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Your upcoming movie More than a Conversation - in a few
words, what's it going to be about, and what can you tell us about your
character in it?
I'm the lead actress Lori, a wife, avid runner and strong person who ambitiously and optimistically paves her way thru life one day,
running through the woods, as she does every day, she comes across
an unexpected fight for her life. A crazy individual scoped her out to be
his next victim. She is alone, in the woods, with no one to help her, only
herself, her phone, with the psycho on the other end of the line, lurking
behind the trees. As the conversation progresses, she does the only thing
she can do to survive... fight back, play the game of her life, and race
to the end. What can you tell us about your
preparations for your character so far, and how much Daiane Azura can we
find in Lori actually? Well, first, in the real
world, you will find that I'm not married. lol ;) But... as an athlete, in the past I've joined one of my favorite
things to do which was... KUNG FU. So I guess you could say that I'm a bit
tough cookie as this character is in the film when it comes to protecting
myself. I do take care of myself as the character does when it comes to
exercise and all... but all in all, this is something new to me and I'm
always excited to experience a new characters, especially if they have nothing
to do with my everyday life. My preparation for this particular character
ahead of time is to memorize my script and rehearse my lines and actions. It will be
very emotional and it will vary towards different scenes. I'm going to
have to use the "substitution" and the "psychological" gesture techniques. This makes it
much quicker and easier for such a challenge and an intense role. I just
can't wait! How did you get involved with the
project in the first place, and to what extent can you identify with More
than a Conversation's horror theme?
Well, I got
involved through the writer of the film Luc Bernier [Luc
Bernier interview - click here], who seems to know me
very well as an actress due to have worked with him before in several
films. Therefore, he knew within himself that I would be a perfect actress
for this role. He said that he envisioned me and only me for this film; I
was really happy when he asked me if I would be interested and without any
hesitation I said YES, of course. Hehe. What can you
tell us about your director Jeffrey Schneider [Jeffrey
Schneider interview - click here], and what's your
collaboration been like so far? I've never worked
with him before, I'm totally looking forward to though, because what I
know about him is that he has a professional creative mind and he's very
well known and respected in the film business. He directed several films such as
Lake Noir, Stella's Adventure
Academy (TV show) and much more... and I'm so looking forward to
collaborate with him in this project to bring the story on screen. It's an honor to have been chosen to be in one of his films. Any idea when the film
starts shooting, and do you have a to-do list regarding this movie prior
to the shoot? The dates are still uncertain at this time
but at the latest sometime in 2018 next year for sure. My only to-do list
is super amazing! It would be to focus immensely on this project by
memorizing my script, rehearsing my parts, keeping in touch with the people in
it, making sure we're all happy and showing up for the scenes. Since there's
only gonna be 3 or 4 days to shoot the long scenes for this awesome movie
I gotta make sure I got all of my lines down and ready to go cause there's
no time to waste. Adventurous isn't it?! Some of the cast I already know
and have worked with before such as Tim O'Hearn [Tim
O'Hearn interview - click here] as the bad guy
and Donna Hamblin [Donna Hamblin
interview - click here] with a quick cool scene. I'm so looking
forward to meeting everyone, the cast and crew... The beauty of being an
actress... I LOVE it! Any future projects beyond More
than a Conversation you want to talk about?
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photo by Ramiro JeanCarlo |
But of course! I'm actually getting ready to shoot a film in
Texas coming up now in June called Stirring with director Troy
Escamilla [Troy Escamilla
interview - click here] which will be released next year, 2018. I admire his work, he's a
great director known for his movie that has just been released Party
Night. In Stirring I will be portraying Sophie, who's
more interested in frat boy Grant than she is in her own sorority sisters.
