Dudley O’Shaughnessy is his name and have we not all found love watching him and Rihanna’s sensual music video in 2011? This London-grown, mixed-race, azure-eyed stunner wears several hats – he’s a skilled boxer, model and actor – without too much trouble. Hailing from East London with Saint Lucian heritage, the boxer-turned-model-turned-actor is a global heartthrob who is decidedly attentive to being authentic.
O’Shaugnessy has been the face of fashion labels from Benetton to Franklin & Marshall. It was Stone Island billboards around the world that the public first encountered him though. That was in 2010. Since then, he has been a general in Olivier Rousteing’s Balmain Army, featuring prominently in the brand’s major campaigns and for its H&M collaboration. He does not walk many runways, but when he does, it’s normally a huge show, for examples Kanye West’s Yeezy and Rihanna’s Fenty x PUMA. Although his presence in fashion editorials is rare of late, the model has recently worked with Nike and Equinox. Dudley is one of the biggest players of the game.
Q&A
What are you working on at the moment?
DO: My acting technique, and a character that I cannot talk about right now. I currently take classes twice a week; I don’t think I’ll ever stop taking classes. Training is important for me, and I see it as very necessary, there will always be something I need to work on.
Tell us about your most recent film project, Rain Catcher?
Rain Catcher is a high-concept short film directed by Filippo Polesel & Michele Fiascaris, it’s cleverly written and plays with the perception of reality through a creative based career. It’s a psychological thriller about a young photographer haunted by a mysterious man appearing in all his pictures. It has a very eerie feel to it and is beautiful at the same time; we shot in some great locations, so the film is visually vibrant. It was the first time I’ve ever shot a sci-fi which I’ve wanted to do for a very long time; we had a great team of people working on this, so I’m very much looking forward to its future.
What’s the most important thing in your life right now?
My family, my mental health, my career and whom/what I spend my time around.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten, that you can give?
My father, it wasn’t a piece of advice but more of a statement – “You can tell when someone’s a good boxer by how they behave outside the ring.”
Where do you find inspiration nowadays?
Well, I guess I’m inspired the most when I fail, everything else is just random. An example – I look at my cat in the eyes, and I am inspired to be able to connect on a better level.
How has boxing and modelling moulded you as an actor?
Boxing – by giving me an experience of what it is to really work at something in a way if I want to achieve in it. As for modelling – by showing me how glorified something becomes after it is captured as a neutral thing. And as a whole, I feel as if they have given me a certain style of acting, which is very free, raw and impulsive.
What do you really want people to know about you?
Nothing, people can think whatever they want to think. I couldn’t care less. I don’t give a shit.
What’s the thing you tell yourself every day?
I am doing what I love with my life, and so I will not allow myself to be insulted by my life.
What thought keeps you grounded?
The awareness that I am not perfect and I never will be – the want to be perfect is just another type of addiction.
