In the trailer for her new sci-fi horror TV series, “The Beauty,” Bella Hadid’s character Ruby smashes a mirror — and a chef’s face — with a frying pan, cries tears of blood and races through Paris on a motorcycle.
The tough-as-nails vulnerability seems to come naturally to the 29-year-old supermodel, who offscreen has spent years fiercely walking fashion runways, battling health issues and riding horses.
“[It’s] action-packed. It’s fast, it’s dark,” an entertainment industry insider told Page Six. “She sets the tone of the show with intensity.”
The plum role in “The Beauty” — co-created by Ryan Murphy and out Jan. 21 on FX, HULU and Disney+ — marks a new phase for Hadid. After reigning the runway for years, she seems thrilled to be acting. In 2024, she guest starred on “Yellowstone,” playing the horse trainer girlfriend of the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan. Now, she’s got a bigger role.
“She loves working with creatives like Ryan and hopes to continue finding interesting acting projects in TV and film,” the entertainment industry insider told Page Six. “She loves being on set. We saw her in ‘Yellowstone,’ but this feels like the next level up.”
“I would love to keep continuing acting after this. This is a dream of mine,” Hadid recently told The Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve brought my art side and my creativity to modeling, but at the end of the day, I love being able to move, and I love film and acting in general. I love actors because they can be different characters for so many different people.”
Offscreen, Hadid seems to be thriving in an unexpected role — low-key Texas cowgirl.
In 2023, she met Adan Banuelos, a professional cutting horse trainer and multi-million dollar National Cutting Horse Association rider, at a horse show. The two bonded over a love of horses and have been together ever since.
“He’s one of the most talented riders in the industry. He has a way with horses that’s hard to explain. Bella has a love for horses that runs deep. They are a great, unexpected pair,” a source close to the couple, who live in the suburbs of Fort Worth, told Page Six.
Hadid, who grew up jumping horses in Los Angeles, has taken a shine to Western riding — especially the sport of cutting, where a horse and rider work to separate a cow from a herd. She also seems to relish being out of the spotlight and away from the fast-paced life of New York and LA.
“In the horse cutting circuit, Bella isn’t this super famous model . . . She doesn’t feel like she has to be ‘on,’ ” the source close to the couple told Page Six.
“Bella could not be more humble, could not be more thrilled to sit at the shows for hours and hours,” the source added, noting that she’s impressed Texans with her skills in the saddle. “[Cutting] is very frustrating. It’s really unique. Her commitment has been surprising to lots of newcomers to the industry. She doesn’t half-ass anything.”
Her openness with her struggles have made her relatable to followers.
In 2023, she posted to Instagram about her “almost 15 years of invisible suffering.”
She wrote that “worsening with time and work while trying to make myself, my family and the people who support me proud, had taken a toll on me in ways I can’t really explain. To be that sad and sick with the most blessings/privilege/opportunity/love around me was quite possibly the most confusing thing ever . . . the universe works in the most painful and beautiful ways but I need to say that if you are struggling- it will get better.”
Banuelos has been by her side during some particularly rough times for her health.
“Adan is a super caring person,” the source said. “They went on lots of long trail rides when she wasn’t feeling her best.”
Their down-on-the-ranch romance seems a marked change from the high-profile, on-again off-again relationship Hadid was in for years with musician/actor The Weeknd.
Banuelos is “a breath of fresh air. It’s refreshing to not be swarmed in the same way, to build real connections [outside of Hollywood],” the source close to the couple said.
Hadid has been in the spotlight for much of her life, but has also openly struggled with depression.
“Self help and mental illness/chemical imbalance is not linear and it is almost like a flowing rollercoaster of obstacles . . . it has its ups and downs, and side to sides,” she wrote on Instagram in 2021. “But I want you to know, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, and the rollercoaster always comes to a complete stop at some point.”
As a teen, she appeared on several seasons of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” the shy equestrian daughter of Yolanda Hadid and younger sister of model-on-the-rise Gigi Hadid.
She started modeling herself around age 16, around the time she, her mother and brother Anwar were all diagnosed with Lyme disease.
The condition has haunted the beauty’s life.
Last September she was hospitalized for weeks, and she apologized to her fans for being offline, sharing emotional photos of herself hooked up to IVs and oxygen tubes at St. George Hospital near Munich, where she was treated for chronic neurological Lyme disease.
“I’m sorry I always go MIA I love you guys,” Hadid wrote in an Instagram caption.
A month later, in October, she made her return to the runway for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, strutting her stuff in skimpy lingerie and angel wings.
She looked gorgeous as ever, but expressed concern for her faint appearance, as she seemed to struggle under the weight of the 50-pound wings.
Hadid appeared more vibrant this past Wednesday on the red carpet for the premiere of “The Beauty” — which also stars Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher, Jeremy Pope and Rebecca Hall — at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She was the last to arrive and looked stunning in a red Schiaparelli dress, radiating positive energy.
“She was the star of the red carpet. The crowd went insane. She stayed late to take selfies with fans and reporters — she had amazing energy,” a red carpet reveler present told Page Six.
Hadid gushed about the role at the event.
“When I spoke to Ryan in the beginning it was very much about being able to go outside of my comfort zone. And I said, ‘Ryan I want you to make me look haggard.’ I never want to be the girl next door,” Hadid told Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet
“He pushed me to be a different version of myself, which I’ve always wanted to do. I love adrenaline. I love the rush of being able to do stunts. I wouldn’t hurt a fly, which is the funniest part. But the stunt team was so amazing,” she added, admitting she was “nervous” about her performance.
After years of struggling, Hadid is thriving, the source close to the model/actress and Banuelos told Page Six.
“Lyme is an incurable disease and constant battle but she is very happy and as healthy as she can be,” the source said.
Page Six has reached out to Hadid for comment.
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