Early acting and music video performances '' cover featuring Ratajkowski is the image that led to her being cast in the video for "
Blurred Lines".|alt=Black and white side-view photo of Caucasian brunette sitting completely nude with her knees tucked to her chest With encouragement from an acting coach, Ratajkowski met and signed with a talent agent who contacted
Ford Models. That same day, she signed with Ford at age 14 and went on to do teen print catalog modeling for
Kohl's and
Nordstrom. She attended San Dieguito Academy, a high school in Encinitas, while modeling and acting in Los Angeles. Her manager discouraged her from pursuing many acting engagements until she could be more selective. After campaigns and editorials with photographer
Tony Duran, She credits that cover for bringing her the two unsolicited, high-profile, music video roles. Ratajkowski later filmed commercials for
Nikon and
Carl's Jr., She also did nude and clothed
art modeling for magazines, including a May 2012 shoot with Jonathan Leder, a 2012 holiday video and a 2011 Valentine's video in which Ratajkowski appeared for the company are among the most popular videos on the company's YouTube channel. Ratajkowski worked with photographer
Tony Kelly for the March 2013
GQ Turkey cover. Ratajkowski appeared in
Robin Thicke,
T.I., and
Pharrell Williams's 2013 video, "
Blurred Lines". Previously, Ratajkowski had been cast in two other music videos: "
Fast Car" by
Taio Cruz, which was released on November 5, 2012, and
Maroon 5's "
Love Somebody", and "Blurred Lines" were both produced in 2013. The video for "Love Somebody" was released on May 21, 2013. Directed by
Rich Lee, it shows bare-chested
Adam Levine using inverse
green screen technology to rub paint onto Ratajkowski with his hands. As they touch, they reveal each other. Thicke had seen Ratajkowski's
treats! cover that
The New York Times Bee Shapiro described as "an artfully composed black-and-white photograph of Ms. Ratajkowski sitting completely nude with her knees tucked to her chest" and convinced director
Diane Martel to cast her in the "Blurred Lines" music video. Martel felt that "she looked smart and stunningly beautiful" in the photo. On March 28, Thicke posted an explicit version, with a topless Ratajkowski. and some felt its lyrics promoted rape. Others disagreed, asserting that the lyrics supported female power and sexual freedom. Martel defended Ratajkowski's performance, saying: "it's very, very funny and subtly ridiculing." She said that the song "gave me an opportunity to say the things that I felt about feminism today and about women in general in pop culture." The attention given to the nudity in the video, she said, shows that America has not advanced as far as it should have, "Blurred Lines", and Ratajkowski's associated video performance, were prominent beyond the
sociopolitical controversies. The song became the number-one song of 2013 on music charts in many countries, including Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Although second on the year-end US
Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song's
twelve consecutive weeks at number one made it the longest-running number-one song of the decade until "
Uptown Funk" spent
fourteen consecutive weeks at number one in 2015. The song also remained in the news due to a
copyright infringement lawsuit and appeal.
Breakthrough and rise to prominence The "Blurred Lines" video garnered Ratajkowski notoriety, In October 2013,
Esquire magazine named Ratajkowski "Woman of the Year", over online fan vote finalist
Jennifer Lawrence. That December,
Rolling Stone magazine listed her among its twenty hottest sex symbols. In April,
FHM ranked her the
fourth sexiest woman in the world.
Maxim magazine included Ratajkowski at number62 on its 2014 Hot 100 list.
AskMen ranked her the third most desirable woman of 2014. Ratajkowski was on the July 2013 cover of
CR Fashion Book, which included erotic scenes with
Karlie Kloss and male models, photographed by
Bruce Weber. On June 24, she appeared topless in the July 2014 American
GQ cover story, photographed by
Michael Thompson. A controversy ensued at retailer
Lands' End, some of whose customers received the issue for free. Some customers objected to the racy images, forcing Lands' End CEO Edgar Huber to apologize. ''
Advent 2014|alt=Portrait of a brunette Caucasian with red lipstick from above Days after
Gone Girl September 26, 2014,
New York Film Festival premiere, Ratajkowski became the cover model for the November 2014 issue of
Cosmopolitan. On October 30, 2014, she appeared with
Taylor Kitsch in the
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare live-action trailer. Ratajkowski appeared on the February 2015
FHM cover, but she
tweeted that her picture was used without her consent.
FHM responded that "we liked the pictures so much we stuck one on our front cover". Ratajkowski co-starred in the 2015 film
Entourage as a fictionalized version of herself, playing the love interest of
Adrian Grenier's character,
Vincent Chase. Her performance received critical commentary ranging from "less than compelling", by
The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden, to "uncanny realism", by
The Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea.
