I
get a text from Sonja Kinski. It says, “Let’s meet for coffee at The Bungalow on Larchmont at 1.” When I arrive, she’s waiting outside the restaurant wearing a vintage-looking ‘Alice in Wonderland’ T-shirt, black Nike leggings, Nike running shoes and a pair of cool Topshop sunglasses. Her thick, long, dark-brown wavy hair is framing a face glowing from a recent Aida Thibiant facial. She looks strikingly like her mother, actress Nastassja Kinski.
Sonja politely jumps up from the wooden bench to her 5-foot10-inch height, gives me a hug, and in her usual self-deprecating manner, apologizes for her casual outfit. “This is my everyday look,” she says, adding, “I’m so lazy.” Sonja’s been on a long unwelcome break from modeling ever since one frightful morning five years ago when she awoke unable to move the right side of her mouth. She thought she’d had a stroke. A diagnosis pointed toward Bell’s palsy, a facial nerve disorder that causes paralysis to only one side of the face. Typically, things get better in a few months—Sonja’s recovery has taken much longer. “I was a die-hard junkie (she’s been sober five years now), and I didn’t get the needed rest to heal,” she confesses. “I kept partying, pretending like it didn’t happen.” Though she’s visibly self-conscious about her appearance—often working her hand to her mouth when she feels the need to hide it—she claims she’s no longer upset about it. “It’s crazy. I’ve had so many ups and downs in my life. From the time I was born to age 12, I grew up a really ugly kid. I looked like a man. I swear. I was taller than all of the boys in my class and I was chubby. It was awful, and then, all of a sudden I got pretty and became popular with guys. And then this happened to me. It truly humbled me. People treat you differently when something is wrong with you. I’m seeing people for who they are—and when they’re being genuine.” Last week, with a little coaxing from stylist Oretta Corbelli, Sonja modeled for this Genlux spread by Italian lensman Francesco Licata. The team took inspiration from Wim Wenders’ 1984 film Paris, Texas, one of the movies,
along with Tess and Cat People, that put Nastassja Kinski on the map. The stunning images from our photoshoot show no indication of Sonja’s facial condition. Still, model agencies are reluctant to sign her. “They don’t like it,” she says sadly. Born Sonja Leila Moussa on March 2, 1986, in Geneva, Switzerland, she’s the second child of Nastassja Kinski’s marriage to film producer Ibrahim Moussa. Sonja’s brother, Aljosha, is two years older. She was six when her family moved to the United States, where, she entered school speaking only Italian, and remembers being teased about it. Sonja’s father, who passed away in 2012, was a charismatic man who fled from his native Egypt to Rome, met and somehow convinced Federico Fellini to direct the 1987 film Inter vista. “I loved my father so much,” Sonja says. “He had the best sense of humor, and so does my mom, something I’ve grown to appreciate in others. His passing was very traumatic and unexpected, the saddest time of my life, but I finally feel at peace with it.” Sonja’s parents divorced in 1992—the same year Nastassja met music producer Quincy Jones. Their three-year relationship produced yet another Kinski beauty, Kenya Kinski-Jones, 23, a very successful New York model. Sonja’s high-school years at Pali High in the ritzy Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles were not particularly fun. “I hated it!” she exclaims. “I didn’t fit in with anyone, and I was awkward. I created this whole ‘other’ life that I used to escape to—a club life with my older friends.” These days, Sonja is active in animal charities and is especially supportive of a nonprofit that Kenya finds dear to her heart. “It’s called Last Chance for Animals—a charity that’s working toward saving the diminishing gorilla population.” lcasavinggorillas.org As Sonja slowly regains control over her bout with Bell’s palsy, she’s saving up the $25,000 for a hopeful surgical cure, in which, she says, “the surgeons have a way of curing this by moving nerves around.” She’s also excited to get back into modeling and acting. “Acting makes me who I am,” she says confidently. “I know I’m not defined by any material things or by my looks. What’s inside is more important. I feel good about myself right now, and the older I get, the more I want to simplify and slow down. That’s where I’m going. I want to meditate more and have space between my thoughts.”
Producer: ANASTASIA MARCIANO Photographer: FRANCESCO LICATA / FrancescoLicata.com Stylist: ORETTA CORBELLI Hair: ROBERT STEINKEN using Oribe / CloutierRemix.com Makeup: ALEXIS SWAIN using Le Mer / CelestineAgency.com Stylist Assistant: NICOLE CARLSON Hair Advisor and Assistant: Jennifer Baker Art Direction: STEPHEN KAMIFUJI Location: Special thanks to GM STUDIO, Los Angeles
HOLIDAY 2016 GENLUX 35