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Hi Sabina Friedman-Seitz, welcome to VENTS!
How have you been getting through the pandemic? Any tips to share?
I’ve been focusing less on trying to stay “productive” for productivity’s sake and instead have tried to take the opportunity to think outside the box in terms of how I can remain creatively excited and busy during this time of isolation. I’ve been working on creative projects that don’t depend on getting opportunities from others, and there’s been a freedom within that. One piece I’m most proud of is an immersive Instagram performance about a wellness influencer named @cassandra_clemm.
I’ve also been facetiming and zooming with friends as much as possible. Lots of chatting to stay in touch but dance cardio classes with friends over video calls has been another way to connect through doing an activity together.
When you first decided to become an actress, how did your family react?
I’m very lucky that I have family in the arts and they’ve always been incredibly supportive. I mean, my mom still jokingly sometimes wishes I were a lawyer, but they’ve never actually questioned what I do.
Can you tell us how you got into acting and producing films?
I moved to LA to pursue acting right after I finished grad school. I became involved on the producing end because I wanted to have the tools and knowledge to help facilitate the creation of the stories that I wanted to be a part of. I love knowing what’s going on both sides of the camera.
Your film, Fingers has just started to stream on Shudder TV. Can you tell us the role you play?
Sure, I play the lead role of Amanda. She is full of phobias and crippling anxiety and she projects these phobias onto other people. She believes everyone else is the problem, when, in fact, she herself is one of the problems. I can’t relate to the specific and horrible phobias Amanda articulates and the ways in which she handles them, but I can absolutely relate to the fact that she is full of irrational fears. I’m an incredibly anxious person; in particular, I have an at times debilitating phobia of elevators that gets in my way. So, I focused on and channeled this abject panic into Amanda’s body throughout the story, and through the arc of the story I turned this terror into her anxious determination that ends up driving her.
It seems the role was quite intense. How did you prepare for the role?
I focused on the physicality of my anxieties and the ways that they live in my body. I often prepare for scenes using breathing exercises. And before production I talked a lot with Juan about references that were important to him. In particular, Julianne Moore’s performance in Todd Haynes’ “Safe.”
Can you share some of the highs and lows as your character?
Highs — working on a small incredibly unique project with people I love, respect, and trust. Difficulties — exploring the darker sides of a character.
Do you tend to gravitate towards any specific genre of film, and how do you choose the projects you end up working on?
I love black comedies, I love thrillers. I can usually tell within the first few pages if I find the writing believable and if I’m pulled into the world. I’m really drawn to complicated characters.
We understand you run between New York and Los Angeles. Can you tell us your favorite things to do in each?
It might sound nuts, but I love exploring and getting around all of LA on my own without a car. I take public transportation and spend a lot of the time on foot, which has allowed me to experience parts of the city in different ways than a lot of people I know. There’s something really exhilarating about it to me. And in New York, one of my favorite things to do, that I have especially missed during this time, is going to see theater.
Are you working on anything at the moment?
In addition to the Cassandra Instagram project I mentioned, Juan (Ortiz — the director of Fingers) and I are developing his next feature script that I’ll star in. We hope to film sometime this year. To find out more about Sabina Friedman-Seitz follow her on Instagram
