UNC senior poses for special ACC Playboy issue

CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story misspelled Brittany Leppert's last name.The story has been updated to reflect this change. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

Playboy Magazine’s October edition included a “Girls of the ACC” section, featuring UNC senior Brittany Leppert, a drama major. Leppert took the year off from school for financial reasons and she plans to return in the 2015-16 academic year.

The Daily Tar Heel Staff Writer Colleen Moir spoke with Leppert, a Wilmington native, to discuss her experiences modeling for Playboy magazine.

THE DAILY TAR HEEL: Why did you model for playboy?

BRITTANY LEPPERT: I’ve always been interested. I would have done it in a heartbeat at any point in my adult life, so I was just really excited for the opportunity — I couldn’t even believe that they were on my campus looking for girls like me to do it, so I was really excited.

DTH: What was the experience like?

BL: It was amazing, actually. The stylist, and the photographer, even, just the representatives from Playboy were all so nice to me and so helpful for trying a new experience I’d never done before, making me feel really awesome and beautiful the whole time. And I felt just really catered to ... it was really great.

DTH: How does it feel to be in the “Girls of the ACC” issue?

BL: It’s one of the best feelings ever... It’s like a dream. Like you think you might get to do something in your life at some point, and then it happens, and it’s kind of surreal.

DTH: Have you been recognized by anyone?

BL: No, I haven’t been recognized. I think I have all blonde hair in the magazine, and I changed my hair color afterward, and people tell me I don’t even look the same. So I don’t think anyone not close to me has been able to recognize me.

DTH: Tell me about the shoot.

BL: It was really comfortable the whole way around. I had never posed nude before ... I was just kind of curious how they would handle it, and the photographer was awesome. It didn’t feel like he was looking anywhere weird, he was very professional, very complimentary, and he made me feel really comfortable just being there.

DTH: What did it feel like to represent UNC in Playboy?

BL: It felt awesome, because, before this, the proudest thing was getting into UNC and going to UNC because that’s all I wanted in my high school career. And now I get to represent UNC, which is really awesome.

DTH: Would you want to model again in the future?

BL: Oh, absolutely. I could do this for the rest of my life.

DTH: How much did they pay you for the shoot?

BL: Um, I don’t want to say, but it was definitely enough to help me pay for school.

DTH: Did you feel like you’ve learned anything through this?

BL: I’d never modeled professionally before, so I learned a lot about interacting with people in the studio. I learned just how to pose more, where to look at the camera, just stuff that I would need more in modeling. I’ve also, I’ve learned that, it made me more proud of myself, like maybe I could accomplish more.

DTH: How did friends and family feel when they found out that you’d be doing this?

BL: All my friends, everyone was so excited for me. I couldn’t believe that they were so excited for me. And my mom, you know, I don’t think she would have chosen for her daughter to be in Playboy, but she’s supportive of her family, so you know, everything’s OK.