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Your new movie The Device -
in a few words, what is it about, and what can you tell us about your
character in it?
The Device
is about two estranged sisters (Abby and Rebecca) that find
a mysterious device in the woods near their family’s cabin, and the
journey that the discovery of that device prompts for Abby, her fiancé
Calvin, and Rebecca. I play the younger of the two sisters, Rebecca; her
journey in this film is interesting because she has already experienced a
lot of what Abby encounters through the narrative of the film and is
thrust back into a set of circumstances that she is trying to heal from.
What did you draw upon to bring your character to life, and
how much or Kate Alden can we find in Rebecca? I think with
Rebecca, as with pretty much all of the characters that I am lucky to
play, there is a fair amount of Kate Alden mixed into them. Acting is such
a great medium for exploring different aspects of myself and looking into
the darker, weirder, more fun places that I don’t live in on a daily
basis. Rebecca has been through really traumatic events in her past, and
now she has to try and live somewhat of a normal existence while harboring
massive secrets from basically the only family she has left. How did
you get hooked up with the project in the first place?
John Portanova [Jeremy Berg
and John Portanova interview - click
here] contacted me directly about auditioning for the film because of a
recommendation from Lorraine Montez, with whom I had just wrapped a film.
It was actually very humorous reading the initial synopsis because The Device
sounded so much like The Darker Path (the film that I had just
shot) and I thought to myself, “wait, didn’t I just shoot this?”
After being cast and reading the entire script, I can say with gusto that
the two films are very different. Since
the film's also about alien abductions - your personal thoughts about the
subject? Aren’t we all a little alien? I do think it
would be very self-centered of us as humans to think that we are the only
planet with intelligent life in the universe. Also, there is a quote from
Men In Black that really resonates with me about this topic that goes,
“fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of
the universe, five hundred years ago everybody knew the earth was flat,
and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet.
Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.” The universe is so incredibly
vast, and I am so incredibly interested in what is out there. What can you tell us about your director Jeremy
Berg [Jeremy Berg and
John Portanova interview - click
here], and what was your collaboration like? Jeremy
Berg was such a tremendous director to work with. We were able to have a
couple of weeks of rehearsal before starting principal photography, which
is almost unheard of in this business. He has such an organic and
supportive directing style; as an actor it is a real treat to work with
someone who knows what they want for the story and how to move the actor
in their best performance.
Kate with Angela DiMarco, David S. Hogan |
What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? Being
on set was great! It was a quick shoot with long days, but the crew was
fantastic and the locations were stellar. It was amazing to jump into
working with Angela [Angela
DiMarco interview - click here] and David [David S. Hogan
interview - click here]; I felt immediately like a younger sister
around them, which lent itself perfectly to our film relationship. Angela
and I would run around set singing and being goofy the way that I imagine
Abby and Rebecca would have when they were younger - we still break into
song every time we see each other. Working with such professional in the
cast and crew was tremendously helpful and inspiring, and I’m looking
forward to future opportunities to work with each person from this film. Any
future projects you'd like to share? Right now I am diving
into the final days of pick-ups for The Darker Path,
which is another supernatural thriller. I also just worked on a new TNT
show called The Librarians
that is set to start airing in November. What got you into
acting in the first place, and did you receive any education
on the subject?
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I got into acting at a very young age
because of my mom’s involvement with a local community theater group.
The company was doing a youth production of Peter Pan
and I was cast as one of the Indians when I was maybe 4 years old. I had
such debilitating stage fright that I ended up watching the show instead
of performing. A couple of years later I mustered up the courage to
perform in Oliver! and
fell in love with being on stage. My education from that point has been
fairly extensive in acting. I attended a performing arts high school (Las
Vegas Academy of Int’l Studies, Performing, and Visual Arts) as a
theater major, and attained a degree in theater from Chapman University.
Since graduating I have been studying with various teachers in Los Angeles
and Seattle, all well versed in the industry and old school shenanigans.
There is always something to learn in this business and about myself as an
actor. Can you still remember your first time
in front of a camera, and what was that experience like?
When I was in high school, my friends and I would make little
home movies but it wasn’t until college that I really dove into acting
for the camera. I vividly remember doing a summer intensive where actors
from the theater department were paired up with a bunch of graduate film
students to work on short films. It was amazing! I got to spend the summer
running from location to location, learning all about the various
components of being on a professional set, acting my butt off, and meeting
all of these wonderfully talented, visionary people. Since then, I have
been absolutely hooked on film.
What can you tell us about your filmwork prior to The Device?
Up until the past year, I did a lot more work in comedy. When I was
living in Los Angeles, I was surrounded by some really hilarious and
talented filmmakers who were all about creating new work so I got to dive
into producing and acting in some awesome original comedic projects. It
wasn’t until being cast in the film previous to The Device
that I started looking at myself as an actor suited for thrillers. Now
that I’m doing them, I love it!
How would you describe yourself as an actress, and some of your
techniques to bring your characters to life?
I would describe myself as an actress who is constantly learning. When
it comes to technique, I think I have become an amalgamation of years of
studying various classic techniques mixed with my own brand of organics.
I’m still figuring out what that means from day to day and from
character to character, but I will always show up ready to give anything
and everything to the project no matter how big or small.
Actresses (and indeed actors) who inspire you?
I love learning from and about actors (men and women) that found their
stride later in their adult life. In this business there is so much
pressure for youth, but I find the performances and prowess of actors like
Emma Thompson, Meryl Streep, Jane Lynch, Kristen Wiig, Helen Mirren,
Maggie Smith, Harrison Ford, Alan Rickman, Dustin Hoffman, and Morgan
Freeman quite compelling. Paul Rudd is hysterical. Edward Norton is one of
my all time favorites. It’s fantastic to watch actors when they reach a
point where I can see how much fun their having with their job. I’m also
a fan of British television (Misfits, Fawlty Towers, Top Gear)
and recently watched the BBC mini series
Sherlock
- Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are definitely also favorites of
mine. Also, everyone in the Canadian show Slings and Arrows
is fantastic.
Your favourite movies?
This is probably the hardest question for me so I’ll just rattle off
a list of films that I love for one reason or another: Fifth Element,
Twister, Bridesmaids, Star Wars, Star
Trek, Fight Club, Up, Fern Gully, Red,
Wayne’s World, Good Morning Vietnam, Love Actually,
The Bourne Trilogy, Lord of the Rings and The
Hobbit, Wild Target, Best in Show,
Jurassic Park, The Shining,
The Boondock Saints, Zombieland, Ghostbusters,
The Sphere. Disney movies always
make me cry. I could go on and on…
... and of course, films you really deplore?
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Actually, there aren’t many films that I really deplore. I do have a
seriously hard time watching horror films where people get chopped up and
tortured by other people, but other than that I can find things I like
about most films that I watch.
Your website, Facebook, whatever else?
Website: katealden.com
Twitter: @thekatealden
Anything else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten
to ask?
My advice to myself on a daily basis, and to everyone else: Trust your
own timing.
Thanks for the interview!
Thank YOU, Mike!
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