could you rank the official tr live models in order from favorite to least favorite?
As long as you don’t take this as the slightest disrespect of them by my part, of course. This ranking is only according my personal preferences, and none of them are based of physical details.
1. Jill de Jong (TRAOD’s Lara model) 2003
TRAOD Lara is best Lara for me, and consequently, one would expect I choose Jill de Jong as the best model for me, too. But it’s not merely like that, it’s the attitude and badassery she gives to the role. If she was an actress, I would have loved to see her in the role of Lara - specially TRAOD Lara - before anyone else. She has that calm and dominant energy Lara has in this installment, what’s more even, she doesn’t flirt with the observer. She’s just Lara. Strong and determined. I love her.
2. Rhona Mitra (TR2′s Lara model) 1997
She was the first Lara model I met and though I like her badass and mature look she has now as a perfect faceclaim for a mature Lara Croft who should have existed; she still remains one of my favourites because in her posing and modelling the action icon was there rather than a sexy pin-up which is what awful Eidos marketing tried later. For me she will always be Classic Lara.
3. Lucy Clarkson (Chronicles’ Lara model) 2000
Kudos to Lucy for having modelled Lara in a different outfit than the main classic one from the game, though it wasn’t probably her decision. Despite her innocent looks, she depicted very well Lara’s casual approach and even sweetness when addressing some determinate situations.
4. Lara Weller (TR4′s Lara model) 1999
Though her pin-up approach in most of her photos is not exactly my cup of tea, I give Lara Weller how hard she worked and how enthusiastic she entered in Classic Lara’s role. She gives you fierceness and badassery in high proportions. She is the perfect embodiment of the carefree, happy Classic Lara who does things because she loves them and doesn’t give a second thought to anything.
5. Nathalie Cook (TR1′s Lara model)
Hereby I must confess full of shame I didn’t knew Nathalie Cook was the first Lara model until I read it from @tomb-of-ash sources. I - and probably most Spanish fandom - thought Rhona Mitra was the very first one. We don’t have much photos of her but her thoughtful and focused look gives us the initial Classic Lara who was still not very expressive and didn’t fool around with fuckeries. Not bad at all!
6. Nell McAndrew (TR3′s Lara model) 1998
I hate to be that guy, but Nell is probably my least favorite because most of her photos have a flirty, pin-up approach. I fought hard to find one in which she’s not teasy. TR3 was the game were Eidos insisted in marketing Lara as a sexualized doll and that is visible in the renders that were made for their promotion and that little had to do with Core Design’s work on the game. Also, she was unfortunate to be involved in a polemic with having posed naked in Playboy next to Lara’s renders, which ended in her being fired. While I’m not judging her for it, her flirty poses definitely felt off to me so that’s why she’s so low in my ranking.
7. Vanesa Demouy (TR2′s Lara model - Unfinished Business) 1997
She’s the lowest not because I have anything against her, but because she modelled as Lara so briefly in time that she didn’t get an impact. Though, it is remarkable she modelled also with different outfits, like the weird pattern dresses we can see in some of TR2′s official renders.
And here’s where I stop. You’ll probably ask yourself, hey, what about Ellen Rocche? Well, I didn’t even knew about her until recently, so she didn’t make an impact on me.
And... what about Karima Adebibe and Alison Carroll? I respect them but as LAU trilogy’s games aren’t valid as Tomb Raider(s) to me, I don’t count her as Lara’s models. They are LAUra’s models and they did their best in their jobs, for sure... but if the main character is no Lara to me, the models are portraying someone else in my view.
Thanks for asking!
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