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PNB interview, take 2Danielle Boatwright |
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| PNB: Let's back up to your days as a teenager. What are your fondest memories from your year as Miss Kansas Teen USA 1992? Boatwright: My best memories were the trips to other high schools and speaking to kids my own age. I shared my beliefs on issues that have been a big influence in my life. The best part of my whole reign was working with the most wonderful state directors you could ask for, John and Jason Vannatta. They also became some of my best friends. We were huge KU basketball fans, and we would always go to the games together. They were actually college students when I was Kansas Teen USA. We'd go for yogurt. We'd go work out together. They became my buddies. That was probably the best part of the whole year. PNB: How about the 1992 Miss Teen USA nationals? Think back to that stormy time in Biloxi. What do you remember most about those two weeks? |
 | Boatwright: I had a blast at Miss Teen USA. That was a great time. It was one of the best times that I've ever had. The girls were wonderful. I got along with everybody great. We had so much fun. It was like one big huge party. The winner, Jamie Solinger from Iowa, was a good friend of mine. I had a great roommate, Lori Lynn Schmidt from New Jersey. Heather Boggess from Kentucky, we called ourselves the "K sisters." She was awesome. I loved her. Robin Swain, who was Miss Missouri Teen USA, is still my best friend to this day. Rachel Lee Adcock from North Carolina was a friend, and we modeled together. I roomed with Evelyn Ellis from Louisiana in L.A. I also roomed with Kaley O'Kelly of Washington. I've been able to stay in touch with many of them. |
| We just had a great time, but we did have that hurricane. My mom and I tried to fly out the day after the pageant, but our flight was canceled. We had to wait a couple of days. When we were finally cleared to go, we were still on the outskirts of the hurricane, and I'm a terrible passenger anyway. I remember my mom on the whole way home. Every time the plane would drop, she would say, "O dear Lord Jesus, help me!" Then I would just cry, thinking, "We're going down. We're done, finished." PNB: Danni, you're known for your tall, slender, fit body. After finishing as the second runner-up in the Miss Teen USA Pageant in 1992, how did you feel in regard to winner Jamie Solinger's body, which was quite different from what Americans traditionally consider a fit body for a pageant contestant? Boatwright: I had won swimsuit prelims at Miss Teen USA so I was happy that I had been rewarded for all of my hard work. I think everybody's body is different anyway. The way you carry it has a lot to do with how you are judged. Jamie's body was fine. She was just a very curvy girl. I was more of an athletic type. She had a beautiful body. If she didn't, she probably wouldn't have made it into the Top 12. Caring for my body is important. I've been a runner all my life and worked hard. Fitness has been a big priority in my life. Every day I make sure something is done about it. For some people, it's just not as big a priority. Sometimes, there is too much emphasis placed on bodies in pageants. She broke that standard. PNB: How did your life change after the Miss Teen USA Pageant? Boatwright: The night before the pageant ended, I met with an agent who wanted me to move out to L.A. and start modeling. They really started pursuing me after the Miss Teen USA Pageant, and I received several calls from agencies. That's how I got started in modeling. I'm thankful for the opportunity. I've traveled all over the world and made good money, but I'm not really the model type. Sometimes now, I wish that I had taken another route. PNB: I know that you had a role in a prime-time TV sitcom on a major network as a teenager. How did that happen to a small-town girl from Kansas with little or no acting experience? Boatwright: That was due to Lynn Venturelli, who brought me to L.A. and got me started modeling after the Teen pageant. I had gotten into a little bit of acting. I just went to an audition, and I picked up a script from "Daddy's Girls" with Dudley Moore. I went home and worked on it that night. I came back the next day and auditioned. They sent me to see the producers. I read for them and I got my spot. PNB: Have any of the young actresses who were "Daddy's Girls" gone on to success in the field of entertainment? Boatwright: Keri Russell was one of the girls on that show. She is now the star of "Felicity," a popular new series. She has done a lot of acting and modeling. She's going to be a big star, and she is a very nice girl. She is pretty down-to-earth. |
| PNB: Between the Miss Teen USA Pageant and Miss USA Pageant, what were the highlights of your modeling experiences? Boatwright: I spent a lot of time in Miami Beach. That was probably the best time that I've ever had in modeling because I made a lot of friends, like Mandy Groff from Nebraska, who ended up being Miss Nebraska Teen USA after I told her to enter the pageant. We met Rachel Lee Adcock from North Carolina down there in Miami Beach. She had been at Miss Teen USA. We hung out together. We'd go to church together. We'd have sandwiches together. We just had a great time. It was so much fun. |  |
| At that time, I was doing a lot of catalog shoots and a lot of magazine work. The work was very consistent. Every single day, it was very busy. I had a great time. It was like a huge spring break party with a bunch of great people. PNB: Why did you decide to enter the Miss Kansas USA pageant in the fall of 1995? Boatwright: After the Miss Teen USA Pageant, I really wanted to go on and do the Miss USA Pageant because I had so much fun. I was 19 years old at the time, and I thought it was the perfect age for me because now honestly I probably wouldn't go back and do it. Maybe it's just because I've done it and it's past me, but I thought I was at the right age to do it. You never know if you are going to meet somebody and end up getting married and then never have that opportunity. PNB: Before the Miss USA Pageant, did you have any thoughts about who you thought your strongest competition would be? Boatwright: You never know what's going to happen. When you get there, you see other girls, and one day you'll think this girl is going to win. Then one day you think that girl and then one day you think you'll have a chance. You can't think like that. I've been an athlete my whole life, and you have to go into a competition knowing that anything can happen. It just depends who is "on" that night and who's not. And of course, it matters what the judges like. You hear it all the time, but be yourself and try to have a good time and see what happens. You really can't go in thinking about your competition. |
More talk with Danielle Boatwright ...Page 1 |
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