Kate Upton, Before the World Caught Up

2011 is one of those years I can’t locate in memory—nothing specific stuck, which probably means it was fine. But that summer Kate Upton shot her first Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition spread in the Philippines, and the behind-the-scenes footage tells you everything about why she became what she became. Not just the obvious stuff—though the obvious stuff is very much on display—but the way she carries herself. She’s laughing. She seems genuinely happy to be there, which sounds like a small thing until you’ve watched enough people perform enthusiasm and realize it isn’t small at all.

I remember when she started appearing everywhere and the internet collectively lost its composure, and for once the consensus was exactly right. She had something that "charisma" doesn’t quite cover—warmer and more direct than that word usually means. The girl-next-door cliché persists because it points at something real, and she had it without seeming to try. Hard not to fall a little bit in love with that.