Christy Turlington Talks Master's Degree, Family, And Her 'OK' Looks

For its 'Age Issue,' Vogue interviewed 'super role model' Christy Turlington, who impacted the modeling world and now seeks to make a difference with a Master's degree in public health from Columbia:

"Now I'm 40 and getting this degree, I might be on the cusp of the career that I always wanted."

She also addressed her appearance:

"I skipped that self-critical place that's dangerous for any teenager. I kind of figured, if Vogue thinks that I look OK, I probably look OK. Working with Arthur Elgrot, Patrick Demarchelier and Steven Meisel, I felt pretty confident in my day-to-day life."

When asked about being the "good one" of the Naomi-Linda-Christy trio:

"That's a way I got attention. All I had to do as a model was be sweet and kind and a team player and hang up my clothes and I got accolades--how easy is that?"

Above: With husband Ed Burns and their children Finn and Grace (Photo: Pamela Hanson/Courtesy of Christy Turlington)

She explained that after her first year of modeling, her income surpassed her father's:

"That puts you in a different place in your family, and the power dynamic shifts, I kind of liked the power in a weird way, but I was confused by it."

She is currently working on a documentary on the risks of maternity in developing countries. Turlington talked about how her career affected her family life:

"One of the reasons I've been lucky in the business is that I had normalcy, I had a family, I stayed in school--all of the things I didn't want at the time."

(Photo: Alex Majoli)

(Photo: Alex Majoli)

Vogue's August issue hits newsstands on July 21.

Read more at Vogue or see Vogue's slideshow of her 25 years as a Vogue model.

Follow HuffPost Style on Twitter and become a fan of HuffPost Style on Facebook!

Comments

[bentax645]

11:15 AM on 07/17/2009

She is definitely one of my all time Models. Unfortunately, I did not have an opportunity to work with her. I did with Andie MacDowell, Janice Dickensen and Kim Alexis to name a few, but not Christy...

http://www.benjaminkanarekblog.com/?p=770

[johnnygoodwud]

07:55 PM on 07/16/2009

when god said, 'do you want beauty or brains', she replied i'll take both. thank you god.

[complice]

02:45 PM on 07/16/2009

Brains, beauty, grace, compassion, and perhaps most striking of all, her tremendous longevity in an industry with a notoriously insatiable appetite for the freshest/hottest/youngest new face. She only gets better with age.

Simply stunning.

[PatA]

09:20 AM on 07/16/2009

I'm in my 60s and 40 has become the new 20.

[TigersEye]

06:51 PM on 07/16/2009

I'm 29, I mean 44, and I completely agree!

[tabatha]

02:19 AM on 07/16/2009

not to be nasty, but isn't she a big conservative republican and former Bush supporter?

hopefully not....hard to reconcile with her stated new professional interests

[complice]

02:47 PM on 07/16/2009

Hmm...I'm pretty sure you have her confused with someone else. I don't know her personally, but from what I've read, she's always struck me as something of a humanist.

[lillibelle]

10:35 AM on 07/17/2009

Maybe you're thinking of AngieHarmon?

[lillibelle]

08:12 PM on 07/15/2009

Very impressive! Congrats to Christy & Ed for maintaining such a beautiful balance in their lives. A few years ago, Christy announced that she had developed emphysema. Sure hope that is now no more than a part of the past.

[kittyarmy]

03:49 PM on 07/15/2009

Good for her.

[TigersEye]

03:20 PM on 07/15/2009

It's great that she's continued with her schooling and branching out with her career choices. She seems pretty down to earth. (Nice looking family, too.)