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Community > Interviews
Interviews
We talk to the industry experts to bring you the latest news and advice, and help you launch your career!
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| Interview with True Blood Louisiana Casting Director |
1 September 2009 |
| StarNow: | How much would an extra get paid on a TV series like True Blood? | | Brinkley: | Here in Louisiana, the amount extras get paid is nothing like it is in Los Angeles! Extras generally get paid $100/12 or $125/12 (for stand-ins/photo doubles/featured roles). Also, since Louisiana is a “Right to Work State,” we cannot give out “Extra Vouchers.” All extras receive the same basic voucher for payment.
Folks here generally are not looking to be a “star.” Therefore, most are having to take “vacation days” at their work to participate and experience being an extra for a day. |
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| Interview with Tiffany Wright |
1 August 2009 |
| StarNow: | Can you tell us about yourself and what you do? | | Tiffany: | I’m a freelance journalist - which basically means magazines contact me when they are looking for specific stories and people, and I set about finding them, interviewing them and then writing the feature up. Sometimes, I even get to interview celebs – OMG, Daniel Craig was a dream! |
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| Project Runway Model Interview |
1 July 2009 |
| StarNow: | Can you please tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in the modeling industry? | | Sarah: | I started modeling when I was 17, although only just really started to get jobs when I was around 20. When I moved from Perth to Melbourne I was modeling full time for around 8 months and still get jobs here and there. |
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| Exclusive interview with US Casting Director Lana Veenker |
1 March 2009 |
| StarNow: | Can you tell us how you got started in the casting industry? | | Lana Veenker: | I had been a theatre actress and director, but hadn't ever really thought about working in film or in casting. I was a more of a starving artist/bohemian type and spent 10 years schlepping around overseas on a shoestring. I studied acting in Paris and Cambridge, crossed the Atlantic on a sailboat, had coconuts and machetes thrown at me in the West Indies, got stranded in a tiger park, lived through two South American military coups, crossed the Venezuelan Gran Sabana in an armored Lada Niva, started a theatre company and motorcycled 20,000 miles around India. And at one point on this odyssey, I landed a job at a casting office in London. I thought it might be a good fit for me, so when I returned to the States in 1999, I decided to start my own casting company. |
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| Rachel Rice - Big Brother Winner 2008 |
5 January 2009 |
| StarNow: | Congratulations on winning Big Brother 2008 – can you tell us what it was like when they announced you were the winner?
Yaneek Hepburn, London | | Rachel Rice: | It was such a shock. I was chuffed to make the final 2 so when they announced me as the winner I couldn’t believe it. It’s still sinking in now. |
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| Miranda Harcourt – Acting Coach to the Stars |
26 November 2008 |
| StarNow: | What made you decide to become an acting coach? Val Bocking, London | | Miranda: | I love teaching, I love directing and I love helping other actors to do their best work. Many of the productions I have directed have won best actor/actress nominations and awards. So when I decided to stop being the head of the acting department at the national drama school in New Zealand and return to working in the actual industry, I wanted to keep developing those skills helping other actors.
My first job as an acting coach was with AnnaSophia Robb on "Bridge to Terabithia" (for that role AnnaSophia won Best Actress at the US Young Artist Awards this year, and was one of only 4 finalists for the prestigious Critics’ Choice Awards, along with Nikki Blonsky, Dakota Blue Richards and Saoirse Ronan).
I absolutely loved working as a crew-member rather than as an actress — working alongside the key creative team and seeing the performances blossom. So I started looking out for other work in the same realm. It is only 2 years later and I am about to start coaching on my fifth feature, working in NZ and internationally.
Now that I think about it I realise that I worked as a coach years ago – I coached Melanie Lynskey to win the role of Pauline Parker for Peter’ Jackson in "Heavenly Creatures". But it was not until "Bridge to Terabithia" that I decided to make this a career path.
