Tag: Interview

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Oliver Trevena Takes The Plunge Back into Cinema

Oliver Trevena Takes The Plunge Back into Cinema

Photo credit Josh Beech

Oliver Trevena is a British actor and longtime host of the interview show Young Hollywood. In the two years after leaving the show, he has been part of more than a half dozen projects, two of which have already been released. In 2018, he had a role in Ariel Vromen’s The Angel. The Rising Hawk, a joint US-Ukrainian film, opened in Ukraine in October. A third film, Grand Isle, will hit theaters in December. 

Downtown Magazine: So how did your work with Young Hollywood get started?

Oliver Trevena: Kind of just a chance thing, really. I grew up in entertainment. I was in ballet and theater for 12 years. Um, and when I came to the States, I obviously found a lot of theater and acting and trained abroad. And when I came to America, hosting was never something that I thought I’d do. I’ve seen presenters–we call them presenters in London–but never really considered it at all. 

And on a chance night out, I was actually hosting a friend of mine’s birthday and we were doing karaoke and I ended up hosting the karaoke, I guess. I thought I’d be like, “Oh, next up we’ve got this…” You know, just for fun. And someone in the audience was the founder of Young Hollywood and he said, “Oh, you’re a great host.” And I actually had no idea what he meant. “He’s like, do you want to do some work for us?” And that lasted nine years. 

DT: So, What changed?

OT: I think in the last year or so I just made a conscious decision. I was missing my acting. It’s tough when you go to meet some incredible people and it’s amazing to sit with some of the people that I look up to as actors, but also I’m constantly talking to them about what they’re doing and this work. I was getting the itch again. Yeah. So it was time to kind of pullback. Uh, yeah, like last may–may of 2018–I let the contracts end that I was stuck in and I said, I want to take a gamble and get back into my acting. 

DM: What sorts of things that you learned interviewing all of those actors?

OT: It was great doing the interviews because a lot of the people that I’m now working with on set, I’ve been interviewed or I’ve met before. That’s great. I also go into some of these jobs and people would say, “you nervous? You’ve got to be acting on the side of…whomever.” I don’t have any of that because I’ve spent so many years around them. 

Also, just like realizing that the most memorable people are the people that are really just themselves. I mean I’ve done thousands of interviews. I understand why people obviously have guards up and stuff like that, but when you sit with someone and they’re just themselves, it’s an easier way to connect. It could be crazy. They could be quiet, or they could be funny, as long as it’s who they are. 

I guess what I learned is to just be myself and be comfortable with it. Um, yeah. Embrace all the craziness, you know, embrace the good, the bad, the ugly. It’s been good–and weird. It’s like I’m now 38 years old and it’s just been an amazing time in the last year. I feel like I’m in my early twenties, again, with an excitement for life and the lessons I’ve learned on the way.

Oliver Trevena

DM: You play one of the villains in Neil Marshall’s The Reckoning. How does it feel playing like that bad of a bad guy?

OT: I love it. I think that’s what I really miss about acting. I spent so long, the hosting world was great cause I got to be me. Which is fun. But I think that’s why it got a bit repetitive cause I was just being me–someone that loves to perform and create to just be someone else in moments. Acting is what I really miss. So it’s been nice because every role is just so, so different from real life.

DM: So you have a film coming out in October, The Rising Hawk. 

OT: It’s a 13th century kind of pre-Ghengis Khan film. Everyone in Ukraine has this book. It’s like the equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. It’s like their, their story, which is called Zakhar Berkut. They basically made it into a movie as a U S Ukraine kinda co-production. I play Bohun. Who’s this kind of Irish killing machine.

DT: I’ve heard people describe that the only difference between a dance number and a fight scene is the number of swords. Did you feel like that a lot of that on the set?

OT: It may shock a lot of people, but I was in ballet, modern and tap for 12 years. Um, and it definitely helps because it is a sequence, you know, it’s all memory. Everything is a dance routine with a sword. I will say I found it extremely difficult, at first. I didn’t grow up, playing with the whole sword thing wasn’t kind of part of my upbringing. I just played football, soccer, that was it. So a lot of the other cast members that had been in previous movies or had some sort of experience. So for me, it was completely new.

DM: So are you going to be trying anything else new?

OT: I’ve started to project produce, which a lot of friends are telling me I was doing anyway.

DT: How so?

OT: I always help friends out. They’d be like, “Oh, can you read the script? We need suggestions,” and I’ll be like, “Oh, I just interviewed this actor or he’s great or she’s great and I’ll put them in touch and it would go that way.” So was kind of similar to what I’m doing now, but we raise some financing and we’re funding a few projects and I’m really enjoying that side of things as well.

DT: And then what’s next in the acting department?

OT: Right now there are a couple of movies that I’m attached to. I’m just waiting for them to be greenlit and then we’ll move forward on them. One called Misdirection. It’s a great script for a thriller. The others, you know, it’s just a bit of a waiting game between projects. I’ve been very lucky to do so much in the last 14 months. So a bit of downtime right now is okay, but I could be on a plane next week. That’s the nature of it.

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Culture Featured Music

Interview With Niabi Aquena of Searmanas

Niabi Aquena of Searmanas Comes to NYC

Niabi Aquena of Searmanas in an interview with Downtown

Listening to the opening strains of a Searmanas song is like falling into a murky pool of lucid dreams. The ethereal vocals of Niabi Aquena gently sprinkle cinematic fairy dust over her lush soundscapes. Her work has been described as “etheric darkwave,” with nods to Sigur Rós, Fever Ray, and composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. 

Searmanas (pronounced SHA-mah-nas) is the Irish word for “ceremony.” Much of her poetry explores nature and ritual through unusual sonic channels; for instance, she used the radiotelephony spelling alphabet in her song Opening With Phonetics. Aquena’s live performances transform her into a priestess solemnly creating altars of noodly wires and sound waves.

“I love the exploration of the role of ceremony within both urban and rural experience,” says Aquena.  “I like showing, not telling. I’m inspired by intensity and poetry. I’m a romantic.”

Although she has called NYC home for two decades, Aquena originally hails from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where the oldest mountain ranges found on earth surround the region with rolling hills and green pastures. Many of her atmospheric progressions sonically mimic that landscape. 

“I grew up in this beautiful place feeling as an outsider and a weirdo,” Aquena explains. “My mom named me from a New Age baby name book she found. I was 5’9” at age twelve; I had flaming red hair. I was different, and in rural Virginia, that was not accepted. This led way to a vulnerability founded in mettle.”

Aquena has since struck an intriguing balance with her place as a metropolitan artist, and the acknowledgment of the pastoral beauty that shaped her youth, through her mystical lyrics and transcendent electronic experiments. She is a unique fixture in the New York music scene, having shared the stage with other electronic visionaries like John Bender and Hieroglyphic Being. 

“The city certainly has taken my heart, and the rhythm of this place motivates me to my core.”

Seamanas
“The only solution I could come up with after hot compresses failed me, was an eyepatch! The pics from that show turned out cool though, so now I’m asked when I’m bringing the eyepatch back…”

Since debuting Searmanas in 2016, Niabi Aquena has been signed to Cleopatra Records and taken her project on tour all over the Midwest and East Coast. Aquena describes tour life as “grueling, but very rewarding.” On the last leg of a major tour, however, a minor crisis struck.

“I got bitten on my eyelid at someone’s place and my eye swelled up. I looked terrible but was playing a show that night. The only solution I could come up with after hot compresses failed me, was an eyepatch! The pics from that show turned out cool though, so now I’m asked when I’m bringing the eyepatch back…although it most certainly wasn’t a fashion statement!”

Aquena has lent her considerable talents to other bands such as Dead Leaf Echo and Textbeak, but she has many more plans for her solo project. 

“I’m waiting on getting a pedal. It takes the firmware from one of my favorite modular synths, but in a stompbox. Earlier this year I taught myself guitar, so I’m thinking of incorporating these two loves, modular synthesis, and guitar, together for the next iteration of Searmanas.”

Searmanas performs the Hart Bar on 7 November.

Check out Undo by Searmanas here:

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Culture Featured

Interview: Jessica Camacho Lays Down The Law

Interview: Jessica Camacho Lays Down The Law

Photo credit Storm Santos

Interview: Jessica Camacho Lays Down The Law

Jessica Camacho has always had an inclination towards justice. She even considered a career in law before becoming an actress. She enjoyed the idea of fighting for what is just, something larger than herself. That makes her new roles, as LA County Public Defender Emily Lopez in CBS‘s All Rise and Police Officer ‘Pirate Jenny’ in HBO‘s Watchmen, particularly compelling.

Both shows ask compelling questions about the criminal justice system, and about the responsibility each person has to do what is right–whether or not that thing is backed up by the law. Camacho herself holds strong convictions, though she doesn’t see those convictions as political. “There are things that I just know are right,” she tells me, “that is like the pursuit of freedom, the pursuit of fairness. We all want to be treated with respect. To have a shot at a life and providing for ourselves, for our family. We all want to be free from violence. That, to me, is the hard line.”

