Watch out world—Ashley Graham is taking over! Although most of the world has gotten to know her as one of many plus sized beauties claiming stake in fashion and a red carpet fixture for major events like the Golden Globes and Oscars, the theater world has recently gotten to know her as the new “Roxie” on the block with Graham’s Broadway debut in the hit musical Chicago. Before the Ambassador Theatre got a good look at its new Roxie Hart, Graham chatted with American theater producer and bona fide style star Jordan Roth during rehearsals to discuss how the opportunity came to be.

JORDAN ROTH: This conversation is such a full circle moment, right? Because a year ago, almost exactly, we happened to be seated next to each other at an Etro dinner in Paris, and you confided in me a secret fantasy to be on Broadway, and now you are sitting in your Broadway theater about to make your Broadway debut.

ASHLEY GRAHAM: God works in mysterious ways! I had been seeing you so much, and we kept having these moments together, and we would take pictures together, but we didn’t get to sit down with each other. Sometimes those dinners are just so awful, and you’re always hoping to sit by somebody great. And I was like, ‘Oh, thank god. I’m going to have some good conversation tonight because we all know Jordan is the epitome of Broadway. I wondered if I say something, it’s either going to go two ways. Either he’s going to roll his eyes and be like, ‘Yeah, get in line, honey.’ Or he’s going to say, ‘Oh yes, call this person.’ And sure enough, when you gave me Liz [Caplan]’s number, and you pushed in the most gentle, sweetest, firmest way your suggestion right away [for me] to be Roxie Hart in Chicago, which didn’t even occur to me [that it could work for me]. Then I called my agent, and I was like, ‘This is what Jordan Roth said. And then my agent was like, ‘Jordan’s right,’ then I started working with Liz—

JR: Liz Caplan, vocal coach extraordinaire, whom we both study with!

AG: She’s incredible, and the thing that I love most about her is that she’s not ever going to change who you are. She’s the type of person who just meets you where you are and enhances, and I really appreciate that about people. I feel like we live in such a society where people want to change you, and they want they want you to conform to the society [norms] that you and I have challenged for the majority of our career and and that’s exactly who Roxie is. She’s never going to let anybody change who she is. So to be able to have Liz work with me through that, and then have the support of someone like you, and then getting the role. I kept saying no to the audition. I said no for a long time, and then finally I said, ‘I think I’m ready,’ and I went in, and I had so much fun. I felt like I bombed my monologue, but they said that I didn’t, and they just offered it to me on the spot.

Gold bottle cap bikini set INSTINCT BRAND by Anna Molinari / Shoes JIMMY CHOO

JR: It seems to me that you didn’t! What made you feel like you were ready?

AG: Well, I actually kept making excuses for myself, right? I’ve got three little kids, I’m building three businesses simultaneously from the ground up, which sounds insane. I travel all the time. That’s who I am. I don’t have time to go be on Broadway. You know, that’s too fun, I was looking at it like that. And then I said to myself, When am I going to have the energy to do this? in my 50s or my 60s? Maybe, maybe not. I should do this now. If I don’t do this now, I’m not going to know what’s on the other side of this. This process has brought up a bubble of [creativity] that I think has been wanting to come out, that has not been able to. A picture can tell a million stories, but when you’re live in front of an audience, which, by the way, I still have yet to do—there’s a whole other process that you get to tell a story through, with the discovery that you have found in this character. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Roxie and her quirkiness and her pride and her ego and narcissism, but the softness of her that only maybe she knows, and that you see tiny bits of, but that part has been incredible. I’m so glad that I finally said yes. Did I feel ready when I said yes? No, definitely not. My hopes were high. But I also thought in the back of my head, ‘If I don’t get it, it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. But sure enough, Barry offered it to me right on the spot.

JR: Barry Weissler, legendary producer of Chicago.

AG: Funny enough, he and the team stepped out of the room to have a little talk. Came back in and said, ‘All right, you ready to go to Broadway?’ And I was like, ‘Wait, is this my official offer?’

JR: That’s pretty much the offer. I’m so interested in you getting to know Roxie. You talk about her so beautifully and movingly. What has she taught you about yourself so far?

AG: The thing that I have taken in and said, ‘Oh, I have that in me, and I want to continue to hold on to that,’ is that she never walks into a room with a victim mentality. I love that about her; she realizes that there’s still so much more opportunity [after being faced with many no’s in life]. And for me, it’s a good reminder that even in the hard times, remember that on the other side of this is victory.

JR: You also talked about how the difference between modeling fashion editorial and live, but it feels like there’s so much of your work in fashion that can inform your work on stage. How are you unpacking that?

AG: I just had my second fitting today for all my outfits, which has been so fun. The way that you have to think about theater and how real it is versus in fashion, where you can fake stuff for a photo shoot. But this—the craftsmanship that’s going into it—is really great, I have to say. They really allowed me to look at laces and talk about darts and being a curvier woman in this role. So, backing up—normally, it would be, “Oh, we already have the Roxie outfits,” and it’s been passed down. But because I’m not the normal size Roxie or dancer or whatever, everything’s brand new, custom-made for me. So I get to have a lot of say in neckline and sleeve length and where my darts are and how I want the jacket to fit. And having the expertise of so many looks being made for me, I really got to bring that to life here. I think they were impressed with how much I knew about the craftsmanship of it all. Just going back to the 1940s and thinking—wow, who Roxie was, how she dressed—it was really risqué. But also knowing, and from what I’ve been hearing, Ann Reinking always said: there’s a line. It’s not trashy. It’s just on the line.

