Bella Hadid Eyes Long-Term Acting Career After FX’s The Beauty

Bella Hadid is ready to take the next step in her career — and she hopes it leads far beyond the runway.

The supermodel is set to appear in FX’s new series The Beauty, and she says acting is something she wants to continue pursuing after the show.

Speaking at the New York City premiere on Wednesday night, Hadid told The Hollywood Reporter that acting has long been a personal goal. “I would love to keep continuing acting after this. This is a dream of mine,” she said. “I love film and acting in general. I love actors because they can be different characters for so many different people.”

Hadid, who has worked with luxury fashion houses including Chanel, Dior and Versace, has appeared on the cover of Vogue more than 30 times worldwide and was named Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council in 2022. She has previously made small acting appearances in Ramy and Yellowstone.

One of the main reasons she signed on to The Beauty, Hadid said, was the chance to work with co-creator Ryan Murphy. “Ryan has just an incredible brain. I love his heart,” she said. “He brings fantasy into so many things, and I really look up to him as a director.”

In the series, Hadid plays a model — but she stressed that the role was nothing like her real-life work. “The modeling has no connection to what I did on this set,” she explained. “It was the complete opposite of anything I’ve ever done.”

The Beauty is a body-horror drama that stars Ashton Kutcher as the head of a powerful corporation that creates a miracle drug promising physical perfection. The drug, however, comes with dangerous consequences and can even be transmitted through sexually transmitted diseases. The show explores the question: how much are people willing to sacrifice to be beautiful?

The cast also includes Evan Peters, Rebecca Hall, Anthony Ramos and Jeremy Pope, with a long list of guest stars joining throughout the season.

Hadid, who is the sister of fellow model Gigi Hadid, offered a simple takeaway from the show’s central theme. When asked what people should sacrifice for beauty, she said, “Just be who you are.”

The Beauty premieres with its first three episodes on FX on Wednesday, Jan. 21, with new episodes released weekly.