Interview: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot‘s Sheila Vand
Last year, we spoke with actress Sheila Vand about her starring role in the wonderfully weird A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (along with director Anna Lily Amirpour). This year, Vand is back with plenty of new projects, including two films out this week. In Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, she plays a fellow journalist/friend of Tina Fey and Margot Robbie working in Afghanistan, and on the gritty indie side, she plays a soldier in Camino, a film produced and starring Zoe Bell. After catching up with Vand briefly at the premiere for Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, we spoke by phone about her new films, her booming career, and fighting Zoe Bell.
Lesley Coffin (TMS): Your characters in the two films out this weekend couldn’t be more different, and I don’t think I’ve seen you do a real fight scene in any movie. What was this casting process like for Camino? Did you have to train beforehand?
Sheila Vand: I knew the film’s writer (Daniel Noah) and director (Josh C. Waller) already, because they are part of SpectreVision and had helped produce A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. And they had been so supportive of that film that when they asked me to be a part of this film, I wanted to reciprocate and show that same support. Although I was also excited by the chance to work with people like Zoe Bell, Francisco Barreiro, and Nacho Vigalondo. Such a great cast of international actors. And chance to shoot in Hawaii didn’t hurt either.
TMS: How long were you in Hawaii?
Vand: We filmed for about two weeks and then went back a few months later to do reshoots for about 10 days. But the budgetary restrictions and financing came together last minutes, so I actually got asked to do the movie a day before I had to fly to Hawaii. So I had no fight training whatsoever, so we just had to trust our instincts and go for it.
TMS: Zoe Bell is such an amazing stunt woman and has become a really good actress. And the one, brief time I met her she seemed like such a genuinely nice person. What were your experiences like working with her?
Vand: It was a dream to work with Zoe. She is a total sweetheart and makes you feel completely comfortable on set. She is someone who encourages you to give it your all and even make mistakes if you have to. I think she was the perfect teacher to have on my first cinematic fight scene. She is just so kind and easy to be around and down to earth. And I think she is an extraordinary actor as well, which is why I’m excited for people to see that side of her in this movie.
TMS: You do a good job in the fight scene, and it is fun to see you pick up a log and go after her. Are you an actor who has always wanted to make an action film?
Vand: It’s part of why I wanted to do it. I’m always looking for an opportunity to do something different on screen and learn something different. And I found that I actually really enjoyed filming that scene. Because I’m usually such a critical minded actress that I overthink every single choice. So to do something that was so physically oriented was kind of liberating, because you have to act as much with your body as you are with your mind.
TMS: Was that fight your favorite scene to film?
Vand: Yeah, it was the most fun. I have a line that I scream, “He loves only me,” and that is just so over the top and fun. I also had a line that I think made it into the movie where I say, “You’re asking to die,” which is ridiculous. Because the fight and that kind of dialogue is more theatrical, I felt like I had a chance to have more fun with it. It’s definitely out of my normal wheelhouse, which is part of the reason it felt kind of freeing to do. I didn’t have any frame of reference to compare it to, so I just tried to be all in and go for it.
TMS: It’s funny that Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and this are coming out the same weekend, because not only are the tone of the films and your characters very different, but they were also made under very different circumstances. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot isn’t a massive studio movie, but it is a studio movie, compared to a movie like Camino, which struggled to find its budget. Do you try to go back and forth between studio and independent films?
Vand: There is definitely value in both, so finding the balance of the two is the most important thing for me. When I start to do a lot of only one or the other, I start to find myself missing the other environment. Studio films and indies offer me something completely different as an artist. I feel like I can take certain risks in the indie movies which I might not be given the opportunity to take in a studio film. But there is a level of comfort working on a studio films that you simply don’t get on indies. So there is definitely value in both. And the fact is, there are things I take which pay the bills and things I work on to fill me up on artistic level, and it’s great when those two things can coincide. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot for example was a project which was meaningful to me, besides being a studio movie. But typically, I find the independent scene offers me grittier roles that I just don’t get offered in Hollywood films, and those satisfy me in a different way.
TMS: Since starting, you’ve had a chance to do a whole range of films and characters which are significantly different from the previous. Has that kind of variety on your resume made it easier to get an audition for different types of roles and avoid typecasting?
Vand: I do, and I work really hard, try to avoid any kind of typecasting because I know how often it happens in Hollywood. And I know some actors that really play into a certain trope because they think it will get them more work if they are considered one of the “go to” actors. If they are considered the go-to tough guy or go-to soldier or go-to sorority girl. But to me, I can’t imagine anything more boring. Because the whole reason I went into acting is for the opportunity to transform into a variety of different parts. And sometimes that confuses people in the industry, because they don’t know who I really am or what to expect. But in the long run, I feel that approach will be beneficial to my career, and I know it is more rewarding for me on a personal level.
TMS: At this point in your career, are you comfortable directing your career a bit more, telling your agents or managers the types of projects or people you would be interested in working with?
Vand: A little bit, but it is also a process. And at this moment, I’m actually trying to take more control over my career and not just move were the wind blows me. Because as an actor, we don’t have much control, so when I have the chance or courage to say no, I try to exercise that right. But that has been a process that I’m still in the middle of. And I’m always fighting to meet with the filmmakers I want to be working with and reminding my representatives about what I’m all about. Stressing the fact that I’m not just doing this to make money. There are a lot better ways to make money. I am pursuing this career because I’m passionate about the artistry that goes into acting, and I’m willing to fight for that pursuit. It is a battle and I’m just glad to be on the right side.
TMS: Have you ever considered making your own films or producing films?
Vand: I’m actually writing something right now and just hope it will someday see the light of day. But my decision to work on that came from a desire to make something which reflects my dream world. I was doing all these indie films, watching people make their dreams happen, and thought “why can’t I do that too?” I realized I have the right to do that too and I have stories that I want to tell. But while I’m very excited to move in that direction, I’m also very intimidated.
TMS: Zoe and Tina both starred in produce their films. Did you talked with them or some of the other people you’ve worked with about making those steps behind the camera?
Vand: Zoe and Tina are both such inspiring women and are so smart about the way they have navigated their careers so they can be both in front and behind the cameras. And I do think that will be part of my future, but you can’t just jump in. So I’ve been focused on working closely with writers, because I’m not a writer by trade. So I’ve been pairing up with people and trying to learn. There is a film being written for me right now and I’m just learning through experience what that even means.
Lesley Coffin is a New York transplant from the midwest. She is the New York-based writer/podcast editor for Filmoria and film contributor at The Interrobang. When not doing that, she’s writing books on classic Hollywood, including Lew Ayres: Hollywood’s Conscientious Objector and her new book Hitchcock’s Stars: Alfred Hitchcock and the Hollywood Studio System.
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