Carol Alt is late because she had to touch up her makeup. No, that’s not the renowned supermodel being high maintenance, it’s Alt being humane. Just before our conversation for Yahoo’s Unapologetically series, she received the urn holding the ashes of her beloved cat JoJo.

“It was not a good moment right before you called me,” the 65-year-old tells me. “My cats have become such a part of my fabric. If I had to run into a burning building for them, I would.”

That’s my introduction to the icon who has graced hundreds of magazine covers since her career breakthrough in 1979. Her shoots for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue led to Alt producing and appearing in the new documentary Beyond the Gaze, out now, which tells the story of the issue’s founding editor, Jule Campbell. Campbell, who died in 2022 at age 96, was known for her artistic vision as well as for protecting and empowering swimsuit models. The issue became the magazine’s bread and butter after it launched in 1964, but Campbell struggled for equal pay from male supervisors.

“It's interesting to see where we've come from,” Alt reflects.

While those swimsuit shoots weren’t always a breeze — picture posing in a bikini in frigid temperatures — they did help anoint Alt as “the Face,” the nickname that followed her throughout her ‘80s modeling heyday. At 65, Alt devotes more time to acting and championing a raw-food diet these days, but she did dip her toes into the world of OnlyFans a couple of years ago. Here’s why the experience taught her that she’s not so “super-liberal” after all — and how her views on aging (and facelifts) have shifted.

What brought you into championing Beyond the Gaze?

I accidentally fell into it. I called Jule because I hadn't heard from her in a while, and her daughter-in-law [Jill Campbell, who directed the film], picked up and said, “We're going to do a documentary.” I wanted to be involved because I realized what a great woman this was.

Jule came up in the '60s when it was a manscape. She had to hold her own. She championed the [models], stood behind us and stood in front of us when she felt a [shot] was exploitive. She pushed us in a positive direction, gave us confidence and made us realize that we had opportunities that she didn't have. And girls today have [even more] opportunities. Everybody's a bridge on this road bringing us to the next step.

Jule also helped women like myself — Christie [Brinkley], Elle [Macpherson], Kathy [Ireland], who has a billion-dollar business — become who we are today. We had instantaneous [success].

You were the first model to create your own posters and calendars in the ’80s, helping establish a brand.

I didn't realize I was so creative, truthfully — only now looking back. But, yeah, I created my posters, calendars and exercise videos. Then the other girls followed. I went from there [to promoting] raw food. I did a line of raw skin care, wrote my books and [hosted A Healthy You & Carol Alt]. Meanwhile, I was also doing movies — I've done 65 films and three series, including Paper Empire, which I’m doing now with Kelsey Grammer. [Working with Jule] allowed me to do that. It was so fast that I was recognizable. I was not just the face.

It’s funny you said “the Face” because that was your actual nickname, right?

That’s what they called me. I don't know why — there are so many beautiful girls. Some way more beautiful than me and … more sexy. Elle was “the Body” and I was jealous of that. She had an amazing body. But [“the Face”] just stuck.

How do you navigate the expectation of being “the Face” as you get older?

This is an issue because, as you get older, things start to fall apart. I have to admit that. But raw food really helped put off the inevitable for much longer than I thought I would be able to. I remember when I was 19 or 20, somebody asked me, “What do you think about facelifts?” I said, “Terrible. Never.” Now I'm looking at the technology and how it makes women more confident and happier. If something that simple could make you happy, go for it. I'm scared to death and it's not yet for me, but maybe one day I will do it. But you can't hold back time — maybe I'll be “the Old Face” one day.

Take us back to your first Sports Illustrated shoot. What did the experience mean to you?

My first experience shooting with Sports Illustrated wasn't a bathing suit issue. It was a skiwear issue. I went to see Jule, and she said, “You look a little bit too much like Christie Brinkley. I can't take you on the [swimsuit shoot]. But we're doing a skiwear issue, and I really like you [for that].” I did the skiwear issue and then we lost the cover to, I think, Mike Tyson, who had a fight or won the championship. It would have been a great cover to have.

