Wallis Day felt she had to "prove" that she wasn't "getting an easy ride" because of her "pretty face".
The 'Batwoman' star was just 13 when she became a model and says starting out at a young age in the industry "taught" her "self-worth beyond appearances".
She told HELLO! Fashion magazine: "Starting so young in the modelling industry definitely made me more aware of how other people perceive beauty.
"It taught me to have resilience and self-worth beyond appearances.
"I've learned to ground myself in who I am and not just what I look like, for sure."
Wallis faced her fair share of "haters" still being at school when she embarked on a modelling career.
She said: "It's a tough one, because I was in school.
"While my close friends were really supportive of it, there were hates in school.
"They were really mean and laughed at the fact I wanted to act and model. Not everybody was supportive.
"I would be in town and I would see a big poster of me on the Adidas store and I would try to get my friends to turn the other way because I was embarrassed about it."
And when it came to being an actress, the 'Sex/Life' star felt she needed to go for "more complex roles" to avoid being "typecast" as the "girl next door".
She said: "As I came from a modelling background, I felt that I needed to prove that I wasn't getting an easy ride because I was a pretty face'.
"I purposely made a choice to take on more complex roles and not settle for the girl-next-door roles as people often assume that being conventionally attractive makes things easier. In some ways, I feel like I've had to work harder to break free from being typecast."
Wallis compared cutting off her locks for a pixie do to “shedding expectations”.
She said: "Cutting my hair symbolised shedding expectations. It felt empowering."
