In the trailer for Bella Hadid’s new sci-fi horror TV series, The Beauty, Bella Hadid’s character Ruby smashes a mirror and a chef’s face with a frying pan, then races through Paris on a motorbike, crying tears of blood.
Off-screen, the 29-year-old supermodel has spent years striding down fashion runways, battling health issues, and riding horses, so this tough vulnerability seems to have come naturally to her.
“[The film]is action-packed. It’s fast-paced and it’s dark,” an entertainment industry source told Page Six. “She sets the tone for the show with a bang.”
Plum’s role in The Beauty, co-produced with Ryan Murphy and released on January 21st on FX, HULU and Disney+, marks a new chapter for Hadid. After years of dominating the runway, she seems excited about acting. In 2024, she guest-starred on Yellowstone, playing the trainer girlfriend of the show’s creator Taylor Sheridan. Now she has been given an even bigger role.
“She loves working with creators like Ryan and hopes to continue finding interesting acting projects in TV and film,” an entertainment industry source told Page Six. “She loves being on set. I saw her in ‘Yellowstone,’ but I feel like she took it to another level this time.”
“I want to continue acting after this. This is my dream,” Hadid recently told The Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve brought my artistic side and creativity to my modeling work, but at the end of the day, I love being able to move, and I love movies and acting in general. I love acting because they can be different characters for different people.”
Off-screen, Hadid seems to be thriving in the unlikely role of a modest Texas cowgirl.
In 2023, she met Adan Banuelos, a professional cutting horse trainer and multi-million dollar National Cutting Horse Association jockey, at a horse show. The two bonded over their love of horses and have been together ever since.
“He is one of the most talented horsemen in the business,” a source close to the couple, who lives in suburban Fort Worth, told Page Six. “He has a way with horses that is difficult to explain. Bella has a deep love for horses. They are a wonderful, unexpected pair.”
Hadid, who grew up as a show jumper in Los Angeles, turned his attention to Western horseback riding, particularly the cutting sport in which a horse and rider separate cattle from a herd. She also seems to be enjoying being out of the spotlight and away from the fast-paced lives of New York and Los Angeles.
“Bella is not a very well-known model on the horse cutting circuit. She doesn’t feel like she has to be ‘on,'” a source close to the couple told Page Six.
“Bella couldn’t be more humble and more excited to sit on a show for hours on end,” the source added, noting that she impressed the Texan with her skills in the saddle. “(Kat) is very frustrating. She’s really unique. Her dedication has surprised a lot of people who are new to the industry. She doesn’t do anything by halves.”
She candidly talks about her struggles, giving her followers empathy.
In 2023, she posted on Instagram about her “nearly 15 years of invisible suffering.”
“While I strive to make myself, my family, and those who support me proud, my deterioration over time and work has taken a toll on me in ways I can’t explain. But being that sad and sick was probably the most confusing thing ever. …The universe works in the most painful and beautiful ways, but I have to say, if you’re struggling, it gets better.”
Mr. Banuelos was there for her during some particularly difficult times in her health.
“Adan is a very caring person,” a source said. “They went on many long trail rides when she wasn’t feeling her best.”
Their ranch romance appears to be a marked change from Hadid’s long-running, high-profile, on-again, off-again relationship with musician and actor The Weeknd.
Banuelos is “a breath of fresh air. It’s refreshing not to be in the same crowd to make real connections[outside of Hollywood],” said a source close to the couple.
Hadid has been in the spotlight for most of her life, but she has also publicly battled depression.
“Self-help and mental illness/chemical imbalance is not linear, it’s like a roller coaster of obstacles. … There are ups and downs, left and right,” she wrote on Instagram in 2021. “But know this: There’s always light at the end of the tunnel, and the roller coaster always comes to a complete stop at some point.”
As a teenager, she was the shy equestrian daughter of Yolanda Hadid, the younger sister of popular model Gigi Hadid, and appeared on several seasons of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
She started modeling for herself at the age of 16, when she, her mother, and brother Anwar were all diagnosed with Lyme disease.
This condition plagued this beautiful woman’s life.
Last September, she shared an emotional photo of herself hooked up to an IV and oxygen tube at St. George’s Hospital near Munich, where she had been hospitalized for several weeks receiving treatment for chronic neurological Lyme disease, and apologized to fans for being offline.
“Sorry for being MIA all the time, I love you all,” Hadid wrote in the Instagram caption.
A month later, in October, she strutted back onto the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show runway wearing skimpy lingerie and angel wings.
Although she looked gorgeous as ever, we expressed concern about her emaciated appearance as she appeared to be struggling with the weight of her 50-pound wings.
Hadid looked even more vibrant on the red carpet last Wednesday at the New York Museum of Modern Art’s premiere of The Beauty, which also stars Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher, Jeremy Pope and Rebecca Hall. She arrived last and looked beautiful in a red Schiaparelli dress and radiated positive energy.
“She was the star of the red carpet. The crowd went wild. She stayed late to take selfies with fans and reporters. She had amazing energy,” one attendee enjoying the red carpet told Page Six.
Hadid spoke passionately about the role at the event.
“When I first talked to Ryan, it was really about being able to step outside of my comfort zone. And I said, ‘Ryan, I want you to make me look haggard,’ and I never want to be that girl next door,” Hadid told Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet.
“He pushed me to be a different version of myself, which I always wanted to do. I love the adrenaline. I love the rush of being able to do a stunt. I don’t hurt a fly. That’s the funniest thing. But the stunt team was so amazing,” she added, admitting that she was “nervous” about her performance.
After years of hardship, Hadid is thriving, a source close to the model/actress and Banuelos tells Page Six.
“Lyme disease is an incurable disease and is a constant battle, but she is very happy and as healthy as can be,” a source said.
Page Six has reached out to Hadid for comment.
