Kate Upton Covers Vanity Fair 100th Issue: Sports Illustrated Model Poses as Marilyn Monroe

American model/actress Kate Upton poses as Marilyn Monroe on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine's 100th anniversary issue.

In the shot taken by famous photographer Annie Leibovitz, the 21-year-old shows off her curves in a gold, one-piece silk swimsuit and blows out a candle to wish the magazine a happy birthday.

Upton made her first Sports Illustrated appearance in 2011, when she was named the magazine's Rookie of the Year. The following year, she appeared on the cover issue of the Swimsuit edition.

"I'm not going to name names, but one agency told me, 'You're too American, and everybody knows American women are lazy.' I was so offended! I've never been so offended! I was like, 'You know that you're in America, right?' And it wasn't 'American models'-it was 'American women are lazy,' period! I feel like a lot of women would disagree with that. A lot!" Upton, who was recently named the Model of the Year, revealed to the magazine.

Within the magazine, Upton is pictured lounging on the moon, a pose inspired from the original cover of Dress & Vanity Fair from 1 October 1913.

"In an age when nothing seems to last-not convictions, not even cities-a centennial, like the one Vanity Fair celebrates this year, makes me marvel at the simple fact of longevity," Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter notes.

"Magazines have 'bones'-the unchanging elements that give structure to creativity-as surely as gardens and houses do," Carter added, "Today's magazine is different in countless ways from yesterday's-as even the briefest excursion through this issue will show. But I like to think that if [Vanity Fair's first editor] Frank Crowninshield...could see the modern Vanity Fair, stripped of its logo and other identifying marks, he'd know in an instant what he held in his hands."