High Life : Unique Teen Is a Model Student

Categories are not Cathy Kay’s strong suit.

She was active in junior high school student government, but the Costa Mesa High School junior insists she’s not “brainy.” She is a model and was a cheerleader, but she’s not the stereotypical “airhead.”

Even her appearance is hard to categorize--she is half Vietnamese and half Greek.

But this uniqueness has helped Kay to be named junior talent of the year at last month’s International Model and Talent Assn. competition in New York City.

Despite taking a 1 1/2-year hiatus from modeling school, Kay, 16, earned her crown over 350 other contestants.

“I was screaming so loud I could hear my voice ricocheting throughout the ballroom,” said Kay about her reaction at the awards banquet.

“You aim high, but talent of the year, that’s out there.”

For the title, Kay participated in five areas of competition--acting from a script in a soap opera and in a situation comedy, acting in a TV commercial, performing a comedy monologue and appearing in commercial print ads.

The five days’ worth of competition, however, did not start auspiciously for Kay.

“I was doing really bad when I first got there,” she said. “First, I walked out with the wrong division, and then I didn’t get to show my portfolio to anyone when all the models introduced themselves to agents.

“You had to stand in a lot of lines, and people were cutting, so I switched lines a couple of times. I spent about 45 minutes in one line and the lady was a child star agent, so I wasted a lot of time there.”

However, Kay turned out to be just what her modeling school, John Robert Powers in Orange, was looking for when it selected her as one of seven out of 200 to attend the prestigious competition.

“She worked very hard and practiced a lot, plus she has natural ability,” said Susan Lee, director of the Orange school. “Cathy is a pretty little girl, and she has a great deal of enthusiasm.”

Kay, who had not been to modeling classes for 1 1/2 years (“I didn’t think I had what it took”), only “stopped in the school to say hi and they told me that IMTA tryouts were in two days. I had tried out before and didn’t make it, but I believe in fate.”

Kay’s purpose in attending the competition was “to be seen by as many agents as I could,” keeping in mind her goal of a career in acting.

Standing just 5 feet 2, Kay is too short for a career in high-fashion modeling. However, on a television screen, height is irrelevant.

“The taller you are the better for fashion work, but no one knows how big you are in relation to a Coke can,” Lee said. “Cathy wants to use commercials as a springboard for TV and most actors are small, so it works to her advantage.”

Said Kay: “I’m really self-conscious about my height, especially in this business.”

She attributes an interest in entertainment to her “love for attention” but insists if she can’t work in front of the cameras, she’ll work behind the scenes.

“I just want to be in the industry. I’m pretty good with cosmetology, but that’s pretty boring. Directing sounds interesting, but I’d want to have worked well as an actress first.”

Kay, who has attended three high schools because of family moves, says living in Southern California and along the East Coast has helped develop her performing skills because she is constantly meeting people.

“It’s not difficult meeting new people because I like dealing with people,” she said. “I wouldn’t change the way I moved around because I think back to all the things I would have missed.

“I would have missed out on certain people who taught me things or showed me a different perspective on life. I learned about different lifestyles.”

She’s learned that not everybody fits into one category.

Among the other IMTA winners from John Robert Powers of Orange were Jennifer Gumina of Santa Ana, Jenny Degon of Fullerton, George Harris of Costa Mesa and Molly Rutledge of Garden Grove.

Also, Leslie Lauten, a sophomore at UC Irvine, was first runner-up to Kay in the junior female talent of the year competition.