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Rising To The Top

YaYa DaCosta may have lost out in the third installment of 'America's Next Top Model,' but she's the big winner after all. The 24 year-old Harlem native is the first contestant from Tyra Banks' wildly popular reality series to make her feature film bow, in music video director Liz Friedlander's directorial debut, 'Take The Lead,' in theaters April 7. As LaRhette, a student who comes into her own, the Brown University alum shines brightly alongside seasoned pros Antonio Banderas, and Alfre Woodard and experienced young actor Rob Brown ('Finding Forrester').

"It was nice doing this movie because it was a culmination of so many people's talent and passion," said DaCosta, "but it was also difficult, because I feel like I'm learning so much everyday and I just want to get better and better."

The film is inspired by the true story of Pierre Dulaine, a New York City dance teacher and competitor, who volunteers his time to teach ballroom dancing to a diverse group of inner-city students serving detention. DaCosta said that the casting team had no idea she was a runner-up on the UPN show. After three auditions, she got the part. "It was a really, really fast but organic process," she added.

Unlike some other contestants from 'ANTM' (who have done other popular reality shows, appeared on magazine covers, and popped up in music videos), DaCosta has stayed under the radar. Thus, she managed to garner lucrative commercial work for brands such as Radio Shack and Garnier. When asked if those were a result of the top rated show, she plays it down some, saying, "I don't ever bring it up, unless they do."

"It's not like American Idol. No one is knocking at my door with a script," she said. "Basically with that show, if you are the winner you have a lot of support and they set up a bunch of things for you, and if you're anybody else and you don’t win, they just say 'Thanks very much' and let you go."

When probed more about Banks or the prospect of appearing on the show, DaCosta diplomatically explained, "In general, I'm focusing on myself, my spiritual growth and the work that I'm doing now. And I don’t really think just being in the spotlight for the sake of it is not really for me. I think it works well for some people but I'm really interested in the art."

The movie is in theaters today!