AYS OF PUTTING YOU ON THE RIGHT PATH.
Call it destiny. Right place, right time. Good karma or good luck. For Milena Smit, she’s fine with whatever you want to call her unique fortune. The actor, who recently starred in Pedro Almodóvar’s critically-ac- claimed Parallel Mothers , alongside Penélope Cruz, was working as a receptionist at a hotel in Murcia back in 2018 when she re- ceived an Instagram message asking her to audition for a role in a film. That film ended up being David Victori’s Cross The Line ( No Matarás in its native Spanish), which gar- nered Smit her first Goya nomination. The unexpected Instagram message for Cross The Line did not come completely out of nowhere. The thriller, which follows the aftermath of an accident in which a good-na- tured man kills someone in the name of self-defense, was missing a protagonist with the look. Meanwhile, Smit was creating said look on her Instagram account, where she would post photos from shoots she was cre- ating with fellow photographer friends in cemeteries and places of the sort—crafting the perfect Mila for Victori’s film, without even knowing it. “ Cross The Line was my first movie ever,” says Smit. “It was my first experience ever acting, as well. For a person who had never acted before to live all the filming process, with that intensity, and with an amazing di- rector…it was magical. He made the whole time shooting an incredible experience, helping me navigate the character and eas- ing me into the role through activities and interpretation exercises that we used to do before every shoot.”The filming of Cross The Line introduced Smit to her future. “I real- ized that that was my passion,” she explains
of her dream job. “I had never before found what I wanted to do with my life, so I was just working different jobs, without a passion, but to survive. And it was then when I realized that acting was what I wanted to do.” Following the wrapping of the film, Smit went into the acting world full force, doing a seminar at Cristina Rota, a recognized art school in Madrid, and then a master class with Bernard Hiller, the renowned acting coach to the likes of Jeff Goldblum and Cameron Diaz. “Having an experience with a more international coach was a discov- ery,” emphasizes Smit of her experience together with Hiller. “He has a viewpoint not only focused on acting exercises, but on how to be an actor. On the interests that an actor should have. Like how an actor should have worldwide knowledge, they should be cultured, they should be curious and active. Because you put all that knowledge into your characters. I loved doing that master class with him, and I still have a relationship with him, and I am sure I will be having more classes with him.” Smit has not stopped working since Cross The Line premiered. In fact, while the film was premiering she received the information for another audition, one without the name of the project nor of the director. Spoiler alert: it was Parallel Mothers by the legendary Pedro Almodóvar. “I was very grateful to not know who the audition was for,” she explains, “because I went into the audition very calm, and they saw me without any nerves.” She didn’t find out what the movie was until the final stage of auditions, when she would act in front of Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz. “And thank god the next audition was the final one with them, because if I had found out at the beginning what movie it was for, I don’t know if I would have done it so well.” Parallel Mothers follows two single women—one middle-aged and established, one young and scared—who meet in a hospital room where they are both about to give birth. The two form a strong bond as they confront motherhood together. “Working with Pedro and Penélope was wonderful,” exclaims Smit. “We connected right away, and my relationship with the character was extremely organic. Rehearsals were also so beautiful. We were rehearsing for five months and then filming for three months, and I think those were the most beautiful months of my life.” In an industry that moves so fast, having to create a project from scratch within mere months presented a challenge to the actor, especially a new one, to not feel overwhelmed. However, as Smit shares, “Everything was by, and for, the actors, and that is a very important thing for Pedro. When we would get onto set, everything was already ready so that we could have a few minutes to go over everything with Pedro before we started to shoot. And everyone respected the work of the actors, which is really hard, since there are so many departments working together, and so little time to make everything flow. So we were so grateful that Pedro gave it that importance, and gave every department enough time to do its job, so that we could have that little time before shooting.”
151
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting