Picture: Getty Images

Harper's Bazaar: How did you get your start as a model?
Xenia Deli: A photographer, Gavin O'Neill, found me on Model Mayhem. He offered to photograph me. He saw something special in me. Modeling was never what I wanted to do with my life, it was just a hobby. I always thought models had to be super tall, and this and that, but I'm only 5'7". So, after we shot together, he showed my photos to an agency and I got signed. I moved to South Carolina five years ago. I'm from such a small village in Moldova, with only 3,000 people. Even South Carolina felt like Los Angeles or New York City. Now I'm between New York and L.A.

HB: How did you get cast in this video? 
XD:  It wasn't easy, to tell you the truth. My agency got me an audition for a music video but I didn't know who it was for. When I got there, there were 10 other girls there and I just thought, "of course I'm never going to get this," but I wanted it so badly. It wasn't until I met with the producer that he said it was for Justin Bieber and I was so excited. They requested girls who were able to act, so during the casting we had to show different emotions: happiness, pain, seduction—we had to show everything. That night my agent called me and told me they had put me on hold. I just thought, "please God I need this job, so so much," and God heard me!

HB: What was it like the first time you met Justin?
XD: ​I met Justin at the video shoot. I was sitting in the makeup chair, and he came over to me and was like, "Hi, nice to meet you, you will do a great job."
 

@xeniadeli what do you mean? Thanks #8days music video on the way

A photo posted by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) on

HB:Were you a fan of his music?
XD: No, I usually listen to Russian music, because I miss home so much. I knew some of his songs of course. One of my favorites is "Boyfriend" and now my favorite is "What Do You Mean?"

HB: How did you prep for filming the video?
XD: We started filming two days later. I just had to prepare mentally because I was so nervous. I was nervous about Justin, how he would act, how the music video was going to turn out. But he was cool, so nice, so respectful and helpful. It was so easy to work with him.

HB: Did you have to practice making out with him? 
XD: Imagine that, if we were going into a corner and practicing [laughs], but no. We were on set, and we had been talking for a little bit, and we knew that this was our job, so we just did it. The first scene we filmed was when I was lying on the bed, and he was singing—we did that for a pretty long time. We had been talking in between shots and getting to know each other better, so it wasn't that weird when it came time to make out. But we had to make out a lot. We were trying it from different angles a lot of times.   

HB: Is he a good kisser?​
XD: Yes, he's a good kisser. 

HB: How many days was the shoot?
XD: We shot for two days. The second day we didn't go home for 24 hours, we shot all through the night—it was exhausting. Yesterday, when I saw the video for the first time, I started crying, because I know how hard it was for everyone. But it was worth it.

HB: How have you been dealing with all the attention from his fans?
XD: ​There have been so many negative comments. I wasn't expecting this reaction—I thought everyone would be excited! I can't do anything about it though. It's not about me. Whatever they do, it doesn't say anything about me, it says more about them. But I just want to say, I didn't do anything wrong, I was just doing my job. I'm not taking Justin away from his fans. I'm so sensitive to what people think about me, so I just stopped reading the comments.

HB: What's your dream job? Are you hoping to pursue acting?
XD:  Yes, I would love to do movies, it's my passion. I love to watch movies, I love acting. I'm getting into acting classes, and this is what I want to do with my future. 

Via HarpersBazaar.com

***
MORE CULTURE

MTV Video Music Awards 2015
5 Reasons We Love Zac Efron
Jennifer Lawrence's Screenplay