Edith Tapia reveals her story of glamour, success and hard trials: “I told my mom that I didn’t want to die”

The story of Edith Tapia It started like that of so many top models in the world: a scouter noticed her when she was walking down the street accompanied by her mother. She was 14 years old. That day, the teenager who had never before considered the possibility of being a model, she succumbed to the glamor of the catwalks and the flashes of the cameras. She experienced “incredible” moments, but also blows.

“I got into modeling by chance, I was in school, I was skinny, I was 1.76, and walking down the street they approached us. They told my mom if she could attend a casting. She didn’t understand what she was, the thing is I passed the test and did my first commercial. It was for a soap brand, she appeared in swimwear, walking by the pool. Then a friend got me into haute couture catwalks, and that’s what I did until I started producing my own”, comments Tapia.

“I wanted to be a psychologist, but life took me down that path, and I thank her because thanks to my work as a model I was able to raise my children alone and experience incredible things. You don’t know how much I’m fascinated by everything I’ve done in life”, he adds.

—Would you change something of what you have lived?

There are things that I would change. For example, I have worked very hard as a hostess and there have been early mornings when I felt cold, with back pain and had to continue standing because I had to pay for my children’s school, their sports classes and all the expenses involved in having a child. I would have liked to spend more time with them: helping them with their homework, taking them to and picking them up from school every day. My mom helped me when I couldn’t. Thank God I gave them quality time.

—You were a mother at 17. How did you handle motherhood at that age?

I think there should be a school for parents where they give us the necessary tools to not make mistakes. We all make mistakes in one way or another, because one learns on the way to be a father or mother. In Ecuador I met the father of my children, five months later we got married and I had Daniela, who is the oldest, and Guty, the second. In the library that my ex-husband had, there were many books on child psychology, I read them all to know how to raise my children. In addition, the example I had from my parents has been forceful. Even before I separated, it was easy to be a mom. Then I had to work two or three more times to be able to support my two children on my own. However, I consider that it has been a very beautiful stage that I would like to relive. Every tear of anguish, of anxiety, I remember fondly. I think it’s a lesson that has made me the woman I am.

How do you define yourself as a mother?

I am a friend of my children because I believe that having a good base of friendship, trust and rapprochement are achieved. At some point in my life I blamed myself because they didn’t have a dad by their side, and I tried to replace that absence by giving them quality time. I have raised two children with values ​​and principles, sensitive, good, although, like everyone else, they can make mistakes. Maybe I raised them too good, that’s why sometimes people abuse.

—Daniela is an artist like Guty?

I wanted him to be a model because he naturally walks very pretty on the catwalk, but he didn’t want to. She was also called from Miss Peru and to be in a reality show, but she did not accept either.

fashion and glamor

What does modeling represent in your life?

It represents everything. It allowed me to support my children, cover their basic needs and mine. It allowed me to have a life.

—Is it true that in modeling not everything is pretty?

I have always worked in haute couture and I have surrounded myself with the best models in the country and producers. I have modeled for international stylists. The truth is that it was an incredible atmosphere, it was a very select group of models, all the women with a minimum height of 1.78 and the men with a minimum height of 1.82. We all got along super well, there was respect, consideration, they were wonderful times. The catwalks were awesome. modeled $15,000 and $20,000 garments. It has been a pride to belong to the strongest stage of fashion in Peru. Currently everything has changed a lot, there are no longer lavish catwalks, or gigantic productions.

—What was the most incredible thing you had to model?

A fur coat from Saks Fifth Avenue, over $50,000. It was like a dream to walk in something like that, so well made, extremely fine, even though it weighed like a stone. Now I’m wondering about animal abuse, obviously I wouldn’t do something like that (again). Sharing with international models like Claudia Schiffer, when she came to Peru, has also been nice.

—What do you remember about that experience with Claudia Schiffer?

We talked the basics, because she never went to rehearsal. She was beautiful physically and spiritually. She exuded calm, her skin was stunning, beautiful, snow white and smooth. It was like seeing the sun.

-Do you like to be fashionable? Is it true you have a lot of clothes?

I like to be well, to wear things that go with the moment. I don’t have many clothes anymore, before I had countless shoes, I had 200. I think clothes are important to cover you, but it’s not necessary to have a full closet. You can go recycling, have basics to combine.

—How do you get involved with fashion production?

