Archive copy by Jenni Baden Howard

Hitting cinema and television screens from this month, the new advertisement spot, entitled “Bar”, stars Sienna and Austrian model Werner Schreyer - the “face” of Hugo’s male fragrance since it launched 4 years ago.

After extensive casting sessions were held in London, New York and Paris, the ad-makers say that Northamptonshire-born Sienna was picked as much for her personality - ‘she oozes attitude,’ enthuses a Hugo spokesperson - as for her distinctive looks (her mother is English, her father Cuban), which have graced the pages of British, German and Italian Vogue, among other glossies.

‘When I went along to the London audition, I had to stand in front of a camera and tell them straight what I don’t like about commercial perfume campaigns and what I’d like to see in the new one,’ Sienna recalls, taking a break between magazine photo shoots to help promote “Bar” (today, it’s Tatler today, tomorrow GQ). ‘Basically, I said it would be nice to do something that was more about the product than about the idea of trying to become something you’re never going to be, like a 6 foot tall model with 20 foot long legs and the perfect pout. I couldn’t believe it when I got the job and the ad was great fun to shoot. We did the outside scenes and the stills in Cape Town and the bar was actually in Shepperton!’ she laughs.

Bucking the model-turned-actress (MTA) trend, Sienna is an ATM whose star was already on the rise when she fell into modelling 2 years ago after accompanying a friend on a visit to London agency Select and promptly getting snapped up herself. Until then, she had been acting professionally in various films and television dramas, including a British Film Institute short film, The Future Lasts A Long Time, on which she met her boyfriend of 4 years, British actor Nick Moran of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels fame. The two are rumoured to have just got engaged, but Sienna remains sweetly - but resolutely - tight-lipped on the subject. ‘He’s brilliant, he’s my best friend in the whole world,’ she will say, beaming. ‘We just have a great laugh together and everything’s a lot easier for us both when the other half’s around - you know, you’ve got someone on your team.’

The couple have made a total of 3 films together, including The Rules Of Engagement, a British short, and Star Star - a full length independent New York art film made last year. ‘I doubt anyone will ever see it, but we had a laugh, anyway!’ she says.

As one of the hottest couples of the moment, Sienna and Nick are often snapped at the grooviest social gatherings on both sides of the Atlantic. A recent issue of W magazine featured them at the glitzy Los Angeles premiere of Lock, Stock , she in a drop-dead sexy little black dress by British designer Pamela Blundell. ‘Pamela’s fab, she looks like the fifth member of The Corrs!’ Sienna laughs.

While Sienna clearly finds modelling a hoot - ‘It’s great when everyone gets together and comes up with a concept and you can be creative,’ - and is full of enthusiasm for the Hugo Woman contract, acting remains her first love. ‘It always has been, ever since my school drama teacher set me on the path,’ she explains (the Guillory family moved to London when Sienna was two, then to Norfolk when she was 11).

Sienna recently got back from Tunisia, where filming has just finished on The Three Kings, an upcoming action adventure film based on the Nativity in which she appears with Vanessa Redgrave. ‘Working with Vanessa Redgrave was the most amazing, incredible experience, she was very generous as an actress and I learned a lot from her,’ Sienna says. ‘And the Tunisian film crew were great, they were the same crew that did the new Star Wars film and The English Patient. I had a really great time - it was like being on holiday, wandering around the Sahara on a camel and visiting lots of ruins.’

Put on the spot about her beauty secrets, Sienna is stumped for a few moments. ‘I look after myself, drink a lot of water and I like to walk a lot,’ she offers. ‘I think it’s important to have a bit of peace and time to yourself every day.’

Her hair, which is usually blonde, is currently more of dark strawberry blonde after filming in Tunisia. ‘For The Three Kings, it had to be a bit redder,’ she explains. ‘It changes colour every time I do a film but I have this great guy called Rosario who works at a London salon called Hair Expressions who really knows what he’s doing. I’ve been told 80 times that I’ll have to have it all cut off because it’s ruined and then he fixes it. He’s the best hair man in the world.’

Before she does anything else, Sienna is looking forward to having some time to herself. ‘It’s all been a bit “full on” lately and I have to say I find it a bit weird talking about myself,’ she confesses. ‘I’ve got the most fantastic job in the world, but right now I’d like to go home and do my laundry - that kind of thing. But such is life.’