Interview by Hasan Hamze
Words by Hasan Hamze
Photography by Christine Tang

The justalilhype! Crew got to sit down and have a chat with Marcel Rowe, an extremely ambitious model originally from Calgary. Having a weird and un-motivating home-stay experience to being his life in Vancouver, he has worked through the tough times to do what he loves doing. Marcel aspires to one day become involved in video game production and even incorporating his ideas into TV and movies in the near future.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I moved down here from Calgary about 5 years ago when I was 17, right after high school. My best friend Daniel and I came down, and it was kind of a weird start. We started off at a home-stay and the people didn’t really like us for weird reasons and we eventually got kicked out at 3am. We were two 17-year-old guys in a city where we didn’t know anybody and we ended up having to live in a hotel for about 5 days. Luckily we found a great family to live with, it was a family friend’s sister and we lived there for a bit.

How did you get into modeling?

I was on a plane going back to Calgary, and the entire time this one lady kept looking at me which was kind of weird. As I was getting off, she kept looking at me and peeking around to try to get a look at me, so I turned around and I was like ‘Hi!’ She then asked if I was a model, and I was like no am not. I was too skinny for my height and I wasn’t really tall enough to be that. The lady then gave me a card to an agent that she knows, who I later talked to, but never really signed with him because he wasn’t what I was looking for, but I’ve been independent ever since then.

When working independently, how do you manage to find gigs?

Model Mayhem and craigslist, they are saviours for now! I use Model Mayhem when trying out shoots and helping out photographers to build portfolios. Craigslist is usually where I get the paying jobs. The most recent paying job I got was actually for Michel Germain fragrance, in which two other models and I had to put oil on and promote the fragrance shirtless! It was really fun, we had to go up to girls and make them smell us, which was also kind of weird. One thing I noticed was that women our age were very nervous to talk to us, but the older women were the ones that would come and interact.

What’s next for you when it comes to modeling?

I actually got a job at Langara College next weekend; I’ll be doing photo shoots for them. With that I’m on their reoccurring model list, so depending on how next week goes, I can be called for more jobs with them, so it would be a nice thing to do on the weekends. I won’t be applying for Vancouver Fashion Week, just because I am too busy with other things. My next step is to find another passion project; it’s been a while since I’ve done one. The last one I did was about me being a young “Blade,” which was great because I was working with my photographer friend Herod. My next passion project to do is going to be about a cartoon called “Static Shock.” I’ll be doing something along those lines, kind of superhero-ish, but I’ll need a really good Photoshop artist and a whole lot of visual effects and stuff but it would be really cool if I can do that one day.

Do you have any other jobs that you are involved in right now?

I do testing and documentations for a Disney video game company called Propaganda Games, and right now we’re working on a Pirates of the Caribbean video game. I aspire to be a 3D modeller, so I basically make the characters in the game, which is what I went to school for. I went to school at the Art Institute of Vancouver to study Game Arts and Design, which was a course I completed in a year and a half. I graduated as top 5 character artists in my group and it was a lot of fun, even though I initially went to the class not knowing anything at all.

How has the change in the economy affected your ability to find modeling gigs?

Yeah it’s been tough for modeling and even my other career as well. For modeling its generally really hard for male models to find jobs as it is just because the demand for us is not very high, which I think should change because as things are moving forward, men are starting to be more into fashion and looking good. It has been hard just because of the low demand, but hopefully we’ll see more paying jobs soon.

Have you done modeling anywhere else other than in Vancouver or any plans on doing that?

I haven’t really gone to other places mainly because am situated in Vancouver in which I also have my other career as well. I’m also trying to get a job in Montreal, which is also a great place for modeling so it will definitely be complementary. The thing is that both of my career paths are entertainment related, so it’s easier for me to move somewhere else. If I go to one city for my video game job, there’s a big chance that I will also find modeling work as well. I wouldn’t move to a place for good right now or even back to Calgary because it is too cold. I’d live somewhere else for 5 years to build a portfolio and such. However, Calgary will always be my home, but I don’t see anything else that it could offer me for my career.

Who inspires you?

That’s a tough question, for different things different people inspire me. For modeling, my cousin Jarod inspires me because I just see what he does with acting and pursuing what he does without another job, to rely on, which is a tough thing to do. For me to see that, I’m not sure if I could rely on just modeling and make money off of that because it’s not very consistent and I need to know where my next cheque is coming from. Career wise, it’s actually my father that inspires me because he always told me to go for what I love. He never really liked video games but always supported what I do because it is what I love.

How does your week usually look like?