Grantland Morris described her role and performance with scathing sarcasm. She was also cast in the 2015 miniseries
The Spoils Before Dying as Agent Day, appearing late in the series. Her performance was favorably reviewed by Emily L. Stephens of
The A.V. Club, while other critics commented that she was part of a solid supporting cast. Ratajkowski earned her first leading role, opposite
Zac Efron, in
We Are Your Friends, a musical drama released in August 2015, and was part of the film's promotional tour to Europe and North America. Starting with the August 11 London premiere, this tour marked her ascension as a style icon as she earned multiple best dressed citations from various sources. She played
Stanford University dropout Sophie, the love interest of Efron's character and girlfriend/personal assistant of
Wes Bentley's character. Her performance received mixed reviews.
Alonso Duralde of
TheWrap described the role as thin, as did
Ty Burr of
The Boston Globe. Burr said that Ratajkowski's performance was "surpassingly dull", while
Nell Minow of
Beliefnet stated that she "does more posing than acting".
Jordan Hoffman of the
Daily News described Ratajkowski's performance as "stunning and sweet".
Robbie Collin of
The Daily Telegraph and
Grantland Morris noted Ratajkowski's rhythmic dancing skills and sex appeal, as previously seen in "Blurred Lines". Around the time of the release of
We Are Your Friends, Ratajkowski appeared on the covers of
Grazia France,
British GQ, ''
harper by Harper's Bazaar, InStyle UK, and InStyle
Australia, as well as a role as a 2015 MTV Video Music Awards presenter. The British GQ'' cover story was photographed by
Mario Testino, who produced a short film featuring Ratajkowski for the magazine's website. Soon after, on September 17, 2015, she made her
runway debut for
Marc Jacobs at the spring/summer 2016
New York Fashion Week finale. This appearance contributed to her number-one listing among
Vogue 12 Breakout Beauty Stars of 2015. For fall/winter 2016 fashions, Ratajkowski walked the
Paris Fashion Week runway for
Miu Miu on March 9, 2016. She has expressed the desire to break barriers for shorter and more curvaceous models, commenting: "You don't have to be 5'9" and an A-cup to be a successful model." A
Buick Super Bowl ad for its
Cascada convertible during
Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016, featured Ratajkowski and
Odell Beckham Jr. The ad, in which she made a
wedding bouquet catch reminiscent of Beckham's
catch from 2014, received average ratings, according to
USA Today admeter. The ad was filmed with a
stunt double making the catch. Los Angeles-based jewelry designer Jacquie Aiche featured Ratajkowski in a spring 2016 campaign wearing almost nothing but body chains, rings,
bracelets,
pendants, and
chokers. In May, Ratajkowski appeared in the
Russian-language music video "Inseparable" (, sometimes translated as "Indivisible") with Russian entertainer
Dima Bilan as a photographer and Ratajkowski as his muse.
Professional expansion After seeing her in the "Blurred Lines" video
Ben Affleck picked her to play the mistress of his character, in
David Fincher's 2014
adaptation of
Gillian Flynn's novel
Gone Girl.
The San Diego Union-Tribune described Ratajkowski's performance as "nuanced", Reflecting on the performance in 2016, Naomi Wolf described Ratajkowski's portrayal as sympathetic and compassionate. In February 2016, Ratajkowski was cast in the film
In Darkness, alongside
Natalie Dormer,
Ed Skrein, and
Stacy Martin. That August, she became the spokesperson for the Australian swimwear brand Amore + Sorvete. Ratajkowski was one of five models to appear on the August 2016
Vogue Germany alternate covers along with
Stella Maxwell,
Irina Shayk,
Lily Aldridge, and
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Along with
Joan Smalls and
Kate Upton, Ratajkowski was one of three models for the October
Glamour cover. The cover story, which was shot by
Carter Smith and includes an essay by Ratajkowski, says she has become known as an activist who considers being both sexual and serious to be non-conflicting ambitions. She appeared in a season 1 episode of
Joe Swanberg's
Netflix series,
Easy that was released on September 22, 2016. Her episode, in which she is a
lifecasting selfie artist, met with mixed reviews. She was a guest judge on the October 20,
Project Runway season 15 episode. By November 2016, Ratajkowski was attached to
Lying and Stealing, which also starred
Theo James. Ratajkowski began 2017 on the February
Vogue España cover shot by
Miguel Reveriego. Ratajkowski also made cover appearances on the March issue of U.S.
