She rose to prominence as one of Australia’s most influential and sought-after models and paved the way for the transgender movement in the fashion world.
But Andreja Pejic’s life now seems to be totally different.
The model, who was born in Bosnia and grew up in the district of Broadmeadows outside of Melbourne, is almost nonexistent in the world of high fashion now and leads a life that is far different from her glitzy past.
Since moving away from the spotlight in 2019, the 31-year-old, who now calls Los Angeles home, has replaced her blonde hair with a long, black shaggy style, and she is seldom seen on red carpets or runways.
The former fashion icon, who had gender reassignment surgery in 2013, is now subtly making a name for herself on the audition circuit. She has already acted in a number of modest, indie movies, such as the 2022 thriller The Other Me and the 2021 comedy Habit with Bella Thorne.
In the Salvador Dali biography Daliland, which debuted this month at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and starring British acting icon Sir Ben Kingsley, Pejic had a small appearance more recently.
Variety noted Pejic’s portrayal as “(Dali’s) paramour…Amanda (Pejic), a transsexual beauty with a husky knowing voice” in their review of the film, which earned mixed reviews from reviewers.
Since switching to acting in 2019 with her feature film debut, The Girl In The Spiders Web, the part is Pejic’s most significant venture onto the big screen.
Off camera, the groundbreaking model has been more outspoken on a variety of causes on her social media channels since being the first openly transgender model to be featured by Vogue in 2015.
Pejic often updates admirers with protracted, almost ethereal monologues in which he discusses topics ranging from the Ukraine conflict to Covid-19 theories to repeated declarations of sympathy for transgender whistleblower Chelsea Manning and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
The former model criticizes what she calls “the capitalist elite” in one video and foresees an impending “revolution” while seeming disheveled and wearing a lot of makeup.
She addresses the camera directly and says, “There is a storm coming… and it’s not a divine, mystical spiritual wave…not it’s QAnon it’s the storm of revolution, it’s the people in rebellion.”
The capitalist elite and its upper middle class minions will be brought to their knees by it.
They will cease paying attention to their pointless stock prices and horoscopes, and they will be held accountable for many things.
Pejic, who describes herself as a “socialist-minded artist,” gave her final notable interview to the World Socialist Website (WSWS.org) in 2019 during which she talked extensively on the treatment of Assange by the Australian government.
Pejic characterized the situation as a “internationally organized witch-hunt” during a protracted and sometimes emotional sit-down with the Liberal administration.
The government’s inability to shield Australia’s leading anti-war journalist from political prosecution, she said, “I believe Labor should be putting up a strong resistance.”
In order to create a movement to halt the extradition, it should acknowledge its prior failure and endeavor to bring this problem to the attention of the widest possible public.
Prior to that, Pejic had her final significant appearance on the global modeling scene in 2017 when she appeared on the cover of GQ Magazine, being the first transgender model to do so.
She also signed a contract with cosmetics company Make Up For Ever the year before, becoming one of the first trans models to do so.
Pejic, who was discovered in 2009 while working at a McDonald’s in Melbourne, had appearances on the covers of foreign issues of Elle, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, and L’Officel during the height of her fame.
She was also named 98th among the 100 sexiest women in the world by FHM at one point.
In addition to being acquainted with British model Stella Maxwell and her ex-girlfriend actress Kristen Stewart, Pejic was often shown out having fun with fellow Australian model Jordan Barrett.