Chace Crawford hated being a model.

The Gossip Girl actor says he didn’t enjoy his time in the modeling world, but knows his good looks have helped him in his career.

“I did some catalogue work in Dallas, just to make some extra money. I hate modeling. But I’m not ignorant to the fact that part of the reason why Gossip Girl is poplar and part of the reason why people want to see it is to be like, ‘Oh, novelty boy! Hot boy! Pretty boy!’”

Chace is known for his pretty boy image but admits the constant grooming is hard work: “I have to be completely, impeccably, annoyingly clean shaven.”

The heartthrob also revealed acting was not always his passion. He told WWD, “I wasn’t, like, Johnny Theatre in high school. I was into sports. I was good at math. I was doing photography. I had my hand in a lot of different cliques.”