Never to lament
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| Photo by Elli & Polly Photography (Elli Papayanopoulos Polly Barrowman) |
Carlotta is Elektra first of all because her complete name is Carlota Elektra Bosch but mainly because of her spirit. Actress born in Barcelona, she grew up in Girona where she developed her passion for arts. Scenes from musical movies like “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, “Funny Face” and “Singin’ in the rain” by Stanley Donen, Vincent Minnelli’s “An American in Paris” and “Gigi”, Robert Wise’s “West Side Story” and many others made her start ballet lessons. That was the first step of a long and still unfinished trip through the artistic world. Acting, modelling, filmmaking, writing, graduated in Interior Architecture in Barcelona, she has travelled around the world always fighting for a way to express her passionate personality. Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Sweden, New Zealand, New York and right now Los Angeles are some of her personal landscapes in where she has worked intensely in cinema and theatre. Right now she’s working in the role of Fiamma Prado, the main female character in a feature film called "The Amateur", Carlton Sugarman’s debut.
Why did you decide to be an actress?
I don't think one day I woke up and decided to be an actress... I think I always was one. One may say “is my calling” you know, when we have a love for something and we want to dedicate our life to it, we just need to do it... I spent my childhood wearing costumes (my favorite was a pirate, I always wanted to be a pirate!) and impersonating all the characters I read about in books. I had lots of invisible friends with whom I shared my solitude, surviving through the lonely period of the my adolescence thanks to my imagination that helped me fly away. Outside of art, I was not very good in school and had lots of problems making friends, but I had my fantasy world, my creativity. I loved writing, drawing, dancing, painting. I had my books, which I looked upon like my good friends that made me live so many adventures.
Since I was a little girl cinema filled my life with dreams. Like when 'papá' will talk about a movie were due to watch on the coming weekend. I remember how impatient I was by simply waiting for that day to come. After watching the film, my imagination ran wild to the point where I truly believed that I was one of the characters: Captain Blood, Holy Golightly, Scarlett O'Hara, Peter Pan, Gilda, Dartagnan, Robin Hood, Cleopatra. Oh! I was so happy then!
At 6 I was already acting in many of my school performances and I was making movies with my brother and cousins, a passion that lasted eight years more, then I grew up and all the insecurities came. It took a long time for me to really return to and commit to that world of acting that once made me so happy, but I did, after studying Interior Architecture in Barcelona and a Master of Fine Arts in Stockholm. One day I just woke up feeling that I was ready, that I couldn't wait anymore, that to be satisfied I needed to follow my purpose in life. I took my bags, moved to New York and made it happen! I had so much to overcome, so much to learn and study! At the beginning it was tough. I had to conquer all types of fears. I was alone and didn't speak much English... But soon I fell in love with New York, the opportunities, the people, the energy and I found haven in my work. I believe in work, in hard work and I want to put all my effort in growing both as a woman and as an actress.
Cinema, theatre and TV projects and simultaneously working as a model. What direction are you going to take in the future?
Modeling has been a dear companion to me. It was because of modeling that I was able to act. When I began modeling I was studying in university. It was a great way to pay for my studies, maintain myself independently and travel. The mother of a friend of mine worked for a fashion designer and introduced me to her, who later contacted a talent agency encouraging me to go and work with them. I didn't think I was special. I was very shy and insecure but little by little I understood that I had good and bad things, like everybody else, and I learned to accept myself. I began to have love and respect for who I was. I was very photogenic. People said that the camera loved me so one day I realized that I just had to trust myself and try. After all, we all deserve to have an opportunity and I was the only one forbidding it from myself. I started working on my career as an actress and have since then stopped modeling.
Looking towards the future my goal is simply to keep working as an actress. I love my profession! I wish to have the luck, energy, health and ability to work in many great projects, hopefully in both independent and blockbuster movies. I'd like to work internationally. Nowadays good cinema originates from many different places: Latin America, Europe, Africa, Korea, China, Iran, India... In addition to the U.S... I want to get those type of roles where you can put your heart into, the type of roles where there is an investigation process, the craft of getting into the shoes and becoming the character. It is so exciting when you get a new script to read and you discover a story that sticks in your heart and convinces you that you to want to explain it, when you feel that a character belongs to you. Each character is like a life lived, you dream, breath and collect their memories transforming you little by little. It is so enlightening to live so many lives!
