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Your new movie Lyvia's House - in a few words, what's it
about, and what can you tell us about your character in it?
Lyvia's House
is the story of young love and mysterious secrets. It’s a film about new
beginnings, curiosity, community, and trust, but it’s also a film about shame, corruption, and the
lengths that people are willing to go to in order to protect (or uncover) the truth. A tale of
madness and friendship, resilience and fate. Lyvia’s House is about collecting the conceptual
threads and connecting all of the loose ends - but what happens when you find yourself becoming
entangled in part of a much bigger, darker web?
What did you draw upon to bring your character to life, and how much Tara
Nichol Caldwell can we find in Lyvia?
Unfortunately I can’t talk about this too much because I’m actually under an NDA regarding
details about my character (we don’t want any spoilers!!). However, I can say that being a fan
of makeup, fashion, and the arts myself, I felt very connected to the character of Lyvia Ricci, and
believe my experience as a model helped me to better understand and shape her unique
perspective and personal mannerisms. Lyvia the character is very special to me for a number of
reasons. Not only did I recognize aspects of myself within her almost immediately, but I also
quickly realized the potential Lyvia the character had to be a sort of Rorschach test for the
audience, and that really piqued my interest! I won’t give away anything more, but I must say
I’m honored to have been able to bring Lyvia Ricci to life on screen, and I cannot wait to see how
the viewers will interpret and apply their own meanings to her character. How did you get
involved with the project in the first place, and how did you end up on
the production side of things as well?
I had actually been cast and had the pleasure of working with director Niko
Volonakis on a previous feature, though unfortunately production on that film was stalled due to complications
during the Covid-19 pandemic. When Lyvia's House
began to come to life, I was contacted by
the executive producer on the project, Patricia V. Davis, and offered the opportunity to audition
for a role in the film - an opportunity which I obviously jumped at!! As for ending up on the
production side of things, I can answer that in your next question.
What were the
challenges of bringing Lyvia's House
to the screen from a
production point of view?
The biggest challenge from a production standpoint was definitely our budget. We had such
limited funds in comparison to the levels of ambition we had in mind for this film, but we were
all so determined to make this happen that everyone took on added roles to fill in the gaps that
our budget couldn't cover. We all just did what we could, and then we did a little more! For
example when I wasn’t on screen I was helping out behind the scenes, our director of
photography helped design and construct customized sets, one of our lead producers cooked
nearly every meal throughout the entirety of production, our sound tech helped us cut and place
colored gels on all of the windows for a crucial scene, we had two absolutely rockstar production
assistants who did any and everything in between… We even had some of our multi-talented
actors offering to help out with social media marketing and designing products like
Lyvia's House merchandise! I mean it really was a pure indie filmmaking adventure all the way, but I
could not have asked for a better cast, crew, or team to share it with!! What can you tell us about
your director Niko Volonakis, and what was your collaboration like? The director of
Lyvia's House, Niko Volonakis, is in many ways a modern renaissance man. He
is energetic, wildly creative, and incredibly talented, as is evident by the quantity and range of
additional jobs he took on throughout pre-, principal, and post-production. Niko is also very kind
and is always willing to hear new perspectives, yet he does so in a way that maintains a sense of
order and ensures a productive environment on set. In my position of assistant director, I was
able to convey ideas, information, and suggestions easily between myself, the director Niko, and
our director of photography Cody Martin. I found the energy between the three of us to be
almost electric, and we quickly learned how and when we could lean on one another, utilizing the
best of each of our skills for the good of the film, and for the good of the team. Do
talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere!
Most days were fairly long for me, but honestly my overall filming experience was really great!
The synergy between all of us working together to create something we felt was really
remarkable and worth making - Wow!!! It's just an indescribable feeling! As I mentioned before,
there was a very friendly “can-do” type of attitude on set and everyone was always offering to
help each other out, so much so that in many ways we became kind of like a family. Having the
opportunity to connect with different members of the cast and crew between scenes and during
lunches was really special to me - not to mention that the lunches themselves were always 5
stars! Though I will admit I was quite reasonably exhausted on some days, I got to explore and
discover new aspects of my own creative identity as well as meet so many lovely, caring,
funny and super talented people throughout my time working on Lyvia's House. It was a wonderful
and truly unforgettable experience that I can’t wait to have again soon!!
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Any
future projects you'd like to share?
At the moment I am exploring several options, but nothing I can share just
yet (gotta love
those NDAs!) ... Be sure to stay in touch and keep up with me if you’d like an update on what
projects I’ll be working on in the future. I’m eager to share these upcoming opportunities as
soon as I’m able! What got you into
into acting in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject?
