EXCLUSIVE | Sherlyn Chopra: I found Hugh Hefner to be a charming gentleman

Sherlyn Chopra is the only India woman to have appeared on the cover of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine.

Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy, passed away on Wednesday. He was 91.

Actor Sherlyn Chopra, who is the only India woman to have appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine, took to Twitter to condole Hefner’s death. She tweeted: “RIP #hughhefner #trailblazer.” We got in touch with Sherlyn to understand her rapport with late Hugh Hefner and how her experience was at the Playboy magazine shoot back in 2012.

Q. You are the only Indian woman to have appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine. Today on the demise of Hugh Hefner, what would you like to say?

Hugh Hefner was a trailblazer. He followed his bliss and his bliss lead him to a billion-dollar fortune.

Q. What was the experience like while you were there shooting for the Playboy cover?

My Playboy cover shoot experience was nothing short of a paid luxury vacation. I was pampered silly by Hugh Hefner’s staff and crew which made my cover shoot experience highly memorable. Barring the photographer, everybody in the team that did my cover shoot was young women with a mind of their own. They were well trained to think independently. None of them looked at me as an object or a thing but as a spiritual being in a beautiful, exotic body. It’s that paradigm that made it very comfortable for me to unleash my sexuality.

Q. Describe Hugh Hefner’s personality.

I found Hugh Hefner to be a charming gentleman. It is no secret that he lead a life that was flamboyant, bold, outrageous and supposedly controversial. It should also remain no secret that he was passionate about creating an empire not by conforming to the dogma set by the self-proclaimed guardians of the society but by acting on his highest excitement not just occasionally but consistently with an unequivocal zest for growth and expansion.