There is only one thing I have clear, I don't want to ever loose the illusion or eagerness and get bored of acting. It is way to important to me for me to ruin it!... Then maybe one day I'd like to write a script and try directing my own movie... but who knows? I think it's good to have big goals, no matter how unattainable they are, to keep walking towards them, to go collecting little wins from your effort and work along the way as you get closer to them, even if closer means miles from them. Understand that what you are doing is making a route that should allow you to enjoy the journey while not postponing your happiness. My goal is almost like a utopia that, despite being nearly impossible to achieve, is something that gives meaning to my life and therefore has its reason for being. Furthermore, while walking this path, we need to feel that we are learning something, growing, and taking into account that this will have much to do with our personal fulfillment and professional development, because we never know enough. This is what will ensure and maintain our motivation.
What’s the hardest aspect of your work?
The hardest aspect of my work... Hmm.. I'd have to say that would be when you go to an audition, you get the part, you prepare for it, put your soul on it and your time to give life to this character and then in the end the movie gets cancelled. Or when you are perfect for a part you love and they choose someone else that's not the best choice but simply the most commercial viable.
Sometimes, when I get very attached to a character it’s very difficult to say goodbye, it's like that feeling when you finish a book that you love. When I finish working in a very dramatic part, it is very difficult to disconnect emotionally and go back to the everyday life. That's why when I work I like to be separate from my people, to be alone. For me, sure, the best of this work is when working on the character, the creating and learning of the character. The beginning when you investigate and train to become the character. We actors have to observe and be like an open channel, always absorbing the sense of life, having the power of empathy. I'm very curious about other people, that's the essence of my work, learning to be like you, like the others.
Your latest project is the film Revelation directed by Néstor F. Dennis. Could you tell us about this film?
Well, Néstor is very talented. It's obvious through his manner of directing actors and his creative way to introduce characters, to shoot scenes, how he approaches a conflict... He is fantastic at directing the camera, and finds ways to explain the facts visually. I think he has a very promising future. It is a sci-fi, fantasy thriller about a world where we can not distinguish good from bad, a world conquered by demonds. I play Lua, a Brazilian tattoo artist living in NY. She is different, she has marks on her skin, marks that later on we will find out are relevant to save the world from demonic forces. She is a prophet, together with her soul mate, a demond hunter, Ian. The problem with this film is that we shot 75% of it in Málaga, some parts in the studios of Loasur in Coin, but we still didn't finish shooting the exteriors, the parts that were meant to be shot in New York. Production problems. Let's hope we can finish it very soon! The footage so far looks great!
Now Nestor is making a film with a wonderful male cast: Tato Amador, Alberto Garant and Mateo Rus great actors and wonderful friends of mine and Jose Coronado, Carlos Bardem... I met him when he was casting the character of Laura, the femme fatale of which was going to be his debut film "Broken Day", he chose me and since then we are inseparable, twin souls united by an wonderful friendship.
Another of your more recent projects is the play Always that was presented in Madrid in the well known: Microteatro. It’s a 20 minutes play in which you play the role of Elektra. How was your experience in the innovative Microteatro? And what was difficult about your character?
Microteatro is a wonderful way to do theatre. We were from Wednesdays to Sundays, six times a day, so it was very intense. The play was done in a small room with 15 to 18 spectators, so it was like working In a close up for a film. It was a magnificent experience because we had to interact so closely with the public, work from them. They were so close... to a point that the play changed depending on the reactions and things that the public said. We had a script and a clear direction but the play was taking on new forms in every single performance, changing in every pass.
The play was about Elektra & Aura. Two fighters, two dreamers, two optimists that were fed up with just being survivors so they strove to create, using the old way of art: the theatre. The idea was to invite other survivors to come and see us… Because we didn't know if there were any left aside from the two of them since the Apocolipsis arrived. This play was in April screenings with the theme throughout Microteatro: For Our Dreams. Elektra, my character, was a strong, bright, courageous, beautiful and radiant woman. A fighter who believes in the human spirit and defends civilization. Sensitive and caring, faithful to her only friend, Aura.
