Ariel Lavi hosts the actress Natalie Slovo for an interview about the career.
Hello Natalie! How are you?
“I’m great, I am an actress and also work with mentally challenged as a Rehabilitation Guide and run theater classes in kindergartens. Until a few months ago I had integrated lovely children with special needs in kindergartens and schools. It is very important for me to fulfill myself as an actress, and in the future also as an emotional therapist, in psychodrama”.
What exactly do you do for a career?
“About four years ago I began to fulfill myself as an actress. Until then, I worked in the security field and obtained two academic degrees in the field, which I cannot go into detail about. Since I was a child, I liked to be different characters for moments, mainly from movies and series that I loved and I dreamed of appearing on the big screen, and at the end of an exciting movie when the lights came on and the whole audience on the theater started to go up the stairs, I was full of tears, I imagined that I was the heroine who is currently going back into the world and everyone was moved by me and took something from the movie with them for life. But these were only dreams. I was majoring in science, and I invested a lot in my studies. Over the years, I focused on the security field and did not see myself doing anything else, even when people around me told me that it was suitable for me to work with people and children and to be an actress”.
What was the process for you to find what you wanted to do?
“About four years ago I experienced a kind of trauma, and I realized with myself that many other abilities and qualities exist in me that I do not express in fact, the acting that has always been there for me since childhood felt to me the natural way to express myself in the world and show everything that exists in me to the world, and together with it is accompanied by the desire to excite people, touch their hearts, influence and change their reality for the better.
Through different characters and different stories, I can convey the universal feelings that exist in all of us and feel that I am listened to and seen and accepted as I am”.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
“The rewarding part for me as an actress is divided into two, one with the world and the other with myself. I also feel that I am seen, listened to, and accepted as I am, with all the sides and complexities, and that I express myself in the world and influence it and the people. As I reach more people, I feel that I have the ability to touch and influence positively and leave something of myself.
In front of myself, it’s the knowledge that I get to connect with a lot of sides within me that are sometimes less expressed in everyday life, but I believe that everything exists within us, and through the characters, I can allow these sides to come out, come to terms with them and observe without judging. There is a kind of healing in this process.
Working with people, the exciting part is going through processes with the people that I accompany, giving from what is in me, empowering and learning a lot from them as they learn from me, and of course, knowing that I promote processes in people’s lives and help them fulfill themselves and feel good in this world. In every child or person in general that I accompanied, I met myself and it was very exciting, educational, and empowering”.
Can you tell us about your job?
“So far, I have participated in independent short films or in student final projects, some of which were selected to participate in festivals in Israel and around the world. On a daily basis, I have been practicing Ivana’s Chubbuck method for two years in a row, the wonderful Chubbuck, in the studio of Chubbuck Israel with my amazing and special teacher, Shahar Rosen, I am simultaneously participating in various projects – digital advertisements from time to time and writes my short film that I would love to release to the world one day. I take a lot of workshops with directors and casting directors to get to know and be exposed and of course, learn and enrich myself every day and experience working with them.
At the same time, I work as a Rehabilitation Instructor with mentally challenged people and I will probably return soon to the theater classes that I run in the kindergartens, I miss the kiddos very much.”
What is your greatest success so far?
“About a year ago, I participated in a leading role in the short movie ‘It Didn’t Kick In’, by a talented filmmaker who tells the story of two lesbians who meet at home after a party and conveys in a very authentic way, to my opinion, the jumble of emotions – excitement desire, sexual conflagration, butterflies, embarrassment, confusion and disappointment through the screen. I enjoyed every moment and I see every project as a professional challenge, in a good way, that allows me to express myself in additional and different ways than what I have expressed so far, especially on the screen and in general in life. About two weeks ago, the producer informed me and my partner that the movie was selected to participate along with four other movies in the Lesbian Lethal Film Festival, a well-known Israeli lesbian film festival in Israel that promotes female work and a well-known online magazine in Israel is interested in doing an article on the movie. Of course, I’m very excited, and for me, it signifies blossoming as an actress, and exciting progress at my own pace and in my special way.
In addition, another final short film in which I participated in the main role – ‘Water to the Soul’ which I cannot go into detail about at the moment, was selected to participate in an international student film festival that will take place this summer. This of course made me very happy, and also knowing that the team of professional teachers at the university was excited about me and was with me throughout the movie and complimented me and connected with me excited me.
In addition, there were other successes of short movies with my participation, one of them reached festivals abroad and won awards and one almost got nominated at the Israeli Ophir Awards ceremony and to know that I took part in such quality works that received appreciation and recognition makes me very excited and happy and encourages me to continue”.
What do you want the audience to know?
