Nina siert de cover van de januari 2024 editie van de Numero Netherlands.
Galerij Links:
http//: Cameron Postforoosh (Numero Netherlands)
Actress, writer and producer Nina Dobrev has established herself as one of the fastest rising leading ladies in Hollywood, amassing an impressive resume of diverse and memorable TV and film roles. Next up, Nina will seen in the action thriller ‘The Bricklayer’, which will be released on 5th January.
Nina, you’ll be starring in the upcoming action thriller ‘The Bricklayer’, coming out in just a few days. What can you tease about the film, its story and your character?
The film is a very high-paced, action packed sort of thriller. I just watched it actually for the first time and Renny Harlin is really good at action movies. It’s what he does best and he really knows how to shoot every angle to make it as suspenseful and exciting as possible. This story is in a way like a classic, we’ve seen it before. It’s about a man who’s been through life and is very jaded. My character, who’s earlier on in her journey in life and in her career, is excited and hopeful and naive. And so the two characters together, watching that dynamic was really fun for me to see and to experience. What drew me to the project was my character’s arc from the beginning because she really changes a lot. She starts off as one person and at the end of the movie is a different kind of person. I just felt there’s a lot of mystery suspense, there’s a lot of trickery and secret. It’s a very international film and that was also another thing that was really exciting. We were shooting in Greece and in Europe and that was my first time filming a movie in Europe, so it was really cool.
Besides acting, you are also a producer, a role in which we can currently see you in the comedy ‘Sick Girl’. How natural was the transition from actress to executive producer for you?
For me, it felt very natural. Mainly because I feel like I’ve been producing for a long time, but just have never had the actual credit for it. Anybody who’s worked with me will probably tell you that I can be very opinionated and I have lots of ideas. And whenever there’s a problem, I like to figure out how to fix it, so I’ve always sort of came up with solutions in the moment on set, whether I was a producer or not.This was the first time that it felt more of a collaborative experience. I think I was also a little naive about how much work it actually is. Taking on the role of a producer and being the lead in a movie was pretty challenging, but we also had other producers that were on the film and a director and a whole team of people. There’s so many things that go into it, like having to get the props there and having to decide where to shoot and what time to bring everyone in. There’s just so many different elements that go into each day of the shoot that when I was just an actor, I didn’t fully understand or appreciate because I was so one minded and focused on my one job. Now having to have multiple jobs has been challenging, but I genuinely think it’s made me grow as a person and it’s made me more self-aware and more aware of the way everything needs to come together. And t’s a really beautiful thing when it does come together because it’s really hard to make it happen. It makes being on set that much more exciting, whether I’m producing it or not. It makes it really exciting to know what went into it and how many sacrifices needed to be made in order to bring whatever it is that we’re making to life.
You executive produced a documentary, ‘The League’, which premiered at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival. The film is about the history of the Negro baseball and its success in a country plagued by racism. How important is telling these meaningful stories to the audiences and the world?
The story is well known in one specific light, but it hasn’t necessarily until this point, in my opinion, been deep dived in the way that we got to deep dive into it and tell the story. It talks about racism in America, which we all know exists unfortunately, and how the League specifically was able to break through and change not only economically, but also politically and socially. It had so many different impacts, both good and bad. The League itself had a lot of positive impacts on the black community because it had an infrastructure like work and a lot of jobs were created as a result of it. And so when the League fell apart, eventually it had some negative impacts too on the communities. It’s an important part of history and the most important part in my opinion is to make sure that we don’t repeat it. It was important to tell that story now more than ever, when we’re in the current political situation that we’re in. And it feels like we make changes and strides in one direction, yet a lot of things still need to change.As an actress, what kind of roles challenge you the most and why?
I think anything that scares me is usually a sign that I should do it. If I feel too comfortable or too familiar, I don’t feel like I’m being challenged. And being challenged is the universe’s ultimate invitation and it’s the universe’s ultimate test. It’s inviting you to grow and why are we here if not to grow. That’s been my philosophy in recent years. I like to change it up, I like to try to switch it up and try new things that creatively fulfill me and make me excited. And usually things that are new and scary and challenging are also exciting.How did you get into acting, what evoked your passion for it?
I was going to Performing Arts High School in Toronto, but I don’t think I knew from a young age that I wanted to be an actor. I don’t think I had enough awareness to know that was necessarily a profession. But once I started doing it on stage, I definitely knew that I felt alive and excited about what I was doing. Then once I met this acting coach and started taking lessons with him outside of school, that was when I sort of started to really feel like this feels more familiar to me and I felt like I’m good at this. Now looking back, I can see that the only time I felt comfortable being vulnerable was when I was pretending to be other people. I could be sad and scared as them, but if I was me, then I couldn’t actually show those complex emotions or I didn’t allow myself to. And so maybe there was something in that that was appealing and interesting.Your best known role to date is the portrayal of Elena Gilbert on the highly successful ‘The Vampire Diaries’. Why was it so important for you to return for the series finale?
Like you said, the show was so impactful and I owe so much of who I am and my career to being on that show. Closing out the character and making sure that the ending felt satisfying to the fans is why it was really important to return for the final episodes.You have also done quite some charitable work. Which organizations and causes are the ones dearest to you?
I struggle with that a lot because I’m so empathetic and I feel so much that I tend to lend my voice to a lot of different organizations. I feel equally passionate about so many of them. I was bullied growing up, so obviously any kind of organization that goes school to school and has programs in schools to teach kids to be a little bit kinder to each other hits close to home for me.Global warming, the environment and animals, because they get affected by global warming in the environment, are really important to me. So the first organizations that come to mind are obviously Oceana and SeaLegacy. I recently went to Antarctica with Paul Nicklen and his partner, and so I started working with them for Ocean Conservation. Another important organization is Wild Africa Fund for the animals there.
Acting and fashion are very connected, as you get to explore all the different styles and trends through your characters. What role does fashion have in your personal life?
It has a huge role in my life. I go from red carpets to magazine shoots to playing characters. New York City in so many ways can be like a fashion show. When I’m at home, I’m very relaxed. But if I’m going out for dinner, I really take a lot of pride in putting together an outfit and looking cute and feeling good for myself, but also experimenting with fashion to express myself in a different kind of way that’s loud and different in a much quieter way.Balancing work and private life can be quite a challenge sometimes. What are some of your favorite self-care routines?
It’s not about me, but walking my dog two or three times a day is very much also for me. In the morning, I have a bit of a routine. I go to my little coffee shop, I get my tea and then we go to the park and I listen to my podcast. It’s time just for me, where I can sort of take a second to breathe, start my day and learn something on the podcast hopefully, and be in nature and get fresh air. So even though it’s disguised as something for my dog, it’s actually a moment for me to take a step away from the world, away from emails, phone calls, to-do lists and set or whatever it might be.2024 is shaping up to be a busy year for you. What can you share with us about your upcoming projects?
Now that the strike is over, it’s exciting to be able to talk about ‘Sick Girl’. We literally shot it in 10 days, 11 and a half when you count the reshoots afterwards, for almost no money. It’s a very tiny movie and I was pretty devastated when it came out during the strike because that kind of movie really relies on promotion. I’m really excited that I finally get to talk about it because it was a real labor of love.People being able to see it and ‘The Bricklayer’ coming out is exciting. We also have a comedy coming out with Jillian Bell, Lil Rel Howery, Billy Magnussen, Jamie Chung, Michael Hitchcock and Chace Crawford. That one’s really fun and will be coming out soon. And then a couple of other things that are brewing as well, so it should be an exciting and busy few months coming up.