Oriol Aubets, the writer and director who I admire, really helped me to understand the character, whom at the beginning I saw as a bit superficial, too racional and with a huge lack of emotions and humanity... So I let her carry me away, I worked on her, giving her a chance in the rehearsal room - Oriol based it heavily on improvisation - and I fell in love with Elektra. Oriol wrote a beautiful play, very controversial. I think the difficulty in my character was that even in moments of despair, anxiety and doubt she had to be the household. She charged herself with a mission: to reb,uild and unite the world again and that made my character complex. She had to be very real, very alive, true, courageous and most of all, solid... All this in a world were there was nobody left, no organic food, no water, no electricity... Nobody left... can you imagine it? to wake up one day in a world that has extinguished, a world of darkness, loneliness, silence and chaos... Battling to try and keep the serenity and mental and emotional stability after seeing all your beloved ones die. She had to always be the pillar, to help her friend (a more unstable, fragile character) and herself.
What about the Black Keys?
It was a lot of fun getting to work with them! They are Great, very friendly! Dan is a very cool guy and Patrick super funny and a bit shy! That day of filming I had to wake up super early and when i got there and after getting my hair and make up done, I had to wait all day long, so I had lots of hours to get to know all the team and crew! Then suddenly Chris, the director, came running over to me to tell me that we had to shot my part asap because the rain was on and off. So... after all day, I couldn't get my make up retouched or anything and I had to do it in two minutes and only one take.
That song Tighten up says “Someone said true love is dead”. What do you think?
I believe in true Love. But most of all I believe that in life one decides in which direction to follow your heart. Love can only last when one puts the will into loving someone. We fall in and out of love constantly, so like in everything else, it's about compromise, about having courage, taking a decision and fighting for what we want. It is not easy because love is an act of faith. Who said that true love is dead? True love can be everlasting, if we feel free, respected and satisfied, if we apply to it our own rules and live the life we choose to live.
You are constantly traveling around the world. What do you need to feel like being at home?
To read... A good book. Especially a book I bring with me always, like a bible to me: "The Mystic in the Theater, Eleonora Duse".
To do... My notebook with pencils and paints. And some juicy salts for a bath and a quick spa - yummy hair and facial masks.
To wear... A nightgown and espadrilles.
To eat... A warm soup, spanish omelet, a good Jamón Ibérico or sushi or fresh pasta bolognese with lots of parmigiano. Ah! and red licorice.
To drink... A nice cup of green tea with mango, blueberry or pomagranate... And a good glass of red wine.
To listen... A vinyl of The Pasadena Rooftop Orchestra or Leonard Cohen.
To watch... A great classic movie! They are related to so many beautiful moments of my life!
Most of all, my man and Vito (our cat). Home is where ever I'm with them!
What kind of differences have you found in the working processes of the different countries where you've been working?
I lived in Italy, Greece and France many years ago. In that moment I was exploring, trying to find out what to expect from myself, to discover what to do in my life after graduating in Barcelona. I wanted to travel and I did it with modeling. It was a time of exploration and of realization so I enjoyed getting to know the cultures and the people. They were fun, easy times. It felt like just being at home. Then I got accepted for a Master in Fine Arts and moved to Stockholm. There I was working as a designer and a model and begin to work as an actress. It is such a great place to live. The government helps the artists, even if you are a foreigner like I was. People are very generous and kind. They are very fond of new young artists and very supportive. I always felt welcomed and respected. I keep a love for Stockholm and many life time friends.
From there I moved to the States. I came to New York to learn among whom I believed were the best. I took an intensive filmmaking course in NYU. It was then when I discovered the American theater... For first time I witnessed an actor living the circumstances of a character truthfully. He was not acting. It was the closest I've been to a character, accurately portrayed and living there on the stage. I felt so alive! It was so real, so truthful! Have you ever seeing "Red" with Alfred Molina about the struggles of the painter Rothko? It was then when I decided I wanted to learn the Lee Strasberg Method. For me acting is living. Acting is not about being someone different. It's about finding the similarities and differences in your life from the ones of the character and then thinking in what would you do in this situation or moment, then forgetting about yourself. We can find inspiration in others that we admire but our creative process should be based in our own experiences and characteristics. Always be yourself. That is what makes you special and unique.
