Are you a pretty responsible kid?

I'm a pretty independent person.

Are you quite disciplined?

I am. It was my choice to go to a Catholic military high school in order to get a better education, so yes, I'm a very disciplined person.

You are so mature for your age Steven. Your mom must rely heavily on that.

Well she's so great, and I love her so much. She's truly the strongest person I've ever met. So that influence of her independence, a woman who excelled in a male-dominated sport back in the 1970s, that's a great example.

So what was your discussion? Did you come to a set of agreements before you signed with Boss?

She said I could do it, that it was a great opportunity for me, but she wanted me to be prepared as a teenager for a completely adult industry, one that's more adult than the industries most adults work in. And we talked about the fact that there's going to be a lot of drugs and sex and money floating around, and that I'd have to be prepared to deal with that. And I told her I thought I was.

Because you have to choose that for it to affect your life. And not to say that I don't party or anything like that, but you have to think of it as a business. It's not a party. You can have fun doing it, but it is a business. Especially being sixteen, you have to have a way about you that is more mature and more responsible — they're not looking for some teenager to be jumping around the set going "Wowee!"

Do you feel pressure to be older than you are?

No, I've always been a pretty mature person because of where I've grown up. That's sort of helped in the industry as well, because there are so many different types of characters involved in this field.

So how do you deal with it if someone suggests something inappropriate?

That rarely ever happens, especially with the big photographers. You would never get something that unprofessional from the top photographers. But even if you do, there is nothing more precious than your own dignity and that's not worth sacrificing.

You've done so much at such a young age ...

It's all fed by luck.

Certainly luck plays a part, but you've made the most of your opportunities too ...

If there's a door, you have to walk through it, a door isn't going to do anything for you by itself. You have to be willing to take advantage of things when the time comes, and be secure about yourself when you walk through, because if you're not you may well trip and fall.

What was the very first thing that you did after signing with Boss?

Actually the very first day I signed with them they sent me to an A&F casting.

So what did that feel like?

It was pretty cool because I felt like a grownup.

So you're quite comfortable going to castings?

Even from when I was small, I was modeling on my own. My mother worked, so she didn't always have time to go with me, so I just went to the castings by myself.