Winnie Harlow & Stephan James Open Up About Fame & Hollywood

Winnie Harlow and Stephan James are on the cover of Elle Canada‘s September 2019 issue, out on August 5.

Here’s what the 25-year-old Canadian model and the 25-year-old Canadian actor had to say…

Winnie, on fame: “No matter where I go in the world, whenever people are screaming or anything like that, I actually get anxiety from it…I almost get kind of scared. I think that people forget that we are strangers. It’s never going to be normal for people to be screaming. I’ll never get used to people always wanting pictures. Sometimes I want to wear my [hair] bonnet to the drugstore and pick up tampons. I don’t want to have to—have to—get ready and do my hair, do my makeup. Nobody wants to. You want to just walk outside without a bra…and go pick up some chips.”

Winnie, on being outspoken: “I’d rather go to sleep being proud that I stood up for myself and didn’t put myself in an uncomfortable situation—at work, in a relationship, whatever part of my life. I’ve realized that my happiness and my opinion of myself are more important than whatever anyone else has to say.”

Stephan, on wanting to talk about things other than diversity: “Miles Teller gets to talk about acting, and I’m talking about diversity. What separates me from him other than the fact that I’m black? I’ve worked on important projects like these actors have…and when I speak publicly, the conversation is often about diversity and the change in the industry. I’m happy and proud to be a part of that, but when are we going to talk about the craft?”

For more from Winnie and Stephan, head to ElleCanada.com.