Later on, when studying the Meisner technique, I learned how important it is to work from others, to live truthfully but within imaginary circumstances. In New York things go pretty quick, and after moving here to Los Angeles just two months ago I'm seeing that it is similar, except with even more work in TV and film, though less in theater. It's a very competitive market but at the same time it has so much to offer. Here you feel free and capable to do anything, there are so many opportunities. It is a very challenging market that keeps you always wanting to learn more, get better, update your skills. I love it here because you feel like it doesn't matter where you come from or what you did but who you are now, in the present moment and what you can offer. I love the variety of projects you can find from the artsy, indie films like the magical "Beasts of the Southern Wild" to the big budget splendors like "Lincoln". Or the movies with wonderful scripts like “Silver Linings Playbook” or “Django Unchained”.
I went to New Zealand five years ago, after three stressful years of study and hard work in New York. I moved there was involved in a combination of acting and modeling jobs as well as on-line classes of Screenwriting from the New School in New York. I felt so happy and in peace there! I was lucky to live in front of the sea and we had a boat to use to go fishing everyday. I learnt fly fishing too, and had my veggie garden, made my own fresh pasta & juices... I loved that life style! I felt so connected with the people and the nature of that isolated country. The market was a bit slow but I was fortunate to book many jobs. For them I was very exotic!
My experience in Spain is very small. I have been in Madrid only one year since I began acting. This was last year, probably the worst time to go. The crisis seams to be affecting the market seriously. Two of the projects I was involved in got delayed, "Revelation" and "Broken Day", produced by Antonio's Banderas' Greenmoon Productions, and another project very dear to me for which I trained as a boxer during two months, was cancelled. Obviously the lack of financial support throughout the industry is going to make things much more complicated but maybe this crisis brings good things to the artistic world. I believe in projecting what you want to expect, in being positive and optimistic. Sometimes the worst happens, and eventually looking back we realized that this gave us the push we needed to get the best of ourselves. I want to believe that those who need to express themselves and create will continue doing so. They will find the way, and maybe they will bring innovative ways to make art. In Spain we have many talented professionals. Look at the amazing success of "The Impossible" or the beautifully done "Blancanieves". I want to work on my own land, fortunately Spain makes very good movies. My dear friend and representative Alsira García-Maroto keeps introducing me for projects in both Europe and Spain while I'm in America. Having her in my life, personally and professionally, gives me both great peace of mind and excitement. Sometimes a good agent can change our circumstances and achieve the opportunities we dream of. An actor needs the help and support of a good agent who believes in them and makes the right moves and choices, introducing them to the important people to connect with. I adore her.
Now you live in Los Angeles, what are your immediate projects?
I love working with the upcoming, young, new generation of filmmakers so I’m very excited and happy with the new projects I have booked!
I have to play Fiamma Prado, the main female character in a feature film called "The Amateur", Carlton Sugarman’s debut. I think he is a gifted artist and that together with Jared Varava, who will take care of the cinematography, they will do beautiful work. They both have very promising futures. I feel at ease and comfortable as the character is actually a lot like me. Fiamma is a Spanish painter and photographer looking for inspiration and new opportunities in Los Angeles, where she meets Joey, the star of this musical drama. A bohemian songwriter who lives by his own rules. Together they are fighting for their dreams in a city where everything -the best and the worse- can happen. I am very happy to participate in an exciting project with a great crew and experienced cast. We also have the collaboration of renowned musicians of great talent in the American scene.
In May I will shoot another film, "About" by VW Scheich, which sparked my interest from the beginning. It’s a very creative and original project. The director has chosen a very innovative and different process in which to work. He met with each of the actors that were chosen and compiled biographical stories creating what is now the screenplay for the film, which is wonderful. They are a set of short stories connected by an invisible thread that explains a real moment in the life of real people. VW Scheich won several awards for his short film "Wallenda", which is magical. He is a wonderful person, full of instinct and highly intelligent.