Looking forward to be sharing the scene with this awesome and talented
actor Ryan Poole, he will be portraying Grant. The story is
about some students that are attending a Christmas party at a sorority
house with a sinister past are stalked by a bloodthirsty killer disguised
as Mrs. Claus. This film is going to be amazing, I'm so super excited to
be in the same film with one of the coolest actresses, Brinke
Stevens [Brinke Stevens
interview - click here]. Some of you might know her from the 90's independent movies
such as Sideshow and Teenage Exorcist. And I also
have other movies/films to mention here in which will be released sometime
this year in 2017 and they are called: - Stained Encounter,
filmed in Canada, a QuattroVenti Scott Productions and HellbeFilm
Productions movie. It's a paranormal film in which was written by Luc Bernier
[Luc Bernier interview - click
here],
and I'm portraying Cassie, the younger sister that is trying to help her
depressed older sister Celeste with some marriage issues. Donna Hamblin
and Mark Gordon both do a fantastic job with their characters, Donna as
the wife Celeste and Mark Gordon as Percy the husband that is no longer
interested in being with her. - O' Bloody Night, filmed in
Montreal Canada, this one was directed by Luc Bernier, Paul Wennersberg,
Eskild Krogh, and filmed by Alain Juteao, and Tony Newton is the co-producer
for it. I'm portraying Noella, a woman that is trying to get to a
Christmas party in a very cold winter day but things happen and get in
her way. Luc is the driver that gives me a lift but maybe that was not a
good idea for him to do... and she ends up getting possessed and the
rest... well... there's only one way to find out... It was amazing to work
alongside with actor Luc Bernier, I admire his talent. And Alain was such
an amazing videographer, I was very impressed by his work. - 60
Seconds to Di3, also shot in Canada. I'm the Lady Vampire in the
segment Reddish Gloom. It was directed by Luc Bernier as
well and Tony Newton. I was very honored to have worked alongside the
actor Guillaume Cloutier, he was my victim in the film. In
real life Guillaume is also a professional musician for his well known in
Canada psychedelic band called Electrique Junk.
- Home Videos by director Tony Newton, and it was filmed in
Canada as well. I'm the only actress in this particular paranormal segment
called Hallway Investigator. At the ending of this film something
unexpected happens... watch out! This particular film was actually also
directed and filmed by me with the assistance of Luc Bernier. On this
one.. I'm proud to say... that it's the very first film I've ever directed
besides the music videos I have created. So stay tuned for the release
dates...
What got you
into acting in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject? I've been into acting since a very young age,
it all started with play pretend, than performing in plays, than it
eventually went towards acting in films in front of professional
cameras. I've always had the passion to do so, when you believe in
yourself, anything is possible. The only training I've gotten in my life
was in high school such as in drama classes... I've never been to actors
training centers or actors school or anything of that fancy sorts. I have
great respect for those who go through such lessons and it will
certainly look good on their resumes. But I didn't, and I probably never
will, because I feel that to me acting comes natural. And my attitude
towards it is that: "If some little kids can do it... so can I".
And I treat my music skills as the same... my singing comes natural... I
don't need to go to school for that, lol. No hard feelings please... I'm
just being honest, I mean everyone is different and if they wanna join a
class or two, to better themselves, then by all means do it... Power To
Them! How would you describe yourself as an
actress, and some of your techniques to bring your characters to life? I
would like to think of myself as a very determined and serious actress in
making sure I get the role just right. Depends of the character, I tend to
use various different approaches to my techniques. I'm very easy to work
with on film and even though I have role preferences, I know how to cope
when it comes down to the demanding intense roles. I'm realistic but know
how to defer from what is real life and real movies. I say that because
believe it or not... I had actually some people in the past thinking that
I'm what they've seen on movies; not being able to decipher between the
entertainment business and the real life... I'm very good with becoming
the character that I'm supposed to be real fast. And very enthusiastic in
making movies and/or anything that has to do with the entertainment world.
I relish a challenge! I'm the kind of actress that don't mind at all and
loves if a professional director points out something he or she feels I
should do, which does not happen very often. Unfortunately, they feel I
do an excellent job which is flattering to me, of course, and I love them
for it! I guess it would make me feel more as if I'm on a film set that
way. Weird... I know. LOL. But then at the same time, there's another
side of me that prefers it that they allow me to do what I wanna do
because I'm there to be doing what I'm supposed to be doing correctly,
being on a scene I feel there's no time for mistakes... it is just better
to keep it that way... they know whom they are hiring and dealing with, lol.