Well I’d been dabbling in creative and print modeling for a number of years and would often get
asked if I was an actress during gigs. I was always drawn to acting but never really let myself
pursue it until this point. Pulling from my professional and personal life experiences in
modeling, dance, sales, customer service, cheerleading and bartending, as well as my knowledge
of psychology, art and art history, I decided to chase the spark and finally give acting a go!
None of these skills or experiences necessarily qualify me as an actress, but I fully believe they
have influenced myself and my ability to capture and convey emotions and ideas. What can you tell us about your acting work
prior to Lyvia's House?
As far as my acting prior to Lyvia's House, I’ve been in a couple different independent
videography projects (paid gigs for TikTok, YouTube, etc). I also played a small supporting role in
the feature film titled Hate Your City, which as mentioned previously was stalled in production.
Since filming Lyvia's House, I’ve had appearances in a few music videos for the band
Thiasus
and picked up a supporting role in the short film The Frail
Kaleidoscope, written by Jared
Albano and directed by Joseph Steele.
Besides acting, you also
work as a model - so what can you tell us about that aspect of your
career?
Modeling has taken a bit of a backseat to acting as my main focus for the last couple of years,
but I don’t enjoy it any less! In a lot of ways models are very similar to actors; the art they create
with their bodies just exists within a different medium which comes with its own unique set of
challenges. For example, while on screen actors and print models both create visual art that is
intended for viewing on a two-dimensional plane, the medium that on screen actors create within
allows them the use of motion to help convey certain emotions, expressions
and ideas. On the
other hand, because print models are limited to stillness and must approach this goal differently,
they need to be more aware of their body as a two-dimensional shape, and how they can utilize
static lines and other means to convey motion, ideas, feelings and expressions through a flat,
non-moving image. How would you describe yourself as an actress,
and some of your techniques to bring your characters to life?
As an actress, I would describe myself and my process as “deeply engrossed” – meaning I findmyself absolutely enthralled by the potential mind, thoughts and feelings of my character.
Being a highly empathetic individual, I am able to connect deeply with the experiences and
feelings of others and I utilize this skill in my acting. By allowing myself to fully integrate into
the mind of the character, I’m able to really put myself into their perspective and feel the
meaning behind their scripted actions more naturally. For me it requires being heavily involved
in the world that my character lives in (as it’s written in the script) but also involved in the world
within my character's own mind, that is what allows me to truly understand and connect with a
character’s feelings and true intentions. Once I deeply understand my character I am able to
bring forth the emotions shared between us much more authentically. Despite my intensity in
this regard, I absolutely do break character between scenes - although truthfully, if we’re filming
some especially difficult or emotionally taxing scenes back to back I think I would prefer to stay
in character just to maintain my own energy. Actresses
(and indeed actors) who inspire you?
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I suppose I’m not overly inspired by any ONE particular person in the entertainment industry
because I find myself continuously fascinated by the surprising talents and techniques of the
actors involved in nearly everything I watch! I’m always striving to push myself to grow
creatively and learn from others. By observing actors of various backgrounds and respective
styles, I’m allowing myself the opportunity to learn about perspectives and techniques I may
have otherwise not considered. In other words, I find myself inspired by far too many people to
properly name them all - though perhaps I’ll consider making an actual list in the
future.
Your favourite
movies?
Also completely impossible to choose, but here’s a few favorites that popped into my mind. In
no particular order: James and the Giant Peach, Everything Everywhere All at
Once, The
Shawshank Redemption, My Neighbor
Totoro, Coraline, Run Lola Run, Killers of the Flower
Moon, Parasite, Inside Out, Memento, The Lion
King and the first Saw. ... and of course, films you really deplore?
It’s hard for me to hate a film, because having made a film I know just how much soul goes into
it. Considering all art is both worthy and subjective, and all films are art, I’m almost always able
to find something worthy of appreciation (or at the very least something worthy of some
additional thought and consideration) within any film I witness. If I found something to criticize
then the film did something interesting enough for me to notice it, right? So I suppose the only
films I truly “deplore” would be films that were created with harmful intent. I’m all for
documentation and expression but I’m not interested in anything that actively encourages people
to engage in harmful or hateful actions towards others. Your
website, social media, whatever else?
You can check out my latest projects and find booking information on my website
at www.taranicholcaldwell.comb
or or follow me on social media!
Instagram: @taranichol.model // Tiktok: @taranichol Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
All I can say is, don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled this October and remember… blood
tells. Thanks for the interview!
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