(Photo Credit: Thomas Whiteside/ELLE)

Ireland Basinger Baldwin, 17, might be a top model, but it was her mother, Kim Basinger, a former model herself, who had to convince her daughter to try the catwalk.

"She thought it would be good for my confidence," Baldwin told Elle. "Because I never thought of myself as a pretty girl."

Baldwin said in the magazine's September issue, out Aug. 20, that she never wanted to be in the spotlight after watching what her parents, Basinger and Alec Baldwin, went through.

"I would look at [my parents] and go, "Jesus, how miserable is that?"" She said. "I didn't want to be followed."

Read: Ireland Baldwin Blasts Critics' Attacks on Weight, Parents

The 6-foot-2-inch knockout actually admitted she had struggled with eating problems, at times telling herself she'd never eat again because she wasn't happy with her body.

Even though Baldwin has a famous "30 Rock" father and a mother who "looks like she's my age," the up-and-comer has aspirations other than being known for her famous parents.

Related: Alec Baldwin's Most Memorable Rants

"I don't want to forever be known as 'that rude thoughtless little pig' or 'Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger's kid,"" she said. "I have passions and interests of my own that I want to give life to."