And
I understand, as a director I would much rather be working with somebody
on the set that knows what they're doing than having to getting
their attention every so often in telling them what to do. In this case,
I'm glad they chose me for their films and I'm so so so glad to have
worked with such wonderful directors in my life. I'm truly blessed to have
worked with directors that believed in me, I hold a special place in my
heart for those directors that did not make me have to do those
auditioning tapes. They could tell right away I could nail my parts... Hope
I didn't confuse you yet. haha A good director knows what's up and I've
been only working with the best.
Can
you still remember your first time in front of a camera, and what was that
experience like? Yes I totally can and it was amazing!...
and that's what made me fall in love with making films in first
place even more. It was during the Disney shoot of
Big Trouble
that I said to myself I wanna do this for the rest of my life, lol! That
experience was my first time being an extra and the last... because after
that, I only made sure that I'm the lead or supporting actress. You know,
it's one of those things to perform at a play but being in front of a
camera is much more rewarding to me I think. The advantage of being
featured on DVD, being aired in movie theaters, recording and sharing what
you love to do with the rest of the world is much more fulfilling to me...
if you know what I mean... I think film technology is a phenomenal way
of art and of communication, it has its various ways to reach out to
people such as through making believe fantasy stories and etc... that's
what drives you to want to be more involved in it, it makes me want to
make more movies or music videos for sure. And I will. What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to More than a Conversation? Actually
prior to More than a Conversation, I did one film after another...like
bang, bang, bang, lol! Nothing like finishing one project and moving on to
the next, life is beautiful! Thanks to everyone that has given me the
opportunities. And it just keeps getting better and better with not only
films but with everything else too such as my music. O' Bloody Night
was one of them, I loved it because it was adventurous... I
had to run in the snow... I couldn't feel my toes anymore and I was
freezing my ass off (excuse my language) but I loved it, haha! Reddish
Gloom was a vampirc film, so I obviously had to get bloody dirty... so to me when you go out of your way to do such scenes is fabulous
as an actress and the directors love an actor that does not mind at all,
lol. Can't quite explain but, all, in general putting up with such scenes
that demand extra work in a professional fantastic way for some reason
makes you feel like the act of making a movie is really happening. I think
mainly, when you do scenes that you usually would not do in real life is a
form of proof that you are in the spotlight and it's now or never so you
better give your all. It's part of being wiling to be a great
actor... especially when you nail it. And there's a scene in Stirring that I've never done in a film before, and I'm
definitely looking forward to it, it's a scene that involves being and
interacting with a lover. I'm thrilled to have been cast for this feature
movie, it's that for some odd reason, being in a semi relationship is
something I've never experienced before in front of a professional camera.
Regardless of the length... And I truly can't wait for the release of all
of these fangtastic movies including Stained Encounters,
mostly throughout the whole movie I'm on the phone as I was in different
ways with Dead Ink and will be with the More Than a
Conversation.
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Besides being an actress, you're
also a musician - so do talk about your music for a bit, and how did that
start out actually? And some of your musical influences? Let
me start by mentioning that Some of my music influences are (Dead Can
Dance, Sisters of Mercy, Diamanda Galas, Diary of Dreams, The Doors, Pink
Floyd, Legiao Urbana, A-ha and more...) My music was the same way, it
started at around the same time as the acting and modeling. I always say:
I wasn't born crying... I was born singing." LOL I've created many musical
projects such as my solo Album Demona Bast - Vicious Tongues,
which is out on Amazon, iTunes, CD Baby and in other places as well. It
includes various artists I've worked with around the globe. One of my
songs, "Innocence Lost", have been featured on a Netflix
paranormal movie called The Prison Of The Psychotic Damned,
which was directed by D.W. Kann and written by David R. Williams [David
R. Williams interview - click here]. There's
a music video of it out there... Being that said, I'm also one of the lead
actresses in that movie. The name of my character is Aurora, the psychic
medium girl. And also, another song from the Demona Bast album
called "The Masquerade" has been featured at the "Agora
Kitchen" Mediterranean Restaurant commercial, they feature live belly
dancing. A long time ago I was in a band called Wet, I was the
lead singer for a five year alternative rock band project and this
happened before all of this solo and Pandora Black band started back
during the 90's... which was an amazing and great experience. We performed
in big clubs such as The Culture Room, fetish
factory, we were featured on international TV, magazines, newspapers and
radio interviews with radio play on the famous Florida rock
station 94.9FM ZETA and in other countries as well. The members were also
Dain Miller (bass), Rob Rogers (drums) JT aka John Thomas & Jasper (guitars)...
super talented musicians.
