Welcome to InSTYLE Moldova, tell us what’s the most interesting thing in your profession?

That everything is backwards on our end. I love the insand-outs of making tv and film more than watching them. It’s like many, many people are in a grand relay race every day, and the actor is a tiny part of that. I love seeing how it comes together, how a scary scene was the opposite in person, or how an intimate moment on screen was really shared between a minimum of 40-50 other people that day. Living on the reality side of the illusion is fascinating. But the most interesting things to me about my profession are in the minutia — being on and around set, I love getting to know the crew, I like bumping people I know from other projects, finding out what was shot yesterday and being shot tomorrow.

Tell us about your incredible shoot for Instyle in New York.

Working with both with Yevhen and Dosha was amazing. They’re so skilled at their crafts and brilliant. We started at my apartment’s rooftop and worked our way around my neighborhood. The last shot of the day was with the steam in front of Bergdorf Goodman on 5th Avenue — it was like an extra heater for the chilly day! The stylist Danielle is a long-time friend — she’s worked for Tom Ford, Revolve, Victoria’s Secret and her client list is crazy impressive. She picked some archival pieces from Dolce and Gabanna, Dior, Bottega Veneta, Calvin Klein, Tom Ford for Gucci…like a divine vintage fantasy. I would keep the Dior dress forever if I could!

You’re an actress and model — what inspires you the most?

Everything that’s most powerful connects to our own experiences. There’s a great Jack Kerouac quote, “A scene should be selected by the writer for haunted-nessof-mind interest. If you’re not haunted by something, as by a dream, a vision, or memory that are involuntary, you’re not interested or even involved.” The creative power of this work is to take something — maybe a misunderstanding, an event, a situation you couldn’t control, one that hurt you, and use it to your own advantage. “Ok so I know what it’s like to be treated this way, I know the types of people these people are around, I know the setting, I know the situations that lead into this one and the ones that follow” — those feelings can live on in your bones! Or from a different angle, “So what were they thinking when they did that? What was going on in their lives, what were they drinking that night, what happened in the weeks leading up to and months after, how did I come off to them through that lens?” and so on. It helps you understand the characters of your own life, having compassion for yourself and others, while understanding the characters that present themselves throughout tv and film and in theatre. Reality is always the best inspiration for anything, fiction or not.

Tell us about your most memorable film project?

One of my earliest jobs I had the unbelievable pleasure of dancing hand in hand with Al Pacino for a wedding scene. We were dancing the hora, with a live band playing, after 3 days of shooting in Brooklyn with the air conditioning breaking in the summer. It felt like we did 20 takes and the crew were running up trays of waters for us in between every one — but we were so happy! Most acting is a lot of quiet work, “Quiet on set” — and it’s always fun when you can move, or dance or laugh loudly, and to get to do that with Al Pacino in any setting is a living dream. He has strong hands, a big smile, fast feet and incredible charm.

Is it easy for you to delve deep into a role?

I love my job — so anything where I have to cry or freak out, it’s a technical thing — because I’m like most normal people who’ve learned “if you have to cry at work, go outside or go home” And I love being around the crew, so it can be a psychological hula-hoop to un-shame yourself to be public with that behavior in a professional way. I’m way more comfortable with intimate situations and nudity for an actor. It’s an essential part of the human experience, and stories would be missing important elements without it. In a safe space like a set, I can be natural, relaxed, focused and yet dissociative enough to get the job done, and then have a completely normal conversation 2 seconds after they call “cut!” Or tune into a technical correction or director’s note.

What are your favorite type of films?

My dad would also stay up late falling asleep on the couch to old movies, especially anything black and white and film noir and he passed on that appreciation to me. I’d rather re-watch a film with Rita Hayworth in it over and over than repeat watch most modern ones in the same way. Modern tv and streaming is really incredible now too — it was amazing to enjoy spectacular shows with vivid worlds like Wednesday and The White Lotus, while sharing the same enthusiasm for it with so many people of all ages from countries all over the world.

How you always prepare for film shoots?

The first thing I do is always think it’s not set in stone till the day is done. I always have this justified paranoia that keeps me on my toes like “well, they can fire you if they want, even today”. The editor could decide your scene didn’t fit, something else could happen, an actor only so much control in the end. It’s a devil’s advocate way to mentally relax from anything outside my control as well as to keep me focused knowing everything is changeable. In the week before, I’ll always get a lot of sleep, go to sleep early and wake up with the sun, no alcohol, no going out, no exterior socializing, ginger shots and green juices to keep any illness away. We still have a lot of Covid safety protocols in our industry and I take them pretty seriously. On the day of, I’ll wake up a few hours early, normally in the dead of night and prep a set bag with anything extra I could possibly need. If the job involves physicality, I spend my time in my trailer or set room standing and doing little standing workouts while looking over the scenes to keep my body in whatever shape is needed for the role. Those jobs I’ll prep for a little differently in the weeks leading up depending on the character and how they should look.

Let’s talk more about you as actress. What would you have recommended to yourself a few years ago as advice in your career?

Someone recently said to me, “If you can see the path ahead of you, then it’s not your path to take”. I wasn’t about acting specifically but career and spirituality. And the industry has transformed so much within the past half decade that business-wise, what’s worked then isn’t necessarily going to work in the same way now, and certainly what works for someone else, even if they’re similar to you, isn’t necessarily going to be for you in the same way. Even if it’s scary that you can’t see ahead, it’s better to be out of your comfort zone than in it (or worse, stuck in someone else’s!) My dad would also tell me, “Feel the fear and just do it anyway”. Being scared, or nervous or having anxiety in situations is ok — but it’s important you do the action regardless. Little moments of courage add up. You can acknowledge in the brain the feeling of fear but still separate that and at least try to physically and mentally push yourself ahead. Trying and failing is much better than not at all. Plus failure is an illusion…you can train your synapses to start thinking about it from other angles, since failure can look different for all people, and then you can liberate yourself from being a victim of your own thinking, from being the metaphorical, accidental arsonist of the house you built.

What helps you stay feminine and attractive with such a busy schedule? Share some of your beauty secrets with us.

My dad always used to tell me growing up to get massages. He was obsessed with them! He would say it’s good for long limbs — I used get medical-grade deep tissue like my father but now I mostly get lymphatic drainage. Facials, lasers, Biologique Recherché products.

Model NATHALIE ROCK @nathalie.rock_
Photographer EVGENIY MILKOVICH @emilkovich
Stylist DANIELLE DINTEN @danielledintenstyle
MUAH DOSHA MOOR @dosha_moor
PR MARIIA BOROVENSKA @mariborovenskaya