Jule liked me, so she took me on my first bathing suit shoot. I was with Kelly Emberg in Florida. There was a low system going through the Gulf and we were standing in ice water. I was wearing a Norma Kamali red bikini — it looked like a hula dress — and it was blowing around a tree. I remember Kelly and I sitting in this room with a heater, and they came in and said, “OK, we have one more shot today. Who wants to do it?” I ended up doing it because I didn't want Kelly to go out in that cold. When the issue came out, there's Christie on Captiva Island, Fl. She was diving into the water. I'm like, “Man, I'm jealous.” She had warm weather and cool bathing suits, and we were basically in parkas.

In my imagination, it’s a lot more glamorous.

The issues were not easy to shoot. We were getting up at 4 a.m., shooting until 8 or 9 p.m. It was long hours and you tried on 700 or 800 bathing suits. Back then, the issue was only 12 pages, so this hard-earned picture [ended up a tiny photo on the page]. But it laid the groundwork for what’s there today — an entire issue, which, by the way, is the only issue that’s still printed. It’s this juggernaut, all kudos to Jule. As you see in the documentary, the pictures are museum quality, because Jule was an artist. It was all due to Jule's eye, ideas and willingness to fight every battle to bring it to fruition.

You once said that as you got older, you wanted your body to run like a Ferrari, so you put in Ferrari-type fuel. What’s your approach to health and longevity?

I work out. I don't overwork out, but I work out. Keep my stamina up, keep the blood flowing. But at the end of the day, it's all about the food. If you're putting in food that's processed with chemicals and crazy things in it, which most everything is unless you're making it fresh yourself from the garden, it's hard to get good food. So I find my staples and I stay on them. Crazy enough, I never get sick of them. I make a muffin in the morning — I call it my “ugly muffin” — that’s so delicious I have to keep people out of [my kitchen]. Everybody who comes into the house wants a muffin.

What are the ingredients — and what makes it ugly?

It's ugly because it has no shape or form. I just plop it on. It’s four ingredients: chia seeds, raw almond flour, raw chocolate chips and dates. I squeeze in a little lemon too. They go in the dehydrator at 115 degrees. When they come out warm, people just lap them up — the super of my building, the doorman, my friends. Some days I have them for breakfast and dinner because they're nutritious. They really feed you, so you're not hungry 10 minutes later. That's the secret behind raw food: It keeps you fed.

When I was a starving model trying to stay that thin — 5-foot-10 and 115 pounds when I had the cover of Sports Illustrated [in 1982] — I wasn't [well]. I lost my health. That's why health is so important [to me now], because it took me a really long time to dig out of that hole.

You had uterine cancer when you were younger. How did that influence your health practices and was that driving you to change your diet?

When I started going raw, it wasn't about cancer. I had no idea. But if I hadn't done something, I don't think I would have survived. That's the bottom line. I did it to compete: All the other models were 20 years old, jumping around, all this energy. I was 38 and thinking, I'm tired. I don't like this bathing suit. I feel bloated and fat.

Now I have a ton of energy, and I work out five times a week. It gives you an edge because people are not educated [on raw food]. They want to live their life the way they want to live — until they're sick. A diagnosis like that requires management for the rest of your life. For me, it was a silver lining. I have a reason to stay on the straight and narrow with healthy raw food and my supplements.

Which women do you look to as examples of aging with confidence, style and vitality?

Betty White did it really well. She was who she was, and gave no excuses for it. She just did her thing. You have to have a lot of respect for someone who just says, ‘This is me. Take me or leave me.” And working right until the end.

You joined OnlyFans in 2023. Are you still active and what did you learn from the experience?

I joined OnlyFans because I was doing a movie in Europe, and I played this crazy hippie. The producers asked, “What could you do to promote this?” I'm said, “I'm so not Carol Alt in this. Let's do something to bring people in.” So I did OnlyFans for like three months as promotion for the movie. I didn't do any nudes — just beautiful photos. It wasn't anything worse than what I've done anywhere else, like Sports Illustrated, but not quite Playboy.

What I learned is I'm more modest and puritanical than I believed. I always thought I was super-liberal, but, yeah, I'm not. And I [have a newfound] respect for people on [there] because I can't keep up with shooting all that stuff. I want to be in my movies. I don't want to be shooting videos for free.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.