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But my newest project right now is
definitely one of my all time favorites and it's an electronic/synth-pop/dark-wave band from South Florida called
Pandora Black. The album has just been released on January
2017 called Into the Shadows. One of our tour spots was in the
New Orleans area, we performed at the famous Vampire Ball for author Anne Rice, the creator of the
Interview With The
Vampire. We also got the chance to open for a big act such as Skold,
the members of the KMFDM and Marilyn Manson. Pandora Black
consists of four incredible members, me as the lyricist and lead vocalist,
Ricco Black as the guitarist, Earnie Noir as the keyboardist and Synn
Hexxx as the bass player. They are all super amazing musicians, I'm proud
of this band and how far we've come together. Our music is both film and
radio friendly, with a touch of a more modern 80's which makes our sound
unique. In fact, our music video "Here is Love" is actually
being aired on Jam Session TV ((daily)), airs various times on cable and
over the air TV. It is also being aired on ROKU and in Monster Madhouse
episodes and Jam Session TV mixes. The future looks bright! We're
planning our Love Spring Eternal tour and we do perform live
very often so fans know to keep track for our latest shows, news,
merchandise and etc through our Facebook fan page. Our Pandora Black album
Into the Shadows can be found on our official website, ITunes
and other online music sites. Last, to top it off, I never stop. I
recently started to work on my new Daiane Azura solo music and
for a tease there's a new music video for my project that has just been
released under my official Daiane Azura Facebook fanpage
called Darkness and Light. I'm now focusing in other
ways of making music as well instead of what I was doing before regarding
other musicians' collaborations, I'm also focusing on something new which
is creating my own instrumental parts for my own songs, which I've never
done before. So it's quite exciting experimenting with new stuff, thanks
to the technology of today. Though I'm always open for including musicians
as well regardless of my focus. The truth is, the more love the merrier.
LOL I've decided that any songs that I'm not using with my band Pandora Black, I'll simply use it for my advantage and
personal solo projects and bring it to life instead of putting it aside
because these are ALL great songs and it has been of a great
confirmation through the fans reaction. And in case I didn't mentioned
before, I've got tons of other music videos which may be found on YouTube
as well. Stay put for more...Enjoy! ;)
photo by Bivas Biswas |
You
also work as a model - so what can you tell us about that aspect of your
career, and how does it influence your acting and your music (and vice
versa)? It's really tough to figure out which I love
doing most. Working as a model to me is also exciting experience, because you
get to be creative in many unique ways, you get to travel as well, change
of outfits often, visual looks are important etc... I enjoy working
with different photographers, because each one of them brings a different
feel, different flavor of their artistic work. They transmit all of their special
individual touch into their photos with artistic and uniqueness in which
to me makes it even more special so that all the photos won't look the
same. One of my favorite photos were taken in Atlanta, which has a cool
Egyptian image in the background taken by photographer Bivas Biswas. He is a SAG-AFTRA
actor and an awarded filmmaker. He recently
completed directing his latest feature film Atrophy and an HBO
mini-documentary and a series for Discovery Science. He was one the top 3
contestant for Warner
Bros' The Bachelorette.
photo by Dewayne Flowers |
I don't do nudes, but my other favorite photography that I've done
and that I really loved was the sensational body-paint photography by Dewayne Flowers.
Where others may see it as semi-nude in the entertainment modeling
business, others like myself... see it as a professional artistic way of
expressing creativity. Just as some see it in the Leonardo Da
Vinci paintings in which those are perfectly fine and respected by
many generations and cultures, and especially by me.
