Linda Evangelista Says She First 'Did Not Want to Do' George Michael's 'Freedom! '90' Music Video

courtesy vogue

Linda Evangelista's iconic '90s music gig wasn't originally part of her plans.

In a new episode of Vogue's Life in Look series published on Thursday, the beloved model broke down her most iconic looks, from editorial beginnings and runway rounds to her iconic feature in George Michael's "Freedom! '90" music video.

The latter was something Evangelista says she wasn't prepared for. "I had just learned the lyrics that morning," the 57-year-old recalled while looking over a still of herself from the video. "I never knew, at that moment, that this would become the phenomenon that it did."

The British Vogue September cover went on to reveal that the former Wham! member convinced her to join the cast, which she originally didn't want to partake in. "George was instrumental in gathering me for the video — the video I did not want to do," she confessed. "But once I was here I had a blast. I would've regretted not doing it."

Evangelista's fellow catwalk superstars Naomi Campbell, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford featured in the 1990s montage as well.

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Evangelista's sartorial throwback video accompanies her British Vogue cover story, out on newsstands on August 23,.

The story details Evangelista's upbringing and her career. She also gets candid about her diagnosis of paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, a result of her Cool Sculpting procedures in 2015 that, according to a post on her Instagram, left her "permanently deformed" and "brutally disfigured."

"If I had known side effects may include losing your livelihood and you'll end up so depressed that you hate yourself…" she told the outlet. "I wouldn't have taken that risk."

She shared a similar sentiment while speaking with PEOPLE for her February cover story. "I loved being up on the catwalk. Now I dread running into someone I know," she revealed. "I can't live like this anymore, in hiding and shame. I just couldn't live in this pain any longer. I'm willing to finally speak."

Steven Meisel

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The 2017 documentary George Michael: Freedom, a film about the late singer's life, also included commentary on the "Freedom!' 90" video from Michael's collaborators and friends.

"George pitched it to me in L.A.," Campbell said in the film. "And his exact words were: 'You're the leader of the gang and unless you say yes, the rest of the girls won't.'"

Crawford revealed her own perspective on set, delving into the secret behind her steamy bathtub scene. "Even though the shot ended up looking like a steamy bath scene there was no water in the scene — I was covered in some kind of glycerin to make my skin shiny, and I thought, 'Well I hope [the video's director David] Fincher knows what he's doing."

RELATED: George Michael's 'Freedom! '90' Music Video Gets Remixed by a New Crop of Supermodels: Watch Now!

In 2020, Vogue put a modern-day spin on the song's fashion-forward theme. Starring Joan Smalls, Adriana Lima, Taylor Hill, Irina Shayk and 12 other top models, the campaign featured the models strutting in New York Fashion Week's latest creations across the Big Apple to Michael's liberating tune.