Hamptons Neighbor: Actress Molly Sims
Can you say Molly Sims without saying $30 million dollar bikini? The former “Las Vegas” star, new mom of Brooks Alan Stuber, and owner of a Wainscott waterview home, is known to many for barely wearing a $30 million diamond bikini in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The outspoken Kentuckian has never had a problem being frank about the topic in an interview. “Honey, when they pulled those three pieces out of the box, I went into hot sweats! Of course, it barely covered me!” she commented on trendhunter.com. The bikini, all 150 sparkly karats of it, essentially looks like two earrings and a pendant.
The Bluegrass State seems to be a fertile ground for the famous. Sims, born in Murray, Kentucky shares her home state with celebrities such as Johnny Depp, George Clooney, and Hunger Games stars Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence. Sims is the youngest of two, and enjoyed a fairly normal high school career, graduating and heading off to college at prestigious Vanderbilt University. Her original intention was a career in law, but higher education wasn’t in Sims’ future for long. The former Delta Delta Delta sorority girl left Vanderbilt at the age of 19 to begin a career in modeling, signing with Next Models. According to Chickapedia (which is Wikipedia for those with an overabundance of testosterone) this was a career move celebrated by men everywhere as Sims joined the ranks of tall blonde sexy college dropouts.
Just a few years later, Sims hit the public eye in a big way, splashed across the pages of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition of 1999.
Somehow, Sims managed to project that blend of model sexiness and All-American girl who would actually talk to you at a party. Old Navy picked up on Sims’ ability to be simultaneously likable and gorgeous and tapped her to appear in a series of TV spots. Sims touted the virtues of various wardrobe staples, miniskirts, track jackets, jeans, ending with the tagline “You gotta get this look!” in the tone of voice of a girlfriend tagging along on a mall outing.
About the same time Sims was singing the budget-friendly praises of Old Navy togs, she was also hosting MTV’s “House of Style” stepping into the peep toe pumps of original host Cindy Crawford. “House of Style,” hit the air in ’89, a fashion news show at the very forefront of reality TV. Yes, in the days before “Survivor” and “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” getting a look at the lives of supermodels, from backstage chaos to eating disorders, was a groundbreaking move for MTV. Supermodels were just starting to become super-personalities, and Sims got a chance to surf that wave into a number of other television appearances, notably a leading role in “Las Vegas,” an NBC drama about the fictitious Montecito Resort and Casino.
In “Las Vegas,” Sims played Delinda Deline, the beautiful, brainy daughter of James Caan’s character, Ed Deline, head of operations at Montecito. In contrast to the comings and goings of other female cast members, Sims’ Delinda was front and center for all five seasons of “Las Vegas,” using the show’s hiatus to appear in a number of films such as Yes Man, playing Jim Carrey’s ex. Most recently, Sims did a turn on “Royal Pains,” the medical drama set right here on the East End, showing off her acting chops as a wheelchair-bound fashion consultant with a mysterious ailment.
Reality fans have probably caught Sims on “The Rachel Zoe Project,” and “Project Accessory,” a “Project Runway” spinoff. One of Sims’ pieces of advice for aspiring models is to spend more of their fashionista budget on accessories than costly wardrobe pieces. Two years ago, Sims launched her own jewelry line, Grayce by Molly Sims, crediting her love of jewelry to her mom’s sharing her “passion for estate auctions, flea markets and consignment stores…I would work my outfits around my jewelry pieces.”
In September 2011, Sims walked down the aisle with Scott Stuber, producer of such hits as Couples Retreat and Ted, in a Napa Valley wedding attended by friends and many of her “Las Vegas” co-stars. Always a stylista, Sims decided to dress her bridesmaids in mismatched but coordinated dresses designed by Elizabeth Kennedy, an idea that bridesmaids everywhere probably applauded like mad. This past June, Sims and Stuber welcomed Brooks Alan Stuber into their lives, and in her usual style, Sims was honest about the joys of motherhood and the trials of shedding 50 pounds of baby weight. Working out with celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson, whose clients include Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow helps, but Sims admitted on “The Today Show” that, “the pressure is part of the problem because we feel like we need to look like a 20-year-old or someone in a magazine who just stepped out three weeks later and…it’s not realistic.”
Even before momhood, the star was involved with charities that benefit children.
Population Services International Five and Alive program addresses the health needs of children five and under. Sims also participates in Operation Smile, and she has held fundraisers for baby2baby, an Los Angeles charity that brings gently used baby gear to families in need. At a recent event for the charity, Sims helped pass out hundreds of thousands of Huggies at the “Every Little Bottom: Diapers and Donuts” event.
No stranger to the Hamptons, Sims bought a modest home in the East End years ago, but now that baby Brooks has made his debut, Sims and her producer husband have purchased a $5 million Wainscott home with a professional chef’s kitchen and a wine cellar. Despite all these accoutrements of fame, Sims remains a down home Kentucky girl with strong family ties. As she told brainyquote.com, “My mom still FedExes me a red velvet cake she makes from scratch every birthday!”