SI Swimsuit Legend Brooklyn Decker on How the Brand Launched Her Career

The eight-time franchise model starred on the cover of the 2010 issue.

Brooklyn Decker was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Brand stalwart Brooklyn Decker is forever grateful for SI Swimsuit, and we’re equally thankful for the legend. The 37-year-old model recently gushed about how her first time posing for the brand in 2006 really launched her career, and it skyrocketed after she graced the front of the 2010 issue.

The Just Go With It star, who has been photographed for the issue eight separate years now, returned to the fold for this year‘s 60th anniversary issue, posing for photographer Yu Tsai in Florida alongside 26 other incredible franchise icons.

“My career arc is an unusual one. So I started out modeling. I was living in Matthews, North Carolina. I had never been to New York. I had never been on an airplane. My first international flight using a passport was for Sports Illustrated to go to Columbia to shoot in Cartagena for my first issue,” she shared while on set earlier this spring. “I started out as this very green, very new, very naive young woman who loved sports. And they said, ‘Let’s put you on si.com,’ and .com video footage was semi-new at that time. [That opportunity] got me my first agent, [who is] still my agent. [It got me] my first pilot for NBC. My husband found me through She Says, Z Says on si.com and that quickly turned into an acting career thanks to Sports Illustrated.”

Brooklyn Decker was photographed by Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla. Dress by Fjolla Haxhismajli. Shoes by Black Suede Studio. Jewelry by Charlie Lapson and Sterling Forever. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Decker, who is the former cofounder of digital wardrobe service Finery, and her husband, retired professional tennis player Andy Roddick, tied the knot in 2009. Today, the couple have two kids, Stevie and Hank.

“I’ve been [acting] for many, many years, which then led me to have access to capital where I could invest in women, which is the ethos of the Sports Illustrated [Swimsuit] brand,” she continued. “[Now] I’m an angel investor and sold my own business. So when I say it was really the launchpad for my entire career and life, it is so true.”

Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated