Guess what? Today I surprised my mom by showing up at her work! Yup, I’m temporarily back in The Netherlands! And since “If.” (the short I wrote and starred in) has a theatrical run in two theaters this month, I will be doing personal introductions and Q&A’s! If you’re near Delft or Wageningen, check out the showtimes below, and come join me when I introduce my labor of love!
I’m so excited to share with you that a whole bunch of Dutch theaters are going to show “If.,” the short film I wrote, co-produced and starred in! Want to see our labor of love in a theater near you? So far “If.” is going to screen in theaters in Amsterdam, Wageningen and Delft!
First up: Studio/K in Amsterdam! Studio/K is an awesome artsy theater/club/bar in the East of Amsterdam. This screening is extra special because it’s walking distance from where I used to live when I was a student at the University of Amsterdam, and where I filmed TV show “Who’s in Who’s Out”. Check the details behind the cut…
The end of 2014 marked 1,5 years in Los Angeles for me, or halfway through the stay my O1B visa allows. People often ask me if LaLaLand is what I thought it would be. After going through all that trouble to get here, does it live up to expectations? Well, I’m still not married to a 90 year old producer/sugar daddy, so I guess it’s been a major letdown…I kid!
No, in al honesty, it’s a bit of a difficult question, since I kind of gradually eased into LA. I ‘ve been to Los Angeles as a 17 year old tourist with my family in tow, as a 19 and 20 year old University of Amsterdam student escaping the summers to take acting classes, as a 22 year old to chase a visa for 8 months long, and as a 23 year old to try one final time. So I guess the proper way to phrase the question is: How did the final move to LA and hustle to become a working actress compare to the one playing in my imagination right before? Well, tell you I shall…
I don’t know if you’ve heard about this, but there’s this awards show called The Academy Awards (Google it) and it’s like, about acting and stuff. I chatted about my Oscars experience, my career, future plans and other things on Dutch national radio yesterday. You can hear it here: http://www.radio1.nl/popup/terugluisteren-uren/2015-02-23/04:00 Skip to 15:19! Note: It’s in the beautiful language that is Dutch, so sorry non Dutch speaking blog readers!
While I’m still running around Los Angeles to wrap things up and prepare for my flight back to Amsterdam tomorrow, the premiere of If. has been getting some press! The local radio in Alkmaar has been featuring an item on it all week, and now newspaper Noord-Hollands Dagblad also published some lovely words about our labor of love. See and read the full (translated) article below!
Sometimes I ride my bicycle uphill to my apartment, straight towards the Hollywood sign, and I’m just in awe of what my life has become. Of the fact I actually spend my days working from home and coffee shops, doing auditions, discussing movies, meeting new people… The fact that riding a hot pink scooter through the Hollywood Hills is part of my weekly routine, that the words Los Angeles are in my address. I think about where I was 5 or 10 years ago, and I’m not so much proud of how my environment has changed, but how I have changed. I am such a different person. Granted, each person goes through a ton of personal development in their twenties , but there are certain things I credit my dream of becoming an actress with. This ongoing journey – while crazy and sometimes soul crushing – has definitely made me a better person…
On May 31st was my first LA anniversary. Yup, it’s been one full year since I stepped on the plane in Amsterdam and left my old life behind. It was little different than I thought it would be, since May was possibly the worst month of my LA life so far. In the span of just one month I got into a pretty bad accident with my one month old motorcycle, had to deal with the financially and emotionally draining aftermath, got hit by a car on my bicycle, slipped with my new motorcycle and both my phone and laptop died. But what matters is that my LAnniversary made me think of all the people that come here, and then leave within one or two years. And the people that come here, and stay. For years and years, sometimes without ever “making it.” It made me wonder which of these people I would belong to…
Because I’m like, so famous, there was a little interview with me about life in Hollywood as a foreigner in a Dutch newspaper today. It’s kind of nice and nostalgic though, since I used to read this newspaper all the time when I was a student in Amsterdam. On the train, in the tram… It’s a fun idea that my friends and family that use the ever reliable public transportation in Holland today, get to see this. Makes me feel a little bit closer to them! Anyway, you can read the translated interview behind the cut. Or if you speak Dutch, read the original interview here!
Remember when I wrote, produced and acted in my own short? I was pretty much on cloud nine throughout whole thing (and had a little trouble adjusting back to normal life after nearly two months of working on the short full time). We had an amazing crew, a great atmosphere on set, and got 50% of our funding through generous donations of awesome people. To inspire you to create you own projects as well, here’s a little behind the scenes video of the making of Samson…
Aaaand I’m back in Los Angeles. After spending a month eating lotsa Doritos, mayonaise and chocolate, being surrounded by family and friends and cold weather I’m back in my own little apartment in the Hollywood heat. This was the first time I returned to LA -as in went home- instead of returning to the Netherlands, and it’s been a little strange readjusting. There’s just zero overlap between my life in Holland and my life in Hollywood, like they’re two different universes that only exist when I’m there.
It’s also the first time I’m in LA for pilot season. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term: Pilot season is the season when all TV show pilots get cast and produced. And that’s an infinite amount more than what you end up seeing on TV. I’m a newbie to pilot season myself, but got a very helpful breakdown in my acting class at Lesly Kahn. So here’s a what happens to actors during pilot season in Los Angeles…
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