I am also in talks about doing a fun and very creative short film project to be shot in an amazing location, whose history fascinates me, "The Adventures of Don Juan and Don Tu". This will be a period piece embellished by the music and folklore of a Spanish satire about comrade hood, betrayal, honor and love. I will play Isabella, a stubborn, fiery-hearted princess with the sword skills of a knight and the charm and innocence of a young lady.
Have you a spiritual sense of life?
I think so... I believe in faith and in the strength to live. I understand that when dying we must only regret to have not given enough of ourselves. I'm convinced that in order to be happy we must overcome our fears, fight for our dreams, living deeply and with intensity. I have faith and consider an afterlife. The dead don't die completely if we keep loving them. I decided to accept life unconditionally, always remembering that tomorrow is another day. I believe in laughter, in the present, in fairy-tales and in miracles! I've came to learn that beauty is a reflection of the soul, that good people are beautiful people. I depend on the energy of my friends and family and trust that only those who are mad, mad with life make possible the impossible. That everything that happens is for a reason, even if is something bad, that people crosses our paths to teach us something, to change our lives. I see dancing and singing as a remedy with a heeling power. Memories are little treasure of life that exist to reminds us who we are. Smells awaken these memories. I'm certain that we must own our minds, be free and respect others. I encourage helping, having empathy, evolving and not giving up! I defend the love for ones self, the power of the mind, the endurance of ones will. I want to create, love, feel but most of all "live"... redeeming, renewing, seeking, finding, learning... but never, never yielding!
Water, earth, wind or fire?
I grew up under the tramontana of the Empordà. Due to that I would say it is essential for me to feel, breath and listen to the wind to be alive... but even more I will say I need the water... I dream water, I drink water, I am water! I love the sea and I'm a child of the sea... a daughter of the Mediterranean!
What inspires you? Which are your influences on your everyday work?
I grew up watching movies by Stanley Donen, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Frank Capra, George Cukor, Charlie Chaplin, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Vitorio de Sicca, Truffaut, Berlanga, Buñuel, Akira Kurosawa, Satyajit Ray, John Cassavettes... So I think that I bear the classics in my blood.
Nowadays there are so many directors that inspire my path, making me daydream that maybe one day I will work with them, like Pedro Almodovar, Montxo Armendáriz, Daniel Sánchez Arevalo, Fernando and Jonas Trueba, Jean Pierre Jeunet, Godard, Tarantino, Coppola, Scorsese, Godard, Aronofsky, Fincher, The Cohen Brothers, Michael Haneke, Yimou Zhang... Their movies and the characters of their movies inspire me because they make me think in the possibilities of making it, of getting where I want to get. They inspire my life, making it better, blissful, making me want to be a better actress. One day I want to be in one of their wonderful films, being nourished by these amazing filmmakers that have been in my life forever. I want to play my own Karen Blixen, Thelma, Ada McGrath, Italia, Aileen Wuornos, Amélie Poulain, Brandon Teena, Alabama Whitman, Peppy Miller, Clementine Kruczyski, Jill McBain, Séverine Serizy, Marge Gunderson, Mallory Knox, Angelica Teach...
I have much respect for many amazing actresses that inspire me, like Audrey Hepburn, Vivian Leigh, Meryl Streep, Anna Karina, Claudia Cardinale, Victoria Abril... Even actors as well such as Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Daniel Day-Lewis or Ryan Gosling but when it comes to my creative work, I try to find the answers in myself. Trying to pay attention to all moments, beholding only to my sense of truth, trying to identify with what's going inside another human being and then finding myself in it. As an actress I came to learn that trying to be someone else, imitating, being influenced buy others, doesn't work. We should always be ourselves, exploiting the qualities we have that make us unique, being honest to ourselves, keeping the channel open.
An interview by Juan Carlos Romero
Carlotta Bosch website www.carlottabosch.com
Photo by Elli & Polly Photography (Elli Papayanopoulos Polly Barrowman)
All rights reserved
An interview by Juan Carlos Romero
Carlotta Bosch website www.carlottabosch.com
Photo by Elli & Polly Photography (Elli Papayanopoulos Polly Barrowman)
All rights reserved