Downtown: What excited you about All Rise?

Jessica Camacho: I get to play this incredible human being who is committed to justice in a very clear and true way. I got to really understand and explore what it is to be a public defender. That particular line of work is so heavy and burdened by the knowledge that so many lives are reliant upon the public defender as their last line of defense. The clients often have nothing and are in situations that are so dire. They are trusting in this human being to help them have a shot at the rest of their lives. I get to play somebody who is committed to something so much greater than themselves. I was very honored.

DT: Did you have an interest in the legal system before this role?

JC: Before I became an actor, before I even knew that acting would be a part of my life, I thought about going into law. It’s something that always interested me. It fascinated me: fighting on the right side of things, fighting for something bigger than yourself. I was always moved by that. 

The problem was that I could never decide if I wanted to be a prosecutor or a defense attorney. I was not very good at making decisions, so I’m like, I might not be the best lawyer. I see the gray a lot of times. I’m not a person that is more apt to see things in black and white. So it was just like, “I don’t know if this is the right pursuit for me.” And then pretty soon after that, I discovered acting. 

Jessica Camacho
Jessica Camacho

DT: Were there any issues in All Rise that were particularly close to you?

JC: I think the thing that’s closest to me in my personal life is Emily’s struggle with relationships. But also I know that the topics that we explore in All Rise–as a human being, as an American–a lot of those really resonate with me, hit home with me. So I often find myself being really, really stirred emotionally by the things that we’re exploring on the show.

DT: Did you read Watchmen or seen the movie before you, uh, audition to be part of Watchman?

JC: I had seen the movie. As I was auditioning, I started to read through the original graphic novel and I was blown away. It was dark and it was stirring and it was uncomfortable. It was talking about real fears and real anxieties, and the paranoia and the darkness within us. 

So that’s when I kinda realized like, “Oh, this is special, this is really special. This is like a different kind of look at life through the lens of the comic filter. This is something different.” So, yeah, it was very exciting.

DT: In addition to Watchmen, you were also on The Flash. Why do you think superhero shows are so popular right now?

JC: (Superheroes) speak to the possibility, the potential within us. I think as human beings, we feel limited in our lives. We feel the separation between how we want to see ourselves and how we actually see ourselves. I think the fascination with superheroes, it kind of picks up where our limitations leave us and there’s something beautiful and there’s something freeing about that.

But I think in terms of Watchman, I think this is the perfect time for Watchman because, with the constant stream of news and updates that technology brings us, we’re blown away by how much war, darkness, fighting, racism, and fear there is in the world. I think we want even our fantasies, even our heroes, to reflect what we’re experiencing as human beings.

I think people now want to see real. Yes, (Watchmen is) dealing with fantasy and yes, it’s dealing with heroes. Yes, it’s dealing with masks, but why the masks? What are the masks hiding? What are they disguising? I just think we’re just ready to delve in, even in our fantasy, to the darker nature of what is behind all of this.

When you see Watchman it’s like, Oh shit, this is not shying away from ugliness. This is not shying away from the horrible parts of American history. This is actually digging straight into that. Like, let’s address it so we can stop hating. Let’s address this. Then we can stop pretending that this is not at the core of us right now because we need to heal from it. And wounds need air to heal. I think it’s actually a really positive and beautiful thing that we’re starting to present things that are of the darker nature of us because I think it means that we want to heal.

Jessica Camacho
Jessica Camacho

DM: What’s next?

JC: Right now, we just found out that uh, all rise is getting a full season, so we’ll be shooting until about March. I think we’re just all kind of like, “Cool, all right, let’s buckle down. Let’s make this, let’s combine our efforts and make a really beautiful piece of work.” So that’s what’s on my agenda. I’m excited to see what comes next. I’m bubbling over with passion and energy. I love what I do. I am so, so excited to show up for it, to show up for every project that I get to do, and I’m just excited to see what comes next.

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Architecture Fashion Featured

How to Dress for an Architect Interview

How to Dress for an Architect Interview

You might have heard this a lot of times that the first impression is the last and we couldn’t agree more. When it comes to the interview, you’ll have to make sure that you are dressing properly and appropriately. It is said that the interviewer will roughly take over 3 seconds to evaluate what type of person you are. Just a glance is enough for them to judge your personality, general appearance, body language, mannerisms, and, most notably, how you are dressed before you even sit down.

