures, runway shows, commercial catalogs, spokesman gigs and contracts from fragrance and fashion companies) with $1.5 million earned in 2013 (a far cry from the $40-plus million earned by Gisele, the highest-earning female model).
On vogue.com’s all-time male models list, Sean comes in at fifth, with Beckford topping it. On models.com’s 2014 Model of the Year awards, Sean is the Reader’s Choice pick, and runner-up in the Industry’s Vote category; he is also the Social Media Star runner-up in both Industry Vote and Reader’s Choice categories.
Still, Sean needs a boost of confidence when the need arises: “I fall back on my family and my friends. I surround myself with love and that love makes me confident. Without that, I don’t think I could have ever gotten here or ever met the incredible people that I have. I’m just very fortunate that I do have that grounding around me, that love.”
The requisite tip to a wannabe? “I think the key to being successful is just being yourself. If other people don’t like that, then screw them. Because if you’re not true to yourself, it doesn’t matter. And I think if you’re true to yourself, then you’ll be happy with what the outcome is.”