InStyle, and the May covers of American
Marie Claire (with alternate covers by
Janelle Monáe,
Aja Naomi King,
Zoey Deutch,
Alexandra Daddario, et al.) and the French ''
L'Officiel''. on display at
Bloomingdale's at
900 North MichiganIn March 2017, Ratajkowski became the face of
DKNY intimates. On June 27, she was announced as the cover model for the August 2017 Australian ''Harper's Bazaar'', which had different newsstand and subscriber covers photographed by
Pamela Hanson. That July, after modeling for the French fashion brand
The Kooples's Fall 2017 collection, Ratajkowski was enlisted to design a 38-piece bag collection for the company. The initial version of the collection, named Emily By The Kooples, comes in six colors and features a leather carryall bag, The Emily Bag. The bags are Italian-made and represent The Kooples' first foray into bags. Later that month she was announced as the feature of cover stories in the August issues of
Allure and British
Glamour, as well as a nude
Patrick Demarchelier photospread for
Love magazine. That August she became the face of
DL1961 jeans,
The Frye Company for its Fall 2017 ad campaign, and the entire DKNY brand for its Fall 2017 campaign. On September 23, 2017, she walked the
Milan Fashion Week runway for
Bottega Veneta. Later that month, Ratajkowski revealed that she was working with a dialogue coach to learn the
French and
Italian languages for
Lying and Stealing. On November 1,
Tyga posted an unofficial 60-second video teaser for "Tequila Kisses", which featured Ratajkowski. As a result, Ratajkowski was noted as the starring performer in
Tyga's "Tequila Kisses" bonus track music video. On November 4, Tyga removed the full video from various points of internet access including his own
Instagram account, following complaints from Ratajkowski that the video was from a
lookbook Ratajkowski did with Phillip Lopez in 2013. The bathing suit line,
Inamorata, went live on November 16, 2017, with three bikini separates and three one-pieces.In January 2018, Ratajkowski shot a fashion campaign with
Inez and Vinoodh, as the new ambassador for
Kérastase.
British Vogue noted that the Kérastase endorsement was Ratajkowski's "first beauty campaign". That March, she landed her first fragrance campaign as the face of
Paco Rabanne Parfum's women's line. That same month, she also earned the
University of Southern California Inspire Award in at their inaugural ceremony. On April 8, 2018, Ratajkowski won the Model of the Year award from the
Daily Front Row. On March 29, 2018, she was cast as a series regular in the
NBC pilot
Bright Futures. The show was not included in
NBC's 2018–19 schedule. The following month saw the release of the comedy film
I Feel Pretty, in which Ratajkowski co-starred alongside
Amy Schumer. Her role, which was described as "pivotal" by
USA Today critic Bryan Alexander, included ad libbed improvisational comedy. Ratajkowski was featured on the cover of the June 2018 issue of
Marie Claire. She designed the mythology-themed "EmRata x Spinelli Kilcollin" jewelry collection with Spinelli Kilcollin that launched at
Barneys New York on May 30, 2018, with prices starting at $6,000. On September 21, 2018, Ratajkowski walked the Milan Fashion Week runway for
Versace. That same weekend, she walked fashion week for
Dolce & Gabbana. The following week,
Vertical Entertainment released the film
Cruise, which was written and directed by
Robert Siegel, and in which Ratajkowski played the female lead opposite
Spencer Boldman. That November, Ratajkowski appeared opposite
Aaron Paul in
Welcome Home. In November 2021 a collection of essays by Ratajkowski with title
My Body was published. Quercus described it as "a deeply honest investigation of what it means to be a woman and a commodity".
Cleveland Review of Books said the book turns "the tenuous power of a woman's body into a voluntary disturbance." A excerpt from the book leaked by the
Sunday Times describes an incident during the 2013 filming of the music video for the song "
Blurred Lines", in which Ratajkowski writes that
Robin Thicke, the singer and star of the video,
groped her breasts without her consent. Ratajkowski was displeased at the leak, telling
Extra, "What's frustrating is I didn't come out with it, it was leaked. It's been hard for me, I really like to have control over my image, and I wrote this book of essays to share the whole story and all sides of it. I feel like it just turns into a clickbait frenzy, and all of a sudden words like 'sexual assault' and 'allegations' are getting thrown around rather than people reading the actual essay, so, again, I'm just looking forward to when people will be able to hear things in my own words." (See Early acting and music video performances section above for more details on this incident.) In October 2022, Ratajkowski partnered with
Sony Music Entertainment to launch a podcast entitled "High Low with EmRata". In January 2023, Ratajkowski became the face of Versace's Spring/Summer 2023 campaign. In September 2025, Ratajkowski partnered with
Lounge (company) to launch their AW25 campaign. Following an unsuccessful audition for
Triangle of Sadness (2022), Ratajkowski quit acting. She explained that she fired her team, including her
agents and
manager, because she "didn't trust them". She also said "
Hollywood is so fucked up" and she "felt like a piece of meat who people were judging, saying, 'Does she have anything else other than her [breasts]?'" Despite this, in 2024, she joined
Too Much, a series created by Lena Dunham. ==In the media ==