Therefore, if you have an interview soon, then be sure to look sharp and well-presented. Being well prepared for an interview is imperative because there is nothing worse than a candidate who appears untidy and messy. This article will take you through some of the most important things that are often overlooked. If you want to leave a good first impression on your interviewer, then read this article till the end! 

Men’s Attire for an Interview

Suit

Yes, you guessed it right, the suit is the only option for men to wear when they are preparing for an architect interview. However, pulling off the suit right is not as easy as you think it is. What you should do is get your hands on a dark color suits if you already don’t own any such suit. For example, you can choose between dark grey, navy blue, and black suit. Make sure they are plain and print less. Moreover, the biggest mistake almost every guy makes is they wear a suit that doesn’t fit them. You don’t want to repeat the same. The key to a perfect suit is its fit. If it fits you right, that is the one for you to choose from. 

Ties 

When it comes to the tie, just a simple solid color will look the best. For example, solid red and blue always look good. The tip for rocking it perfectly is to make sure it is tied to the appropriate length in line with your belt. 

Shoes

Probably the first thing your interviewer will notice in your entire outfit is what type of shoes you are wearing. Of course, if you are wearing a suit, then you’ll have to wear dress shoes to tie the whole look together. Never make a mistake to pair your runners with your suit. Get yourself a good pair of black lace-up shoes. 

A Good Watch

No outfit looks complete without wearing a good watch. Your watch doesn’t have to be over $ 4,000. A good quality stainless steel watch will do perfectly fine. Never reach for the too chunky watch, always pick the one that looks decent and classy. Your watch will bring the whole look together.

Beard and Hairs

Lastly, if you have a short, medium, and long beard, then make sure it is neat and properly trimmed. A messy beard will leave a negative impact on the interviewer. Same goes with your hairs, get a haircut before an interview, and try to look as groomed as you can. All this is about just to make you look more presentable. 

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Featured Sports

Interview: Skier Bode Miller

Big Sky
Photo courtesy of Finn Partners

Interview conducted by Sydney Wright

Big Sky
Photo courtesy of Finn Partners

At a recent event, Downtown Magazine had a chance to chat with Bode Miller, champion alpine ski racer. Miller recently announced that he is moving his family from their home in California to Big Sky, Montana, a small Rocky Mountain town. He also recently announced a partnership with Lone Mountain Land Company, the owners of the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club and Moonlight Basin. 

Downtown Magazine: What enticed you to get involved with Lone Mountain?

Bode Miller: Well, I guess the root of it was a desire to have my kids be able to experience a bit of the outdoors, nature, that I got to experience when I was younger. There’s a lot of really cool projects and action going on in Big Sky so it was a really perfect balance for Southern California. I love Southern California, but some things are missing from it in terms of culturally and communing with nature. 

I’ve been to ski towns all over the world for the last 25 years, and being able to really be a part of building one, kind of… (Big Sky) has been there for a long time, but it’s raw enough, it’s not developed enough, where it has its own true identity. We’re really building it from scratch with what we think is the right stuff. I can bring in elements from all different cultures and do something unique and cool. 

DM: How would you describe the Big Sky to someone who has never been there, someone who has never experienced it?

BM: You know, it’s hard to describe it. I would say it’s rugged, but obviously Yellowstone Park is there too, so it has all the amenities. (Big Sky is) a nice combination of activities for every person–parents, grandparent, kids–where you can all be together. It’s small enough that it seems like everybody’s drawn together. You kind of feel like you’re huddling against nature. 

You feel connected with the people there. You go into the stores and the people are not salespeople, they’re like a chill old uncle or something. People are nice and friendly and open, and the activities are engaging and fun. Everything’s really distilled down to the more human elements of things. Even in a small community like where I am in Southern California, it’s just not the same thing. (In Big Sky) it’s an inclusive atmosphere combined with a rugged resilience. It’s unique. 

DM: What’s been one of your favorite memories of hiking with your kids out in Montana? 

BM: While we were walking in the trees, there are these lodgepole pines. They’re skinny, and they grow incredibly fast. They’re all over the place. And there’s a whole area where it’s those lodgepole pines right up until they break, and then it’s like 10 ft of bare rock, and then a cliff of maybe like 100 ft. It’s more or less straight down. 

We were walking through and I knew that it was there, so I was holding their hands, and they walked out of lodgepole pines, which are trippy, so you’re kind of distracted. They’re like bamboo because they’re so close together. So we’re all weaving through them, and then right there is the edge. You don’t notice it till you step out of the trees. So both my boys, watching them be like, “whoa.” And I was right there with them. 

