by Sherif Awad
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| © Natalias Pictures |
She is an award-winning actress who lead the series WHISPER NAKED SHADOW (by Nora K)
that has been competing in the Official Selection of nine festivals so far. The series has also received 21 nominations and won four awards and one honorable mention. Last month, Anna won an award as Best Actress at the Seoul WebFest, South Korea and Best Actress in a comedy” in New Jersey USA “New Jersey Web Fest” .
For www.MeetingVenus.com, Anne-Lucie says:
-Well, my mother was an academic painter and my grandfather and father were both directors. And so, I grew up in an artistic environment – even though my parents have been divorced for many years. I would say that this is the reason why I have artistic abilities and interests in performing and creative work rather than for example mathematics or economics.
Actually, for as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed performing. Even when little, I used to put on costumes and perform for my parents and neighbors. It may have been some sort of escape from reality, but I really enjoyed it.
-When I was growing up the TV media market was changing rapidly in my country and suddenly we had access to everything including Disney Channel. So my favourite characters were all Disney princesses like Ariel from THE LITTLE MERMAID or CINDERELLA. Then my teenage years were more about love stories and eventually sitcoms like THE BIG BANG THEORY. Now, my favorite actress is Natalie Portman in BLACK SWAN. She gave a really powerful performance.
-I can’t forget Jake Gyllenhaal. I had the pleasure to see him in SEA WALL / A LIFE on Broadway, and his acting was amazing. It was a two person play with him holding the stage alone for 45 minutes and as an actor I know that’s hard to do. I was noticing all the amazing physical as well as emotional acting that went into it and I have the utmost admiration for him and also for Joaquin Phoenix who showcases his abilities in many movies, most recently in the JOKER. His acting is amazing and he pulled off a character study of insanity so well in it.
-Acting school is a really great start. Anyway, acting has to be in your blood and soul. Many actors are motivated by fame and money but it is actually a really hard work to get noticed and have a steady acting career. You never know what work will or will not come your way and that can be very stressful Believe in yourself, work hard, accept criticism, but be able to recognize a hater from someone who wants to give you constructive feedback.
-Every successful person has goals. Once you reach them you naturally set a new goal and your journey continues until you reach the goal, be it stardom or anything else. Getting recognized at an international event and winning awards for my acting were some of my goals. Achieving them in Seoul and New Jersey was a dream come true but also the result of the very hard work. I think it has been a very rewarding experience for all of us who have contributed to Whisper Naked Shdow, the we series I won for, and we all put our heart and soul into it. And when you do that – put your heart and soul into something – I think you can never really go too wrong. But I also want to mention how unbelievably rewarding are the friendships that have started among the creators that we met at the festivals. Where you respect and admire them, both for what they do and who they are as people to the point that you genuinely root for them even when they are your potential competitors.
-I think there are certain expectations placed on women that men may not deal with as much. Especially around looking forever young. And the externally imposed importance of attractive looks of a female performing artist is something that can feel really overwhelming. And then when you do work on your look and showcase it you are often faced with a lot of prejudice like you must also be a shallow, simple or catty person automatically.
– In the Czech Republic, probably like in most smaller countries in Europe, especially those where local language is spoken and not understood anywhere else, there are some limitations arising out of it. And it reflects mostly on TV I think. Local TV original content seems to become more of a hobby for older generation, who are used to watching the standard TV formats, in the local language, or reruns of older shows. Because thats what they grew up on perhaps? Younger generations are used to having more control over what content they want to consume. They also speak more foreign languages and have been exposed to the seemingly endless content from all over the world as they were growing up, so they naturally follow more internet based content where they can choose often from more original concepts.
– You don’t have much of a choice at the beginning when it comes to new roles. The more work you do, the more contacts you make and the more experienced you get and as a result better offers come. For me, I think the most important quality to hold on to is to be humble. When I am fortunate enough to get to choose from multiple projects I like to spend more time with the screenplay I need to feel like I love the story and I also think about the impact of the whole project on society and consider who else is in involved.
-There are fewer and fewer borders between private and personal. The social media provide a window into our lives constantly. Every day we post what we do, what we eat, where we are. It has a dark side, there is no more privacy. But in my profession I find it that performing artists really do have to promote themselves in order to be successful. Not being on social media these days would make it much more difficult to connect with the audience, to help promote your projects and be visible.
-Currently I finished filming the second season of WHISPER NAKED SHADOW and look forward to shooting the third season next year. I also have a role of a “cult leader of ghosts” in an upcoming project called PERFECTION UNPLANNED”, that’s a really fun part. And a small part in a web series called NEW GOLD that is being filmed right now.
