Cara Delevingne Good Day Sacramento Interview

Watch: Braindead Morning Show Anchors Botch An Interview With Cara Delevingne

“Too bad that young actress couldn’t handle questions about her literacy and ADHD with a more chipper attitude.” That’s pretty much what I heard yesterday when three anchors on Good Day Sacramento lambasted Cara Delevingne for not answering their questions with a sprinkling of pixie dust.

Delevingne was lovely, if not entirely jacked up, but that just wasn’t enough for anchors Marianne McClary and Mark S. Allen, who clucked like a pair of hens, complaining about Delevingne’s attitude after shutting her down.

Promoting her new movie Paper Towns, Delevingne appeared on Good Day Sacramento via a satellite feed. The first awkward thing about this interview is the time delay between the anchors questions and Delevingne’s responses. You could see the gap as Delevingne’s head is tucked down while she listens, her eyes light up whenever she registers the end of the question. From there, it turns disastrous.

McClary begins by asking the star — who she calls “Carla” — whether she read the book Paper Towns before making the movie. If only the question ended there. McClary continues: “Do you even have time to read,” she asks with a snide laugh, as if the idea that Delevingne reads could be funny. “These days you’re so busy.”

Delevingne, in a manner typical of the actress, sarcastically responds that she never read the book or even the script. “I just winged it,” she joked, before cracking a smile and clarifying that she actually did read the book, expressing her admiration for the author.

Next, co-host Ken Rudolph chimes in, discussing Delevingne’s recent slate of movies, which includes five releases this year and a major part in Suicide Squad next year. “Do you find that it’s easier for you to focus because you’re so busy? If you had downtime maybe it wouldn’t be so easy for you. What do you think?”

I’m not entirely sure what to think. What exactly is he suggesting? If she wasn’t working, would she be erratically bounce off walls, unable to focus on sitting down? Delevingne, while expressing some natural confusion towards the question, does her best to answer by explaining that she’s always wanted to be a performer and then stating that she’s living her dream. Rudolph offers a defeated “alright”, as if that answer disappointed his mysterious expectations.

The anchors’ questions betray their own attitude towards Delevingne, who they likely assume to be just some tween supermodel party girl named Carla who is crossing over into movies a la Paris Hilton. They likely assume she’s too busy to read because between movies she’s probably partying with her supermodel friends. She can’t focus because she’s hitting up that molly. They talk down to her because of the superficial aura that surrounds modeling, disregarding the fact that they are talking to a talented actress. Their condescension is the very reason women have a hard time earning respect in popular culture.

Could you imagine those questions being wielded at Jake Gyllenhaal? Would anyone dare laugh at the idea that he reads? Did anyone ask Benedict Cumberbatch whether he appeared in five movies in 2013 just so he can keep his “focus”, because otherwise God knows where he would bang that forehead otherwise?

Would those anchors have asked those questions if they had seen how terrific Delevingne’s performance was in The Face of an Angel, the indie drama she made with renowned filmmaker Michael Winterbottom. Delevingne was that film’s shining light, which is high praise considering she was starring opposite Kate Beckinsale and Daniel Bruhl.

When I interviewed Delevingne last year, she was whip smart, genuine and passionate, explaining how she wanted to move on from modeling and test her artistic limits. “Modeling is based on your looks,” she said, “so it’s not the deepest thing in the world.”

And yet, as she moves on, and succeeds onscreen, she has to deal with anchors who can’t even bother to check out her work before questioning her focus. The funny thing is, Delevingne took their questions in stride, responding with the same snappiness and light sarcasm that has become her trademark. While Ken Rudolph seemed to recognize the mirth in Delevingne’s voice, Marianne McClary and Mark S. Allen decided to pile on the actress for not jumping up in her chair and squealing.

Allen directly asks Delevingne whether she’s not excited to be talking to Good Day Sacramento because presumably she’s exhausted. Delevingne, visibly taken aback by the question, still offers an explanation for why she may not seem excited despite still being enthusiastic. She even offers some humor. “It’s the morning.”

Delevingne then looks down, listening to the mic in her ear for Marianne McClary’s time-delayed follow up: “You do seem a bit irritated. Perhaps its just us.” Again, Delevingne looks confused after being hit with an awkward accusation. She actually seemed patient so if she wasn’t already irritated, she was just then starting to get there. Delevingne responds with a joke: “Yeah. I think it's just you.”

She then tucks her had back down so she can listen to the anchors, perhaps waiting for something substantial to talk about. Instead she gets this from McClary: “We’ll let you go then. We’ll let you take a little nap and maybe get a Red Bull.”

You could see Delevingne’s shock after the time-delay, and if you can listen past the anchors running their mouths, it sounds like Delevingne says, “OK now. Too far.” Meanwhile, McClary announces out loud, “She was in a mood!”

What’s disgusting about this exchange is how the anchors seemed to expect a performance from Delevingne, some “oomph” that Allen complains was missing after their ludicrous questions. Since she wasn’t meeting their expectations, which obviously weren’t very high to begin with, they quickly cut her out of the interview.

Perhaps some will see that interview from another angle. In Variety, Alex Steadman wrote that Delevingne “seemed less-than-enthusiastic and the anchors called her out for it”.

What I saw is evidence of what feminists often decry. Popular culture often refuses to see women beyond the superficial. I saw reporters looking at Cara Delevingne as a supermodel, who may or may not be able to read and/or focus because she’s too busy doing what models do; and hey, maybe they could dig up some juicy model stories by asking her why she doesn’t read or focus.

I saw a talented young actress wisecracking and waiting patiently for a decent human conversation, while some awkwardly prying reporters shut her down for not being a cheerleader.