We walked right up to the edge, and they could see over. Just to see them realize that that was just nature. It’s not Disneyland manmade apparatus or the edge of a building. Nature is that way. You see their minds, their imaginations, go a million different ways. And it’s based in reality, which I loved. 

That’s how I was when I was little. It does amazing things for your mind. They can learn things that you could spend a lifetime trying to teach them, and they can do it on their own in like 10 seconds if you give them the environment to let them do it. 

DM: I can see why you’re the spokesperson. You’re making me itching to get out of the city for a weekend. 

BM: I’ve spent a lot of time in cities that were awesome. I became very aware of it a long time ago. That I had to balance it out. I’d go crazy if I didn’t. 

DM: What’s your favorite thing about New York City?

BM: The diversity of the food. I’m a foody, and there’s a lot of good spots to eat — little holes in the wall and the unknowns. There’s a speakeasy that’s in the back of what used to be an old grocery store, where you went in their cooler, and there’s a little speakeasy back there. This city is old and it’s got a lot of history in that way. I’m not such a big fan of shopping or any of that, but there’s some sneaky stuff in the city that’s interesting. 

Big Sky
Bode Miler enjoys a hike in Jack Creek at the Yellowstone Club, Montana. Photo courtesy of Finn Partners.

DM: That’s awesome. So with skiing, I’m sure it’s a big adrenaline rush, would you say when skiing or racing? 

BM: Sometimes.

DM: What fills that void? What do you do for an adrenaline rush now?

BM: Nothing. I don’t really like adrenalin that much. It generally represents danger, and I’m not a big fan of danger. I think a lot of people get mixed up with risk and danger and fear, and I was never afraid of ski racing. I just always knew it posed a danger to me. 

When you’re going fast, you can get hurt. I wasn’t afraid of that. I just knew that it was there. The adrenalin was usually based around the knowledge that I was about to put myself in a really dangerous situation. It was true danger. I would get a huge adrenalin spike and I would be able to overcome that fear and then try to do it. And unfortunately, it most often ended up badly for me because I was having to take more risk and try harder than other guys.

Inherently it was a love/hate thing. I wanted to accomplish what I wanted to, and I liked the creative aspect of it, but I didn’t like that part. So now I’m not an adrenalin-seeker. I don’t like skydiving or any of that shit. I’m happy just to do mellow. Just drive around on a golf cart. 

Categories
Culture Entertainment Featured

Interview: Alexa Swinton of ABC’s Emergence

Alexa Swinton
Photo courtesy of Persona PR.

Emergence is a new ABC show about a mysterious young girl. It’s also a supernatural sci-fi mystery thriller. Police officer Jo Evans (Allison Tolman) finds her at the site of a plane crash, untouched and unharmed. The girl, Piper, has no memory and no known identity, but she seems drawn to Evans. Plots thicken when a suspicious couple tries to claim the girl, who appears to have hidden powers. Who is she? What is her secret? That’s Emergence. 

That’s also Alexa Swinton, the young actress who plays Piper. I mean, we know where she came from and–to my knowledge–isn’t being pursued by shadowy organizations. But, for a child, she seems to have hidden powers. In addition to acting, she’s a singer and a writer. Her first album is due to come out in January 2020, though you can hear her sing online. She’s also working on a book with her mom, “The Life of Skylie.” When she’s not doing that, she’s coding original computer games. At least one of those has gotten several thousand views.

Alexa Swinton on Emergence poster
Photo via IMDB

Swinton has been acting in film, television, and theater since the age of 1. Her first tv role was on the show Mythos in 2012. Before Emergence, her biggest credit was for her role in Billions as the daughter of the Attorney General of New York. She’s “uber excited” about her new role. “I can’t contain my feelings,” she tells Downtown, “(Piper is) totally a main character. I mean, she’s on the poster.” 

Acting must be in the Swinton blood. Yes, she’s distantly related to Tilda Swinton, but her mother, Inna Swinton, is also an actor. So are her siblings, Maxim and Ava. The three kids have their own website, a collection of performances and accolades for the trio marking them as “Three Creators and Performers.” 

Alexa Swinton is one of the youngest actors on the set of Emergence, but she’s having no trouble keeping up. She’s a big sci-fi and mystery fan and loves every aspect of playing Piper. “It’s always fun to play a really smart character,” she tells Downtown. “It’s so so cool that she doesn’t remember her past.” 

Check out Alexa Swinton and the rest of the cast of Emergence, ABC’s new supernatural sci-fi mystery thriller, tonight at 10 pm/9c.