Wallis Day felt she had to "prove" that she wasn't "getting an easy ride" because of her "pretty face".
Wallis Day felt she had to 'work harder' to prove she's not just a 'pretty face'
The 'Batwoman' star was just 13 when she became a model and says starting out at a young age in the industry "taught" her "self-worth beyond appearances".
She told HELLO! Fashion magazine: "Starting so young in the modelling industry definitely made me more aware of how other people perceive beauty.
"It taught me to have resilience and self-worth beyond appearances.
"I've learned to ground myself in who I am and not just what I look like, for sure."
Wallis faced her fair share of "haters" still being at school when she embarked on a modelling career.
She said: "It's a tough one, because I was in school.
"While my close friends were really supportive of it, there were hates in school.
"They were really mean and laughed at the fact I wanted to act and model. Not everybody was supportive.
"I would be in town and I would see a big poster of me on the Adidas store and I would try to get my friends to turn the other way because I was embarrassed about it."
And when it came to being an actress, the 'Sex/Life' star felt she needed to go for "more complex roles" to avoid being "typecast" as the "girl next door".
She said: "As I came from a modelling background, I felt that I needed to prove that I wasn't getting an easy ride because I was a pretty face'.
"I purposely made a choice to take on more complex roles and not settle for the girl-next-door roles as people often assume that being conventionally attractive makes things easier. In some ways, I feel like I've had to work harder to break free from being typecast."
Wallis compared cutting off her locks for a pixie do to “shedding expectations”.
She said: "Cutting my hair symbolised shedding expectations. It felt empowering."