Gemma Ward

Gemma Louise Ward (born 3 November 1987) is an Australian model and actress.

Born in Perth, Western Australia, Ward was first scouted at the age of 14, and made her Australian Fashion Week debut aged 15.

She later became one of the youngest models to appear on the cover of the American edition of Vogue, subsequently appearing on the covers of both Teen Vogue and Time.

Her passion for acting was born in 1997, when she was cast as the witch in a school play of Hansel and Gretel at age ten.

Ward's brush with modelling was an accidental one.

Vogue Paris would later declare her as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.

Ward is widely considered to be a supermodel.

She was discovered in 2002, at the age of fourteen, while accompanying her friends to the Australian modelling competition Search for a Supermodel.

As she said in a Teen Vogue interview, she ended up being scouted herself:

"I had come straight from my auntie and uncle's farm, and I was wearing this big gray barn jacket with mud all over it. When the scout came up to me, I said, 'No, thank you.' They forged my mum's signature [for mandatory parental consent], and pushed me in front of the cameras."

Ward did not win the competition, but her fragile, unique look, got the attention of a spotter from Vivien's Model Agency who saw her potential and made a show reel.

The show reel then landed on the desk of ace model scout David Cunningham from the New York City agency IMG.

"Look how confident she is. I mean, she looks like she's been doing this for years, and she's a 15-year-old kid walking in an alleyway in Perth [...] She's a supermodel, for sure," Cunningham said.

At 15, Ward made her Australian Fashion Week debut in May 2003.

Within a year, she was in Italy meeting Prada designer Miuccia Prada.

Her look inspired a new generation of Baby Doll-like models such as Vlada Roslyakova, Heather Marks, Lily Cole, Caroline Trentini and Lisa Cant.

In September 2004, at only sixteen, Ward became the youngest model to appear on the cover of American Vogue photographed by Steven Meisel as one of the nine "Models of the Moment" with Daria Werbowy, Natalia Vodianova, Gisele Bündchen, Isabeli Fontana, Karolina Kurkova, Liya Kebede, Hana Soukupova and Karen Elson.

By the end of the year, Ward had appeared on the cover of Australian Vogue three times, British Vogue, Vogue Paris and Vogue Japan.

In February 2005, Ward appeared in no less than 20 New York runways for designers that included Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta and Klein, and was rumored to earn about $20,000 per show.

And at 17, she became the famous face of Calvin Klein's Obsession Night perfume billboards – bumping Kate Moss out of a job in the process.

Ward was reportedly paid $1.3 million for the Calvin Klein campaign and counted similar deals with Burberry and Valentino among her model earnings.

Ward additionally appeared in campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana, Balenciaga, Hermès and Dior.

Ward then posed for the April 2005 issue of Vogue Italia, the May issue of Vogue Greece and the Spring 2005 cover of TIME Magazine's Style & Design issue.

In September 2005, Ward secured a coveted place on the inaugural cover of Vogue China posing between Chinese models Du Juan and Wang Wenqin and was shot by leading photographer Patrick Demarchelier.

A staggering 300,000 copies sold in the first three hours.

"She is every inch blue chip," Vivien's agent Suzie Deveridge said.

"Right now she's considered the No. 2 model in the world – and she isn't even 18 yet."

By 2006, Ward became Australia's brightest fashion star since Elle Macpherson.

At the age of 18, Ward became the first model ever to appear on the cover of Teen Vogue magazine.

She was then featured in the Australian television program 60 Minutes as the "It Girl".

She was earning $25,000 to stride the catwalk.

In Allure magazine (October 2006), Ward is described as "the model of the moment."

Allure's creative director Paul Cavaco stated: "We went through a period that was very va-va-voom, but now the pendulum has swung back. Gemma is ethereal, not earthy."

Photographer Michael Thompson says, "She's an exotic blonde, the rarest of creatures."

In May 2007, Ward again was featured on the cover of Vogue Italia.

Ward's first major acting appearance was in the 2008 Australian film The Black Balloon, and she has since also appeared in the films The Strangers (2008) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011).

Gemma Ward was born in Perth, Western Australia, the second of four children of Gary Ward, an Australian doctor, and Claire, an English nurse.

She has an older sister, Sophie (who also became a model), and younger twin brothers, Oscar and Henry.

She was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College and Shenton College.

Gemma was the family clown whose ambition was acting.