Rosie Huntington-Whiteley interview: survival of the fittest A Devon farmer's daughter, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has taken the world of modelling - and M&S's lingerie department - by storm. But it doesn't stop there. She swaps smalls talk and more... Stretching her leather-clad legs over a counterpane Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wonders aloud 'why they have twin beds in hotel rooms' - and it has to be said that, in her sensual presence, the concept does seem a little redundant. You can't imagine twin beds ever playing much of a role in her life. In photographs of the British model, actress and now lingerie designer, who is currently the face of M&S Autograph and also a face of Burberry, the camera tends to linger on her to the point of making her curves, limbs and pillowy lips look rather Amazonian and unreal. But in the flesh (and on my first encounter she was only wearing her underwear) she is rather more petite and soft. IN PICTURES: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's rise to fashion fame As she shows the gathered crew how one could quite feasibly wear a short, silk, rose-print robe of her own design as a dress if you turned it back to front and put in a stitch or two (and, more importantly, had the perfectly toned, honey-coloured body of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) her beauty is far less intimidating than in images. She's more like the most stunning girl in a sixth form, which is what she probably was, once. We are in a duskily lit hotel suite in London where, for the past three days, she has been shooting Marks & Spencer's spring/summer 2013 campaign for its more luxurious range Autograph (where she appears alongside the American film star Ryan Reynolds) and her own highly successful lingerie collection, Rosie for Autograph. The range debuted last summer and became the fastest-selling lingerie collection in the company's history. SEE: First look at Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's M&S lingerie debut But Rosie doesn't go in for gushes of excitement, at least not in the presence of a journalist. Understated and rather guarded, she keeps whatever whoops of joy she may have felt about this to herself. 'There was definitely an element of surprise,' she says. 'It's been exciting and... really fulfilling. Much more than I thought. I've always wanted to design - that's actually why I got into modelling in the first place - but I love going up to the headquarters and being around Soozie Jenkinson [head of lingerie design at M&S] and learning, learning, learning.' She speaks carefully, with little trace of Devon, where she hails from, her arms wrapped around her body, now muffled in an electric-blue Christopher Kane jumper. Having been a lingerie model for the American mega-brand Victoria's Secret while still a teenager, Huntington-Whiteley, now 25, knows a thing or two about knickers. 'That was what my expertise was,' she says. 'I know lingerie because I've worn it [professionally] for 10 years. I've learnt how women's bodies work; I've learnt how my body works. I mean, if you're not picking up something after 10 years, something is wrong.' Huntington-Whiteley modelling for Victoria's Secret in 2009 Photo: REX She's also a collector of vintage underwear, the look and feel of which has influenced her range. 'I don't collect knickers, and bras are hard to find, but I have a lot of slips and camisoles,' she says. British girls love a good vintage find. Before I was modelling that's what I could afford: I would go through charity shops to find things. I love how it tells a story. You look at these exquisite pieces like art and wonder where this was or who was in this 50, 60 years ago. It's very romantic.' Watch: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley unveils debut lingerie collection One of her favourite pieces is an early buy from the London fashion-insider's vintage dealer, Mairead Lewin: a long blush-pink nightslip. 'I actually wore it to a friend's wedding a few years ago. Now it just hangs in my wardrobe and it's something really special that creates an atmosphere. I have a dressing-room where things hang all over the place. It's pink with gold mirrors - I'm very girlie. No boys allowed. Although I don't think boys would really want to go in there.' I'm not so sure about that but it seems that, in the style of Elle Macpherson, Huntington-Whiteley is paving the way for a future independent lingerie brand of her own. I love collaborating with people and getting into a creative mindset and imagining what other women want to wear and how they'll wear it. So I do see it in my future. That ambition will also mean maintaining her body - nothing's going to sell Rosie underwear like Rosie looking fantastic in it. But she certainly puts the work in. She does yoga, kick boxing, boxing and gym sessions as often as she can. Exercise is where everything starts for me. I train hard with a personal trainer, but it's only been in the past couple of years that I've really started to enjoy it.' Rosie Huntington-Whiteley with her boyfriend, Jason Statham, at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in 2011 Photo: GETTY Having moved to Los Angeles, where she lives with her boyfriend, the actor Jason Statham (who, I've been warned, is strictly off the agenda today), this is all part of the West Coast lifestyle. LA is geared towards healthy, outdoor living. My days off consist of horse-riding, surfing, being on the beach, going for great walks and swimming. And hiking? Doesn't 'everyone' in Los Angeles hike? She laughs. 