Emily Ratajkowski thought Prince was an impersonator when he performed at Madonna's Oscars bash.
The model-and-actress has experienced a swift rise to stardom after she cavorted topless in the promo for Robin Thicke's track Blurred Lines last year. She can currently be seen in the hotly-anticipated movie adaptation of Gone Girl, and earlier this year she was lucky enough to get an invite to Madonna's annual Academy Awards bash.
"As I was leaving, I saw this smaller guy with a mini-Afro walking out and I thought, ‘Oh, there’s a Prince impersonator,'" she recalled to New York Daily News. "And then I looked back and I was like, ‘No, that’s actually Prince!’"
On top of that, it took Emily a little while to realise the guy she was dancing next to for much of the night was Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney.
Much was made of the video for Blurred Lines when it hit because, while Emily bares her breasts, Robin and his collaborators Pharrell Williams and T.I. are fully clothed. Some have suggested the track's lyrics are sexist too, with Emily feeling she needs to explain her involvement.
"People don’t realise that I showed up on set and I had never heard the song before,” she said. “It wasn’t like I was part of the creative process of writing that song.”
She has no regrets though, insisting her mother raised her to be proud of her body and never afraid to show it off.
Appearing in the video also shot her into the limelight, with Emily realising pretty soon after it hit that it was a big deal. She can vividly recall walking through New York City while on the phone to her mother when someone shouted out to her. Emily presumed it was a friend who wanted to chat, but it was actually a fan after a photo.
"I could hear my mom [on the other end] going, ‘What is going on?’" she giggled. “It was a funny experience to share with your mom.”