One day when I was with Richard, my ex-partner, in 2007, we talked about the possibility of producing something together. We sat on the floor of my room, with a phone and an agenda, and we started looking for companies. That same day I got a contact in Larcormar, which allowed us to hold a monthly parade. That’s where I began my fascinating career as a producer. I have done productions throughout the country: 50,000 runway shows, showrooms, parades with dinners for thousands of people, gala dinners, fifteen-year-olds…

—Richard and you were the top fashion models of the 90s and 2000s, as well as a beloved couple. Why did they separate after eight years of relationship?

Love is over and one cannot rule over it. Unfortunately it ends for many reasons, due to lackluster, lack of attention or empathy or because you discover other interests that are no longer common to your partner. If there is no longer love, why force things? When my mother passed away in 2001, I began to see life differently. I haven’t had a partner for three years and I really feel that now I know, love and respect myself more.

“And what about loneliness?”

For me it is a blessing, it is discovering yourself day by day in all aspects. I really enjoy being alone, watching the sunset, the moon, the sun, the plants… It is a daily knowledge to be alone. Although sometimes I say: ‘It’s my turn’. I have not closed the doors to love, not at all.

—Recently, two cases of infidelity were exposed at the national level by the program “Magaly TV: La Firme”. Would you forgive an infidelity?

The truth is, I don’t know if I have forgiven infidelities. I think a person was unfaithful to me and I apologized, although things were never the same again. It is a mature work on both sides. I understand that there are times when people get confused and look to sides they should never have seen. We are human and we make mistakes. The problem lies when we do not recognize the error and it persists until the end. Although a scandalous infidelity, in which an entire family is involved, is complicated.

—After modeling, acting comes into your life. How do you get involved?

It comes when I was in the ‘boom’, when I was a top model. The director Michel Gomez called me for a small role in “La rica Vicky”, then he called me for “Amor Serrano”. In that telenovela I had an important role. It was a great experience. I made five soap operas, also plays, short films and feature films.

—“Utopia” was your first film. How did you get into cinema?

It was through director Gino Tassara. We met when he was recording “La rica Vicky”, he was a production assistant. Then we coincided in “Amor serrano”. We became friends. Our friendship has more than 20 years. When he did a work in the United States he also called me. Since then we have not stopped working together. In “Utopía”, in addition to acting, I was an executive producer. Currently, in “Queens without a crown”, I am a general producer. For me there are no challenges that cannot be met. I have always been involved in everything because I believe that it is the only way to solve the unforeseen events that arise on a day-to-day basis.

—In the case of “Utopia”, what was the biggest unforeseen event?

“Utopia” is a difficult and painful controversial issue (about a nightclub fire in which 29 people died), and some sponsors preferred to abstain, not to participate. However, I managed to gather 82 sponsors. When I take stock of each job, I thank and congratulate myself because I always find a way to leave and arrive at a good destination. Every day I am overcoming my own limits and that makes me happy.

—When does the shooting of “Queen without a crown” end? Is there already a release date?

We have come to Mexico to shoot some scenes and when we return to Lima, we are going to shoot one more day. The premiere was scheduled for September this year, but we have decided to change it to March 2023.

—The film is based on real events of femicide cases in our country. What cases will be referenced in the film?

The case of the Jimenita girl (raped and murdered by César Augusto Alva Mendoza, the ‘Monster of the bicycle’), for example. What is sought is to call attention to society and that the authorities understand that they must take drastic action so that cases like this are never repeated.

“Do you act in this movie too?”

I have a cameo, a small but powerful role, which helps to show a little more of this problem.

-What’s coming for the rest of the year? What goals do you have?

Keep producing and acting. I have written some plays and would like to study to direct my own film. And meanwhile continue producing for Sinargollas. I never stop, not even in hard times.

“Is it true that three years ago you beat lung cancer?”

That was a mistake, they misrepresented my statements. I had a tumor, but it wasn’t cancer. I had surgery, I had a thoracotomy 25 years ago in the left lung. It was a very hard stage, my children were little. I have a cut from under the bust to the back. The recovery was slow, it marked my life, I cried a lot; but I had the support of my parents, they helped me get ahead. Three years ago I faced the same drama again. Since then I changed my lifestyle again and now I try to eat as healthy as possible. I don’t know why these things happen, they are difficult tests, but here we are, we continue.

What was the most difficult part of that situation?

The fear of leaving my children so young, they were about two years old. She told my mom that she didn’t want me to die. I was very lucky, I fell into the hands of the director of the department of thoracic surgery at INEN, Dr. Amorín. He operated on me and I have a big scar from that operation. I remember a nurse, he told me: ”Too bad, you’re pretty, but you won’t be able to model anymore”. I recovered and continued modeling bikinis and swimwear. The people don’t notice the scar. I believe that defects and traumas are resolved by loving you. And I love myself too much.