'I try not to call it hiking because it's really just walking along dirt paths. I remember when I was invited on my first LA "hike," I said, "I don't have any walking-boots with me," and they said I just needed flip-flops. I was like, "What kind of hike is that?" A hike to a Devon girl is walking up a cliff in boots! She's made a little corner of England in Hollywood. My whole world there is English: all my friends. I live with an Englishman, we watch English TV. I was devastated when Radio 1 stopped broadcasting over there because that was our connection to England. I live five minutes away from my British stylist. There are a lot of Brits out there and a lot of roast dinners go on at the house. The big attraction of Los Angeles, of course, apart from Statham, is films. Huntington-Whiteley made her acting debut in the 2011 Michael Bay action film Transformers: Dark of the Moon (a critical bomb that still made over a billion dollars at the box office). This year she won a part in Mad Max: Fury Road - a sequel to the films that made Mel Gibson's name - in a cast that includes Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy. 'It's been a pretty mental year. One minute you're really quiet, then you get a phone-call, your whole world changes and you end up spending six months in Africa.' Mad Max was filmed in Namibia and Cape Town. It was a lot of work. Making a film is very different from photo-shoots and a lot more is expected from you. But those moments that are fulfilling are like ecstasy - they're amazing.' What kind of moments? 'When you've had a great connection with somebody creatively. That's the "buzz" actors talk about. There's also a huge responsibility on leading actors, which I really saw on this film, being in the company of Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult. To be able to be on my second film with actors like that - you would be crazy not to just watch and learn. Huntington-Whiteley in her acting debut in Transformers: Dark of the Moon Photo: REX She's coy about doing more. 'We'll see,' she says. I have no master plan, really. I learnt that early on in my career. I never thought that I would be here. If someone had told me at 14 that I would be a model aged 16 I would have laughed. Huntington-Whiteley grew up not on the gentrified country estate that many people have assumed because of her double-barrelled name (her great-great-grandfather was the politician and baronet Sir Herbert Huntington-Whiteley) but on a farm. Her mother - described by her daughter as 'very glam' - was a fitness trainer, and her dad a chartered surveyor, but their dream had been to have a smallholding. Rosie and her younger brother and sister had a 'wet and muddy' childhood. It was, she says, a sheltered existence. I look back and realise how innocent and protected from the big bad world I was. I grew up around really nice people, for the most part. I don't have a sob story; I come from a really lovely place.' So was it a shock when she first encountered the fashion industry? Not initially. I was 15 when I interned at a modelling agency, 16 when I started modelling. It was just so exciting and fascinating being in this buzzing, cosmopolitan city. Between 16 and 17 she commuted between Devon and London, also trying - unsuccessfully, in the end - to do her A-levels. I pounded the pavement. You'd change your trainers into a pair of high heels outside the casting and then you'd forget your umbrella and turn up and be soaking wet in east London gripping your A-Z like a Bible. I still had my braces. From left: Rosie for Autograph babydoll (£45), Rosie for Autograph long wrap (£59) and Rosie for Autograph bra (£22.50) and knickers (£12.50) At 18 she moved to New York. 'It frightens me now to think how young I was, alone, modelling with all these agents who don't always get the best rap - a lot of the time that's justifiable,' she says. 'When you're dealing with agents and lawyers and a corrupt someone-or-other and business managers...There's a lot thrown at you as a young model and not a lot of protection. My parents didn't have a clue what to do - not out of not caring but it wasn't their world. Agents don't tell you to get a lawyer or to read your contracts.' Rosie in 2008. Photo: Instagram/ Rosie Huntington-Whiteley She battled with 'a lot of bad advice' given to her about the way she looked. 'People telling me to change my appearance,' she says. 'Looking back it was irresponsible of adults to say that to a young girl but it goes on a lot; that's the big bad world. But I was stubborn and I kept my head above water. At 20 she came back to London, which seems to have been a good move as now she has one of those modern, multistrand careers that someone, somewhere is probably calling Brand Rosie. Why dream small? I've always said never downsize your dreams,' she says. 'Humans are so multidimensional and if opportunities come my way I'll grab them. Especially in the entertainment industry or fashion or film when you never know when your last job is going to be. You're always on edge and grafting; it's a hustle every day. You make a smart choice, and I've certainly made some terrible ones - we all have - but you just make the best of the moment you are in. If your risks turn out to be a success, you are very, very lucky. She feels lucky at the moment but success, she says, has made her guarded. 'I'm a lot shyer than people realise, especially around people I don't know. It makes you really hold on to the special people. I've never felt comfortable in big social groups or going to crazy parties.' Her many red-carpet appearances are simply a day at the office, then? 'Yes, I've always been able to see the difference between work and personal life. You won't see me at one of those parties p- out of my mind. I don't try to take my career or myself too seriously, but it is important to be responsible.' She pauses. 'I've always been aware that if I f- up my career I have nothing to fall back on. My parents don't have a ton of money, I left school at 16 - I don't have many other options. This is what I wanted to do, and you have to survive. This is survival now. marksandspencer.com/rosie