I still work as an actress. In fact, as I write I am in 33 degree heat on the Pacific Island of Rarotonga playing a lead in the BBC/TVNZ TV series "Paradise Café". But as a mother of 3 young children I cannot work as an actress fulltime, it is too demanding on my family. So I am mixing it up between these two passions. Mind you, on my last coaching job I was away from home for 3 months working 14 hour days in another city. I guess there are no cushy jobs in the TV and film industries, you have to be able to work very hard. |
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| Adam Rickitt, Coronation Street & Shortland Street Star |
4 November 2008 |
| StarNow: | As a young guy finishing his GAP year how did you feel when you landed the role of Nick Tilsley on Coronation Street? | | Adam: | It was such a huge shift and eye opener. To go from the sheltered world of boarding school to suddenly the biggest show in the country at my very first audition was not only incredibly lucky but daunting and a huge change. |
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| Mark Waddington - UK Talent Search Winner |
22 September 2008 |
| StarNow: | Congratulations on winning the StarNow.com UK Talent Search – how do you feel? | | Mark: | Thank you! I feel absolutely brilliant, my phone has been ringing off the hook with friends, family and showbiz friends congratulating me, it's been amazing! |
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| Larissa Summers - Dirty Cows and Vanity Lair Reality TV Star |
10 July 2008 |
| StarNow: | How did you get your start in the entertainment industry? Was this something you were always interested in? | | Larissa: | I started off in this industry in 2003, when I was 19. One weekend there was a car show at the Birmingham NEC (Max Power) and they were looking for models. I had always wanted to do it but never thought I was good enough (I had the ugly duckling syndrome where I grew into my looks). I applied and got the job. I had hundreds of photographers wanting to book me for shoots after that. I started to do more car shows and began building up a portfolio. Eventually I joined a London based agency and a few Internet sites (StarNow) and began working as a full time model. |
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| Jatinder Singh - Mr India New Zealand |
30 May 2008 |
| StarNow: | Congratulations on winning Mr. India New Zealand, it is an amazing achievement. How did you feel about this? | | Jay: | Achieving this win in front of 3000 people feels amazing in itself. I felt euphoric, excited and humbled by affection the crowd had given me. I felt privileged to represent the Indian community in NZ and be a role model for its youth. |
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| Katie Richardson, Miss World Australia 2008 |
1 May 2008 |
| StarNow: | Congratulations Katie (http://www.starnow.com/534677) on winning this prestigious award, this is a fantastic achievement. How did you feel when you were crowned? | | Katie: | It was very overwhelming, although you rehearse the possibility in your mind; when the announcement is actually made, it feels too good to be true. The reality of it has still not sunk in, however, I am very excited about the opportunities that have arisen, and the things that I will be able to do. |
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| Georgia Horsley, Miss England 2007 |
29 April 2008 |
| StarNow: | Congratulations Georgia (http://www.starnow.com/MissEngland2007) on winning this prestigious award, it is an amazing achievement. How did you feel about being crowned The 2007/08 Miss England? | | Georgia: | I was in complete shock when I was crowned Miss England 2007/08! Never in a million years, did I think I was going to win, and for the whole evening after that point was a blur! I was absolutely over the moon when I won. |
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| Sally Arnott - winner of The Australian Swimsuit Calendar model search 2007 and StarNow.com member |
5 March 2008 |
| StarNow: | Sally (www.starnow.com/SallyArnott) congratulations on winning The Australian Swimsuit Calendar model search 2007. This is quite an achievement - how did you feel when you won? | | Sally: | Thanks! It came as a huge shock to me actually because I did not expect it. My friend had seen the online newsletter before I did and rung me up saying ‘Congratulations on winning the trip to the Bahamas’. I had no idea what she was talking about. But I jumped out of my seat when I got the confirmation e-mail. I got on the phone straight away and rang up the organizers to thank them. I felt so excited and could not get the smile off my face all day!
I won this by receiving the highest number of votes from the buyers of the calendar. Thank you to all of them! |
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| Julie Lever - actor, dancer, blockbuster film extra |
1 March 2008 |
| StarNow: | Julie (www.starnow.com/julieannelever) do you consider yourself more of an actor or a dancer? Or Do you find you are able to do both? | | Julie: | When I first started out I considered myself to be a dancer, although I studied performing arts I saw this as an addition to my dance career. As time has passed and from my most recent jobs I now find that the majority of the work allows me to do both. Therefore I no longer classify myself as just a dancer but am competent to both act and dance and as a result can be put forward for more work, which is never a bad thing. |
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| Caroline Barley - director of Nova Models and Australian Model Search judge |
18 February 2008 |
| StarNow: | What is Nova Models? Eg; how did it begin, what is its name derived from, and what kind of agency does it aim to be... | | Caroline: | I have owned Nova since 2000, and prior to that it was known as Maysie Bestall-Cohen Model Management, which was my model agency. Nova means bright star, and this is what we encourage all our models and talent to be. We aim to be a professional, forward-thinking agency with the international market and the welfare of our models in mind at all times. |
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| Jack Yan, director of Lucire Magazine and one of the Australian Model Search 2008 Judges |
10 February 2008 |
| StarNow: | What is Lucire? eg; how did it begin, what does its name mean, what is its purpose? | | Jack: | Lucire began as a fashion website in 1997. The vision was originally for an Asia-Pacific fashion magazine on the internet, because that market wasn’t covered well online then. We decided on the global angle in 1998 and branched into print in 2004.
The name was not meant to mean anything. A friend of mine and I were sitting at her office one day in 1997 and she just uttered it. I checked on AltaVista (the major search engine at the time) and it didn’t come up as a swear word, so we used it. Interestingly, however, it means ‘to glitter’ in Romanian—we didn’t find this out till around 2001 or 2002. It’s not a word used commonly any more, so when people say it there, it usually refers to this magazine.
We now have print editions coming out of several countries and I would like to see that increase greatly in 2008.
Our purpose is to be real in fashion, and to be a step ahead. The women who buy Lucire in print tend to be trend-setters, those who are ahead of their peers. We were the first to partner with the United Nations Environment Programme before Al Gore started doing the whole eco thing—that was in 2003. In the last 11 years, we’ve consistently been ahead of the curve; some would say too ahead. We want to show that you can be responsible and glamorous. |
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