Usually pretty standard, I work from eight to five on the weekdays and after that I usually come home, eat, and go to the gym 2-3 times a week. After that I work on some artwork till the end of the night. From time to time I usually hang out with my friends that live nearby and we go out to movies and stuff. For the weekend it can change, sometimes I go out with my friends to eat and such but I usually like to relax on the during that time and revamp for the next week. My week is usually full of 3d design work though, because I have it drilled in my head that I should work hard while I’m young so when am older I can take it easy, but this is the summer so hopefully I’m going to go to the beach and enjoy myself.

What do you think is the current status of the Vancouver modeling industry right now?

I think it’s a little static; there have been slight advancements though. Last year there wasn’t anything for us models, especially men. There are slight advancements but I haven’t noticed anything too drastic, since I’m fairly new to it anyways. Last year everything entertainment wise was shut down due to economic issues, but it’s going a little bit better this year

If you were offered a full time modeling contract, would you drop your artwork, or how would it work?

My number one priority is my artwork; it has been my goal for as long as I can remember. However if I were offered a well paying modeling contract that would give me stability and good money for me to live with comfortably, I would take a break from the video game industry. I will take that risk as long as it will provide good pay and I will be secure for how ever long my contract is. I wouldn’t give up on my artwork though; I would still practice it during my free time. I want art to be my career long term though, and there are many paths I could take with that. In the future I would like to move on to more of a production role as I have a lot more ideas that I can incorporate into games and even animations for TV and movies. I think modeling careers are very short-lived, because once you hit a certain age you’re not the person that everyone wants to see anymore, so I look to my art as being my long-term career.

As a person who works with video games, do you often play for fun? Which is one game that you would rate the best from your experience?

I haven’t really been playing that many games lately, because am usually busy with work and when I get home I go to the gym or something like that. I am playing one game right now called “Alan Wake,” which is a really fun game and it’s also scary as hell. I usually turn off all the lights in my house so that its pitch black so I can really get into the game.
My favourite game of all time was back using Play Station One, it’s called Legend of Legaia and I will drill it in everyone’s minds that it is reviewed as the best role playing game of all time for me. The story is great and the mechanics are amazing and I’m very captivated in it the whole time. It’s really rare that you get a game in which you go “wow this is an amazing game” because it has both great story and art.

From what you know, what can you tell us about upcoming advancements in the gaming world?

There are tons! There’s a new “Natal” (now known as Kinect), a controller-less motion sensing Xbox add-on I personally think it’s a gimmick, and I’m not sold into it yet. It looks interesting but core gamers probably won’t like it and I find that it’s more of a family thing to do. Nintendo 3DS is also a huge advancement for the gaming industry which features glassless 3D gaming. As a result of such advancement we’ll also be seeing the introduction of glassless 3D TV’s. I’m really looking forward to how the 3DS pushes forward the technology of gaming and entertainment.

What kind of music do you listen to?

Almost everything actually, the only genre I don’t listen to is country. I like some songs from Rascal Flatts, but for me most music I listen to is movie trailer music just because it gets me pumped and helps me visualize anything. A lot of my friends listen to my playlist and they freak out wondering what I listen to, and ask wonder if the songs are from certain movies. It really puts me in a mindset to push myself really hard. Also, a random band that a lot of people find weird that I like is called Disturbed, which is a heavy metal band. It really puts me into it and gets me aggressive and helps me focus and visualize things in my head. I actually listen to very little R&B/Rap/Hip Hop, I rarely do. I also found a new Christian rock band called Red, which is really good.

What kind of girl do you look for?

I’m looking for someone with aspirations that can keep up with my goals. I’m not down with someone that is okay with working in retail for the rest of their life, I want someone that will motivate me as much as I motivate them. I’m a dork and I do weird things and have fun times, and I need someone that can be like that as well. I also like someone that is close to their family. Appearance wise the eyes and legs are huge when I am looking for my perfect girl. The thing that always grabs me are the eyes though; gorgeous eyes will get me instantly.

What is HYPE?

HYPE can build or destroy something. To me it means something that everybody is raving about and has a bandwagon that everyone is jumping onto. For example the movie Avatar, the HYPE was huge for that movie and it really helped it because it got top movie and all that. To me it was a great movie but it didn’t meet the HYPE that everyone was giving to it. I think that it did really well because of the HYPE but if they come up with a sequel it would not do as well because the original didn’t really meet that HYPE. HYPE is a very dangerous thing because it can either build something up or destroy it, and if it doesn’t meet the HYPE that it gets then people won’t be willing to try it. For HYPE you got to be careful about how you present it and what you HYPE up. For me, I won’t HYPE up anything unless I truly believe that it meets the HYPE and I would have to be very conscious about how I present it.