The other photography that I've also done and admire very much is
the theatrical photo-shoot that I did in NY with photographer Steward from
The House Of Indulgence. It's similar to acting but through
photos. Mike Gutowski, who also worked on the film set of the The Prison Of The Psychotic Damned
as the special makeup effect artist, he certainly did an amazing job at my body-paint for this
particular shoot. He's a spectacular artist without a doubt.
Another beautiful photoshoot was done by the photographer Ramiro JeanCarlo, it has the
gothic fantasy feel to it along
with Lord Crusan's mesmerizing special background effects.
Ramiro had actually also collaborated musically with me before in the
making of Demona Bast with a few songs featured on the CD. He's an
incredible musician with his classical music project called Staccato
Du Mal, it is breath taking and everyone should take a listen.
I have many modeling pics that can be found online at the Model Mayhem
website and all over the net for your viewing pleasure. Actresses,
musicians, models, filmmakers, whoever else who inspire you? Actors:
Johnny Depp, Norman Reedus, William ShaoFeng, Ma Tian Yu, Tak Sakaguchi,
Keanu Reeves, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gary Oldman and many more...
Singers: Diamanda Galas, Lisa Gerrard, Jim Morrison, Andrew
Eldritch.
Filmmakers: Well besides all the wonderful filmmakers that I have
worked with before and am working with now... I definitely admire Francis
Ford Coppala (Jeepers Creepers), James P. Lay (Dreamland), Zack Snyder
(300), Ted Nicolaou (Subspecies), Colin Minihan (Grave Encounters), Don
Coscarelli (Phantasm), Greg and Colin Strause (Titanic), David
R. Williams (The Prison Of The Psychotic Damned), Gasper Noe
(Love), and many many more... Your
favourite movies? ... and of course, films you really
deplore? Oh my gosh I'm a movie fanatic, with
probably weird mixed choices...haha, I love so many movies: Dracula, Love
Never Dies, Ice Fantasy
(Series), Cleopatra, Gone With the Wind, Streets of
Fire, Skyline, The
Walking Dead (Series), Barbarella,
Dagon, Titanic, The
Cube, Dead End, Extant, The 100, 300, Once
Upon a Time, Love, Dreamland, Death Trance and
many many more...
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The thing is that, I guess after ever since I became an actress in
my life I don't see the movies same way I used to... maybe it has to do
with the fact that I see them in different light due to being an actress.
But regardless, one of my main hobbies is watching movies endlessly...
And I don't really deplore movies. Maybe I guess for me the less
gore the better but whatever... Not sure how to explain it but I now see it
as an art and therefore, I've learned to respect even home videos.
So it's hard for me to deplore because I appreciate the art effort
and time that a director puts into it regardless if its low budget or not.
Of course though, there are better movies than others... but that's a
form of personal opinion and taste and part of the film process so we need
those as well...
I don't know, things change... I used to be a total horror fan and I
regret it... there's so much to appreciate in every genre and I'm glad
that my views have broadened and that "I only watch horror movies"-phase has gone. So I watch horror
among Romance, adventure and you
name it. But that's me!
With so many opportunities and incredible movies that are out there... one should not focus in only one genre. Don't you think? ;)
Your website, Facebook, whatever else?
Fanpage: www.FaceBook.com/DaianeAzuraOfficial
Trailers/music videos: www.YouTube.com/DaianeAzura
IMDb: www.imdb.com/name/nm1958264
Pandora Black fanpage: www.FaceBook.com/PandoraBlackBand
Pandora Black band official website: www.PandoraBlack.net
Demona Bast music CD: www.CDbaby.com/DemonaBast
Demona Bast MySpace: www.MySpace.com/DemonaBast
Pandora Black MySpace: www.MySpace.com/PandoraBlackBand
More Than a Conversation Facebook:
www.FaceBook.com/More-than-a-Converstion-1874958149429989
Stirring Facebook:
www.FaceBook.com/StirringMovie/
Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Yes
indeed...lol I'm dying to mentioned that I'm so very thankful for considering me
for this wonderful interview opportunity. I enjoyed answering. It's truly an honor and I greatly appreciate
it. All the best and lots of successssssssss.... Thanks
for the interview!
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