Your new movie Black Wake
- in a few words, what is it about, and what can you tell us about your
character in it?
From my personal point of view, Black
Wake really is a mix of Dr. Luiza and our monster.
On one hand, Black
Wake is about the story of an Ancient Being that
ended up falling to earth by accident thousands or maybe even millions
of years ago; obviously it's causing lots of trouble for humanity; and
on the other hand, Dr. Luiza's loneliness and confusion about her family
and her work to find a solution for all the madness that's happening
around the world. In my heart, I feel like our Ancient Being and
Dr.Luiza share this feeling of loneliness, while they need to keep
fighting in order to be able to do what they want the most.
What did you draw upon to bring your character to life, and how
much Nana Gouvea can we find in Luiza? When I study a
character in any project my intention is to bring that person to life. I
don't always relate personally to the characters I play and I never judge
what those characters do in their stories, I lend myself to the character
so that the character can tell their stories through me. I actually did
some research about scientists and doctors but in the end I decided to
give to Dr. Luiza a complete different direction, Dr.Luiza is woman in a
man's world, she is lonely, extremely intelligent and capable, she is very
intuitive, she is unstoppable and the most important of all, she is a
mother and wife! She needs to go back to her family. Oh wow, I love Luiza,
I would love to have 10% of her courage and personality.
To what extent
could you identify with Black
Wake's horror theme, is that a genre you can at all relate to? I
always loved horror, sci-fi and fantasy movies. Love monsters and aliens
and zombies! I really enjoy all that. How
did you get involved with the project in the first place?
Summing
up, I met Jeremiah Kipp [Jeremiah
Kipp interview - click here] in an audition here in New York and since
then I was really looking forward to working with him, I loved his
honesty and pure heart at that very moment.
Jeremiah
had the first version of the script for Black
Wake and after he met with
the
producer Carlos Keyes, they started working on the movie and I was
immediately cast as Dr. Luiza. I've been part of this whole project
since the beginning.
What
can you tell us about your director Jeremiah Kipp [Jeremiah
Kipp interview - click here], and what was your collaboration
like? As said before, Jeremiah is a honest person with a
pure heart, he is as honest as a child and that alone makes our work definitely
easier. He always knows what he wants from the actors and from the
scenes. He is so sweet and direct! Working with Jeremiah is not only a
pleasure, but an honor. I hope to do many other projects with him.
Hailing from Brazil, Black
Wake was to my knowlege only your second movie shot in the USA -
so how does making movies in Brazil compare to shooting in the US?
Everything is different. In Brazil I used to work for the biggest
television network (TV Globo) and it's a cultural thing in there that we
do novelas. I actually did dozens of novelas and TV series in Brazil,
not movies. Each novela takes more than an entire year of the actors'
lives. We shoot every day on a very very tight schedule, we have to
deliver a full episode a day, so as an actor we feel like we are always
in a hurry and under pressure, especially because of the budget. It's a
lot of money at stake and everything needs to be perfect
"now". There is no place for mistakes, improvisation,
reshooting, ADR, nothing like that. Everything is done exactly like what
is in the script.
In USA, I did already 2 TV series (Otona no Kiso Eigo 2017 and 2018,
shot in New York for NHK Japan and The Fever also 2017 and 2018,
available on Amazon Video, also shot in New York) and I have worked in 3
movies until now including Black
Wake (the other ones would be Blood Circus, released, and Linea
de Sangre, in post production). What I like
the most about doing movies and TV series in the USA is that we have a
little more time to prepare, sometimes even reshoot and do ADR. Not
mentioning that I really love the opportunity to explore a different
culture but still keep doing what I love, which is acting.
Do
talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere! Oh
man! It was awesome, such a friendly and creative environment! I already
miss everybody! I can't wait to see everyone again at the premiere here in
New York, February 24th. Any
future projects you'd like to share? Yes, luckily I have
some future projects that I can talk about. Carlos Keyes, Tom Sizemore and
I are in pre-production for our next feature film, a thriller named
Killer Response. Also, I have been promoted to lead for season 4 and 5 of the TV
series The Fever, witch I start shooting
this February. As far as I know
you came to acting via a modeling career - so do talk about that part of
your career for a bit, and how did modeling prepare you for acting
actually?
I was a model from 10 years old to 19 when I got
accepted into college for Formacao de Atores (Actors
Formation) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During the classes my own
teachers started offering me parts in their projects. A few years later,
I was working a lot as an actress for TV Globo (the biggest
Brazilian Network) but still I wanted to study a bit more so I
got
into "Cinema (Films)" in another college, also in
Rio.
In New York I studied Meisner Technique at
Esper Studios with Terry Knickerbocker and I take classes for breath
control, voice and accent reduction at Voice, Speech &
Melt with Gail Bell. So, I
would not say that my modeling work prepared me for acting, not
that it didn't help but I actually studied acting
quite a bit and I still keep preparing myself for the work with
Gail Bell, who became my personal
coach and mentor for the last 5 years.
How would you describe yourself as an
actress, and some of your techniques to bring your characters to life?
I would say that I use a mix of everything I studied and found that to
be really useful for me on set. Sometimes I use a bit of Stanislavski,
sometimes Strasberg,
sometimes Meisner, but most of the time I just follow my
intuition and trust my gut and try not be locked inside rules. I
prefer I let it happen and be present in the moment.
I
read an interview that Jeremiah gave to you [click here]
where he says that I'm
a "method" actress, lol. I think that sometimes... I agree.
LOLOL!
Actresses
(and indeed actors) who inspire you? Uh... So many! Meryl
Streep, Penelope Cruz, Al Pacino, Cate Blanchett, Tom Sizemore, Jonny
Beauchamp, Jonny Depp, Viola Davis, Eva Green and list list would go
long!!! Your favourite
movies?
I have no idea! Oh my God there is so much good material out there! It
makes me crazy to have to choose only a few. Sorry!!!
But, ok... I would say that I'm obsessed about Game of
Thrones. It's not a movie... but its great, isn't it?
... and of course, films you really deplore? I
learned when I was child, never talk bad about anybody or anything ;) Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
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http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1058425/
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Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
No dear Mike,
Thank you so much for your time and for the opportunity.
God bless you and all your readers. Xoxo
Thanks
for the interview!
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