Kendall Jenner models sheer lingerie and stockings for 60s-style shoot as she makes her acting debut in short Italian film

Kendall Jenner has become the latest member of the Kardashian family to show an interest in acting, appearing in the style of a 1960s star of Italian cinema in a new short film, La Passeggiata.

Jenner, 30, a successful fashion model, even narrates the film which features as the cover story of the September issue of the film magazine A Rabbit's Foot.

The move is all the more intriguing given Jenner's romance with Australian actor Jacob Elordi – the couple have been dating since this spring and were first spotted together in April. She is currently in Venice for the Film Festival.

Elordi, the star of films including Priscilla and Frankenstein, is Oscar-nominated and in the running to be the next James Bond.

It seems that the whole family is gravitating towards acting, having of course become famous through a number of reality TV series.

Her sister Kylie – a make up tycoon – is dating actor Timothee Chalamet and has appeared as a heightened version of herself in a film, the Charli XCX mockumentary The Moment.

Older sister Kim has appeared in a number of films and a (panned) TV show in which she played a lawyer.

The Kendall Jenner film has been directed and written by A Rabbit's Foot's creative director Fatima Khan and is inspired by the Italian ritual of La Passeggiata, an early evening walk, transposed to Los Angeles, where Jenner lives.

The film borrows from the visual language of 1960s Italian cinema and is an art house meditation on 'looking and being looked at' with Jenner playing an actress at a funeral, walking down the street and at a fashion atelier.

Says writer and director Fatima Khan: 'Kendall has spent almost two decades as one of the most photographed women in the world, so I wanted to play with that reality rather than try to hide it.'

The film ends with Kendall saying: 'Because movement leaves room for mystery.' Khan says 'this really became the thesis of the whole piece, this idea of a gap between being seen and actually being understood.'

In an interview to go with the pictures, Jenner tells the publication: 'Celebrity today feels constant. There's very little space between what's public and what's personal. That is the difference between being looked at and really being understood.

'Obviously being looked at is when someone sees you. Being understood is when someone sees into you – who you are. Being recognised doesn't necessarily mean people actually know who you are, the person. That's a big misconception.'

She adds: 'As an outsider I've always been captivated by cinema. Especially the extraordinary amount of collaboration it takes to create stories that remain with you for a long time. From being a little girl and rushing home to watch movies to how, as someone who hasn't seen them all but is inspired to try.

'I think everyone should watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at least once. And Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson is a film that really stays with me.'

She goes on: 'My internal monologue sometimes sounds like a line from the movies. One is from Moulin Rouge! – the final line spoken by Ewan McGregor's character Christian. 

'The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.' (This is in turn the character quoting from the 1948 song Nature Boy) Another is: 'I'm not lonely. I'm alone.'

'Fame has really taught me to protect and value my privacy. Sometimes I'll take a walk through nature to feel anonymous again. When it comes to the 'gaze' the one I'm really happiest with is my own – I just want to be happy with myself.'

'What do people misunderstand about me? How much time do we have? Short answer: my sensitivity. Life is actually really long – it pays to be kind.

'I tend to be pretty hard on myself. The best piece of advice I received was to allow myself grace through everything that comes in life.'

'We are all just doing our best, having a human experience. Everything is going to land where it's meant to. My loved ones remind me of this constantly.'