“When high sensitivity is a gift, when saying what you feel and speaking from the heart is a strength and not a weakness, as unfortunately some people think. When animals just like us humans, can feel and are sensitive, and that everyone in the world has their own uniqueness and there is no one else like them. Its to say, everyone has their own way of fulfilling themselves”.
Where did you grow up?
“I was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. I grew up in Holon, which is close to Tel Aviv”.
What are some of the challenges you faced along the way?
“From time to time there can be feelings that I have no idea if I will get to the projects that I believe I deserve and progress as I want and believe in myself, especially when I am not a well-known actress yet. Since I started as an actress, I haven’t had a significant agency, one that I felt saw me and the abilities and qualities in me and promoted me or that I progressed with their help. The process of accepting agencies is complex and not always clear and it happens that there are quite a few talented and high-quality actors who can be without an agency at certain moments. The feeling that there is a personal representation and someone who supports and promotes me makes it easier and also enables opportunities to get proper auditions, which is more complex and challenging to reach myself. So, the experience of getting proper auditions can be challenging. until now, most of the projects I’ve participated in, and maybe actually all of them, are the ones I’ve gotten to on my own, so I’m very excited to be represented by a good agency with an agent who sees me and believes in me as I believe in myself. In addition, it is important to me to share that I believe that I have my own path and it is important to pave the way for self-fulfillment in our own way. It gives me strength and motivates me. I know that the right projects for me and the exact roles for me are waiting for me somewhere”.
What does it take to be a successful Actress?
“I think that a successful actor is an actor who when watching him, people forget that he is an actor. To trust me that everything that is inside me is enough and passes to the viewer. Just feel inside and it goes through the eyes to the outside. The ability to speak your truth, to really feel the emotions from the inside, to be connected to the moment and to be freed from everything that seems to be true, to respond from the moment, from the truth, to listen to partners and to connect with ourselves and what is happening.
I believe that curiosity is very necessary for actors. The curiosity to deepen the characters, the human soul, to explore patterns of thought and behavior, and the desire to convey stories to the world.
In addition, sensitivity emotional intelligence, and flexibility are very important qualities, and also the ability to accept constructive criticism. Actors are exposed all the time. The ability to have inner strength, inner faith, and knowing that I am as good as I am and still am, learning every day and developing as an actress as well. This allows for constant improvement and durability in the face of ‘no’ or various criticisms. In addition, patience and perseverance alongside the inner belief in ourselves, in my opinion, is very, very important to move forward and fulfill ourselves”.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
“First of all, the most important thing for me is always being healthy, mentally and physically, and happy with what I have and with my beloved family and good friends. I would love to be a working and well-known actress, with quality projects and diverse and special roles. The ambition is to reach as many people as possible and of course to reach international projects. If you ask me then my wildest fantasy is to be the female version of the Joker. Not Harley Quinn, just a female version of the Joker. I have a strong desire to convey the pain and vulnerable places of each character and fulfill their desires and needs.
In addition, I also imagine myself as an emotional therapist who gains experience and develops and calmly integrates the two sides of me – the actress and the therapist. Oh, and of course, I would love to meet my life partner, and who knows, maybe I’ll feel ready to start a family of my own. What is important is that I continue to do what I love and feel is right for me out of true freedom and fulfill myself every day at my own pace and in my way”.
What advice would you give to a young Actress?
“I am myself a beginner actress, and from my personal journey so far as an actress I can recommend to those who are starting to fulfill themselves as actors to always remind themselves why this is their passion. I think that once we understand our inner engine and what is so important for us to bring into the world, it strengthens our inner resilience and helps in moments where we can be shaken as actors. In addition, it allows persistence and patience in everyone’s personal way. If it is important to me to express myself in the world and I know what qualities and abilities exist in me, I will do it and I will persevere in my self-fulfillment as an actress in the world”.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
“There are quite a few people throughout history who are an inspiration to me. By being human first. Humane, good-hearted, who have had a positive impact on humanity and fulfill their dreams and overcome the obstacles and difficulties of life. Anne Frank, and in general Holocaust survivors move me and are an inspiration to me, and every person who has faced or is facing complex situations and sees the good and the light.
My family came from Europe and some of them were murdered during the war and as an Israeli Jew, I have been very connected to this issue since childhood. For me, Ana is a character that symbolizes kindness, faith, purity, honesty, and ambition. In addition, she also wanted to be a movie actress and I hugging her in my heart.
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An actress who inspires me and enters my heart is Emilia Clarke. I respect her so much. Every time I watch her, I feel like I’m a little bit of her. Her naturalness and the nuances that exist in her fascinate me and in general as a person, as I watch her in interviews, I feel that she is a person first and foremost. with a big heart real modesty and with inner strength as an actress. And these are qualities I really value”.
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