JR: So you have been literally in Broadway boot camp the last couple of months. Vocal coaching, dance rehearsal, staging, scene work. Which is harder, my love: Broadway or fashion?

AG: Broadway, hands down. I mean, is it a lot of work to change clothes and travel and deal with the politics of fashion, and being away from our families? Yes, all of that is difficult. But the thing about Broadway is you see everything. You have to emote this character, embody them, and make them feel fresh and new—be excited constantly. That’s the exciting and challenging part. It’s been a wild ride, and I’m so grateful I already live in New York, so I don’t have to be away from my family. I’m still able to have breakfast with my kids and put them down for bed. But yeah, this has been an incredibly grueling, boot-camp-like experience—for the best reasons possible. And I did, two days ago, break down and just start crying hysterically.

JR: It’s working.

AG: What the guys said! They were like, “Good. This is good.” I did the monologue and I knew it was bad. They gave me notes and I said, “I’m not ready. I only have two weeks left. What am I doing here? Why did you pick me?” And then the next day, I had a breakthrough. I found myself. That’s another thing—I have to remember to let the stress out. Because if I don’t, it’s only going to hurt me when I need to be creative.

JR: That’s exactly it. These are life lessons. It’s extraordinary how much we learn about how to live our normal lives by being in a heightened, performative space.

AG: Yes, and it’s hard to be vulnerable. It really is. Even watching Roxie—she has such a hard time being vulnerable, but she has that moment where she talks about Amos, what he means to her, how when she looks at him, she’s a kid again. She has this reverence for the love he’s given her, and then she quickly shakes it off. I have those issues too. Working on them.

Ashley wears chainmail dress with hood OCEAN SAVAGE / Mega Balorama sunglasses RAY-BAN

JR: That’s so interesting. I feel like we’ll need to do a postscript at the end of your run. That may shift in you. You may feel, who is Ashley post-Roxie, and how do you live in that skin a little differently?

AG: I can’t wait for that, actually. That’s so great.

JR: All right, so we’re going to do a second V cover, a follow-up. We’ll get a second interview.

AG: Perfect. Done and done. And we can do the cover together.

JR: Were you always aware of Broadway early on, or was it something that bubbled up later in life?

AG: The first Broadway show I ever saw was Les Mis. I was in middle school. My mom and dad took me—it was during one of my first modeling jobs in New York City—and they were like, “We have to go see a Broadway show.” So we went to Les Mis. I remember being so riveted. Being in middle school in Nebraska, you know that art exists, but not to that degree. The next shows we saw were Avenue Q, then Rent, Cats, all the greats. I even saw Legally Blonde on Broadway. It was so fun. I’ve always known there’s a performer in me. I’ve used that in my modeling. But because I’ve never been trained as an actor, dancer, or singer, I put a wall up. I thought, “That can’t be one of my dreams. I didn’t go to school for it. I didn’t do the proper roadblocks to get there.” So I just said, “I’m a model with charisma.” Sure, I’ve had my own TV shows, I host, I do all that. I wouldn’t say I’ve mastered it, but when you write something on your vision board and it comes to life… it’s not everything I’ve written down, but the biggest stuff I’ve written down has happened. This happened to me in 2019, at the start of the year. My husband and I always write on big yellow pads, and one of the last things I wrote was “sing on Broadway.” I didn’t know why I wrote it, but I was ready for something new and challenging. That was 2019. Here we are in 2025—three kids and a changed world later—and you have to be careful what you ask for. When I’ve seen live shows, I could always imagine myself up there. I could see that I could do it. It was just the how. And I didn’t understand the how until this last year.

JR: So what do you know now about the how?

AG: One of the biggest things I’ve learned is you have to ask for what you want. That brings me back to us sitting at your dinner table, just planting a tiny seed—not knowing what it would do—and watching it blossom. Sometimes we want to keep things to ourselves, or we’re afraid of oversharing. It’s about finding that middle ground—who’s the right person to ask for help? Who’s the right person to share your hopes, dreams, and desires with? And also, what’s truly for you?

JR: That’s so moving and so true. The care and feeding of dreams.

AG: Yes, care and feeding.

JR: I’ve heard you say multiple times, “I am bold, I am brilliant, I am beautiful” as a mantra. Have those words evolved in meaning over time?

AG: They have. Those words were the baseline for getting out of my shell in fashion—for years of being told I was too big, too small, too loud, too quiet. I still go back to them. “Bold” is making bold moves, stepping out, saying, “Hey Jordan, how do you get on Broadway?”. “Brilliant” is about challenging myself. I was diagnosed with ADD and dyslexia, and I needed to prove to myself that I was more than that. That brilliance is about how I keep my brain from spiraling into anxiety. “Beautiful” is about how my body has changed after having kids, through aging—resisting the pressure to go under the knife just to keep up in fashion. It’s about being okay with who I am at every stage. Maturity has deepened those affirmations. I always tell people: I know it feels weird, and Instagram has maybe overdone it, but having your words—your mantra—and saying it in the mirror really makes a difference.

JR: What will be the words you say to yourself in the dressing room mirror before going on stage?

AG: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13. It’s real for me. Not to get religious, but it’s that feeling of knowing something so deeply—knowing, “I was made for this. I was built for this. I worked hard for this.” And around that: “You were chosen for this. You earned this. This is yours.” That matters.

JR: Vital. You’ve described it as “talking life into your body.” How does that work?

AG: Quick example: you know when people come up and say, “I’m dead”? I always say, “No, honey, you are living.” It’s those little words that dictate everything about your future—your body, your space. I always ask myself, “How am I speaking about myself? How am I speaking to myself and about others?” It’s a constant reminder to be uplifting, because if I’m uplifting to myself, it’s easier to be that for others—my husband, my kids.

JR: That reminds me—my husband and I used to talk to our kids about not hurting their own feelings. We’re raised to think someone else hurts your feelings, but really, we do it to ourselves most often.

AG: That’s so true. You guys sound like such great parents.

JR: Yeah, we are.

AG: He said, “I don’t need to speak it. I know it.”

JR: My husband always says, “That’s some good gay parenting right there.” So we were talking about the great Liz Kaplan, our shared vocal coach. She sent in some special guest questions—not about voice or tongue exercises—but how do you stay so grounded and in joy, no matter the project?

AG: That’s a good question. If I’m not enjoying it, then it’s not the right project. I know I’ve been given this one life, and I want to live it with purpose and drive. I want to be a continued inspiration to anyone who cares. If I’m not walking into a room with a smile—even if it’s not real—I’m still impacting the people around me. Glass half full, always. There’s a joyful moment in every day, even on your worst day. It’s a daily choice, but not a hard one for me.

JR: You slay like a mother and still radiate joy. In fashion, you usually see either the slayers or the joy-bringers. But to be a joyful slayer?

AG: Unique. That’s going to be my new Instagram handle: joyful slayer.

JR: Joyful slayer! Let’s get to the cover.

AG: Let’s do it. All my people are staring at me now.

JR: What are your top three golden rules of life?

AG: One: treat people with kindness—no matter who they are or where they come from. Two: finish what you start, and do it with determination—don’t do it half-assed. Three: especially for parents—if I’m healthy, I can make healthy choices for my kids. When I pour into myself, I’m a better mom, artist, businesswoman—everything.

JR: Those are very golden. Now, this isn’t your first [editorial moment] with V Magazine.

AG: No! I can’t believe Stephen [Gan] gave me that crazy story with Steven Klein as my first. Insane. Still one of my favorites. We still talk about it—how it felt, how Klein was to work with. I was in the window of The Standard. I did what everyone wants to do but doesn’t—flashed the world. That’s why he calls me Flashy. Flashy Ashley.

JR: Flashy Ashley is so Roxie Hart.

AG: Exactly!

JR: Flashy Ashley Hart.

AG: Fabulous. I can’t wait to see you. Thank you for coming to opening night.

JR: I cannot wait. I’m singing it in my head already. So: that Klein shoot, the Mario Sorrenti one… how did those high-fashion editorials propel you into this next chapter?

AG: That Klein shoot had people seeing me differently. My eyebrows were gone, I had Elvira hair, painted face, weird clothes. Going from catalog girl to sexy and editorial—it’s rare. I still thank Steven for that. It showed my versatility. He took a risk. And I think a lot of curvy girls haven’t gotten that chance to be high-end, edgy, editorial—even though we have it in us. Just because we have extra meat on our bones doesn’t mean we aren’t cutting edge. That made a real difference.

JR: How are people going to see you after this cover?

AG: First thing I get is, “You can sing?”

JR: Yes, bitch, she can sing. That’s the T-shirt I’m getting you for opening night.

AG: Exactly! I’m so excited. It’s going to be wild.

This cover story appears in the pages of V154: now available for purchase!

Photography Lufré

Fashion Nicola Formichetti

Hair + Makeup Claudio Belizario (Call My Agent) using Kerastase and Charlotte Tilbury

Manicure Danielle Costa Pinheiro da Cruz 

Set design Jean Labanca Production Litmedia Productions 

Executive producer Sharon Battat 

Production manager Zoë Turjacanin 

Retouching Teu Freitas / Telhas Retouch (M.Lages) 

Lighting director Gabriel Gimines 

Stylist assistants Rapha Mendonça, Aline Swoboda Tailor Salvadora Nascimento 

Hair + Makeup Assistants Fabio Mauricio, Helo Coutinho

Set design assistants Ricardo Kranen Pinheiro da Silva, Jefferson Henrique Cunha, Giovanna Lima da Silveira, Guilherme Higa 

Studio Estudio do Cais 

Video João Luis Freitas de Almeida, Matheus Menegoi