Sofia Vassilieva On Doing What You Love, Being Open to Possibilities and Her New Film ‘The Little Things’
Sofia Vassilieva on doing what you love, being open to possibilities and her new film ‘the little things.
Sofia was virtually photographed and interviewed in Los Angeles by Alison Engstrom
Since you started working at a young age, how was it like to grow up and blossom in front of the camera?
It’s all I know, what’s interesting is that I always feel, I started out in this industry just before ten, and I always feel like I was young enough to know what I was doing but there was no fear. I fell in love with it and there was not hesitation. I knew what I was doing and I loved the work. The first shoot I ever did was a guest spot on this show called The Agency and I remember being done on a six and a half hour shoot day and I said, I can legally work for 9.5 hours. Why am I leaving? It’s what I have know and what I have loved andI have been able to love it fearlessly because of that. It’s one of the great loves of my life.
Did you step away from acting when you were in college at Columbia in New York?
I did, but I did come out of break for a couple of projects if they showed up or I would go in for really good ones, but most just came into me as offers and I would then step away and do them. It was really great because Law and Order: SVU obviously shot in New York but we shot on campus. I would come out of a building shooting Law and Order and the rest of my class would be coming out of lecture. Or, I would be shooting at a local bar on the Upper West Side and my friends would walk by and say, Sof? And I’d say, hey! My professors were very accommodating when I would say that I was going to miss four weeks to go work.
“My parents were the first people in their family to leave Russia and to chase a dream. I was never raised with the idea that I couldn’t do something or be somebody. That’s how I was raised, I thought I could do anything. ”
Was it at all scary to step away from the industry and focus on school?
I probably went into it more blindly. My parents are both professors—my mom is a professor of evolutionary biology and my dad is a professor of astrophysics, so I grew up on campus and I never really saw a world that I wasn't going. I was also on a show called Medium in college and in retrospect they could have been like, no, you aren’t going to college you are contractually here and we are going to keep you. There was none of that. The creator, Glenn Caron so intuitively knew. It was so great, I got into Columbia and the crew just called me, Columbia, that was my new name for the next nine months.
Where did your life and career start out?
I was born in Minnesota—my parents had just moved from Russia. Shockingly my moves were never dictated by my career. My family moved to Oregon, Tucson, and Salt Lake and then my dad got a position in California in Los Angeles. Then immediately after that I got Medium. It was just a series of timely events. I did this thing called IMTA, which is International Model and Talent, where you compete in New York and you get to meet agents, so I came out of that. I did well and it was my parents who said, this is a reassuring signal and let’s continue to explore this avenue and see if I like it. That’s how they have been about everything with dance and ballet. They came over here, worked hard and they were successful—they embody the American dream. They gave their daughter every opportunity that they could afford in life and to explore and what would stick and it stuck.
“What is really interesting is the dialogue of women and yes, it’s women being writers and directors that’s great, but the most interesting thing to me is the support. It seemed earlier that there was this inherent competition between women. Now I look around and there are slews of women and we celebrate one another”
In what ways have you seen your industry change since you first started?
I was just talking about this with my mom. I have had really amazing experiences in this industry. In recent years, you have heard all of these stories coming out and I always had the most phenomenal experiences. I have worked very frequently with sets that are led by women like Patricia Arquette, Julie Andrews or Cameron Diaz. They are all remarkable people as much as they are remarkable actors. My parents were the first people in their family to leave Russia and to chase a dream. I was never raised with the fact that I couldn’t do something or be somebody. That’s how I was raised, I thought I could do anything.
What is really interesting is the dialogue of women and yes, it’s women being writers and directors that’s great, but the most interesting thing to me is the support. It seemed earlier that there was this inherent competition between women. Now I look around and there are slews of women and we celebrate one another. Kerry Washington had a speech and said, it’s not about having a seat at the table, just make the table bigger get more seats. I love that. There are so many platforms and places for content. I just realized in the past few years a change in the rhetoric that we have among each other and that has been the most inspiring and rewarding and healing sliver of this industry to be apart and to really love, support and look out for one another.
What would you say has been a guiding force for the career decisions you make?
I think a huge part of that is having a really good team. My philosophy is be everything, read everything, and be open to anything because you never really know what you are going to respond to. My disposition has always been to be as open as possible and not to judge anything immediately. Most experiences in the end have been lovely. There is always something to take away from it, even looking back, there is nothing that I would change. All of those experiences have shaped who I am now, so I think being open and having a really good team who will say, we highly advise against this (laughs) and having the openness of a team who will say that, which takes time, in any industry. Even with friends, it takes time to find the right friends.
“I always try to remind myself that if I think it’s nerves, I remind myself that it’s also excitement. I try to live in the excitement.”
Friendships can get tricky when you get older, because life can settle in and time seems short.
My mom always says, friends are like plants and flowers they need a little bit of attention and they stay for a long time. By the way, I find out news about my friends lives through my mother. I think it’s the greatest thing (laughs). My mom is very much the glue that holds everyone together, so she is very good, nurturing and being present in people’s lives and with time, I have adopted more of that in my life and realized how precious friends are. I think I took that for granted when I was younger.
I think we all have taken a lot for granted before 2020, like a hug, a handshake or a maskless smile!
I know, I miss hugs! I was coming out a bakery and I saw a women in her car and she saw me, I had just taken my mask off and she had her mask off at a red light and we both just smiled and waved at each other. It was the greatest thing.
Congratulations on ‘The Little Things’ being number one at the box office, that’s so awesome. The film is quite the thriller! What was it about the project that pulled you in the most besides the awesome cast.
Yeah besides the three Oscar winners and John Lee Hancock. I really liked that we inverted the victim stereotype. I liked how we saw a contemporary woman, in a situation, in a different era where we are used to seeing a very different outcome was attractive to me. I was playing a character where a lot of their experience is in silence or scripted silence, which is always very exciting to me because then there are no bounds.
Is that more challenging from a performing standpoint?
Some people say it is, but that film The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro, I think it’s so interesting because there is much freedom. I guess it’s challenging. I would just love to do that it would be a remarkable experience. So I was really excited about that and the freedom of figuring out what her experience was because she went from this quick turn of such a high to a person you immediately identify with and love and in their fullest, freest and happiest state—then to have that really sharp turn of events and to be smart and capable enough to figure it out. It could really happen to anyone. She didn’t put herself into a precarious situation at all but the fact that she could get though it was really reassuring. In the production, I really appreciate the support that everyone pledged to this character. I shot the first few days and the last few days of the production.
You play Tina Salvatore, opposite Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto--who was so frightening in that film. What was that experience like?
A glance from him just penetrates the soul and terrifies you. It knocks you to your core. Most of my scenes are with Rami—he is incredibly kind and open on the set. Again, I’ve been so fortunate of the people I have worked with which is my norm and that’s my expectation and to be welcomed into open arms with a project. It takes a lot of kindness and love. There are always first day jitters but when it’s met with such excitement everyone is excited.
How do you overcome nerves?
I never get nervous about who I am working with. Someone once said that nervousness and excitement are neighbors. I always try to remind myself that if I think it’s nerves, I remind myself that it’s also excitement. I try to live in the excitement. It’s been very helpful. I think first day jitters are great. It’s one of those things where you think about the days you can distinctly remember, the days I can remember in my life, I remember because they felt fully lived. I wasn’t just going through my day getting things done. They are corner stones.