Interview with Nina Samii

Each month we'll interview a member of the Sine Fine Film company, asking the same or similar questions, and learn more about the actors and crew. 

This month I'm interviewing Nina Samii who's been with the company since the summer of 1997.

Q: 

How did you get involved in SFF? (And what possessed you to keep coming back for more torture?)

A: I got involved when I was in a play with Eleanore at Central High School and she was talking to someone else – Elizabeth Andrijasich – who was playing Paco the Taco and it sounded like so much fun, and so I begged Elea, I said “Please please! I’ll do anything! I could be anything! I could be—“ and then it just came to me “—I could be Nina the Fajita!”  I think you took pity on me, so I was lucky enough to get my first part because my name was Nina and it rhymes with Fajita and I got to be the sidekick of Paco the Taco.

Who doesn’t want to be a movie star - or feel like a movie star? And even though it isn’t a big Hollywood blockbuster, someone gives you a script and points a camera at you and you feel special.

Q: What was your favorite part to play?

A: 

I would have to say Lily from the Dragon & The Unicorn – that’s the first one that comes to mind. I think it’s because the character I got to play the longest was Zarina and it was hard to be mean. I know there were some tender moments with that character but I think it was cool to be the hero and to play someone who was discovering something about herself and I think that’s what I like and I didn’t have to be mean to anybody, except the villain.

 

You know it’s so funny, I was literally just thinking about this yesterday.  I was driving home past Jen Weber’s house and it made me think of filming and for some reason that made me think about The Dragon and The Unicorn. I had this thought - would I rather play a villain or would I rather play the damsel-in-distress? As I was thinking about it I thought,  the villain takes more energy, and the villain is more complex… But now that you’re asking point blank I think I’d rather be the damsel-in-distress because it’s easier and because I’m lazy.

Q: What was your favorite filming day?

A: 

Pandora’s Box, filming at Allerton Park and we were filming in the gardens and right off of the gardens was that field. I just remember it being a blast and it was so hard to stay in character that day because everybody was laughing, the weather was good, it was just a really good time and everyone was getting along – it was just a magical day. We got to frolic in the field. I think that would be my favorite day.

Q: What was your least favorite filming day?

A: 

I remember one time we were filming at the MacLeods and it was cold – it was so cooold!  And there was this other time we were filming in the woods and Danny was there so it had to be Dragon and The Unicorn and I remember being cold – so very cold.  And then there was the Vigil – it was before you figured out how to make blood and so it was like beat juice and laundry detergent and you doused me in it – that was unpleasant. 

There was a scene where Zarina was going crazy and I had to throw myself around in this little room in your basement – I think that was the hardest thing I ever had to do. It wasn’t like a bad day of filming, but it was definitely the hardest.

Q: What's your dream role?

A: 

I think anything that would require me to kick ass, like if I could be like in Mission Impossible or I could be an X-Man or something.  You would be like “Nina I need you to do this role, but you’re going to have to go through martial arts training for six solid months.” And I’d be like “Okay, Elea, I will do what ever you want me to do.” I think that would be really fun - where I got to like…kick butt.

So there’s that, but then the other part of it is that I’d like to be – I think maybe because of the weird life stage I’m in right now – that I could be a academic or someone who like decodes things or solving a mystery by using my smarts. I would wear glasses and I have to push them up with my index finger.  I’m like Violet in a Series of Unfortunate Events and I’m tying my hair back with a ribbon and pushing up my glasses like “We have to get to the bottom of this mystery!”  I want to play a smart person with glasses. 

Or I could be like both - a smart, mystery-solving person who may or may not need to kick ass.

Q: 

What’s your favorite production to watch?

A: I don’t know – can I say blooper reels? Because originally at the end you showed bloopers and it just reminds me of all the funny things that happened while filming.  Yeah, that or Destiny.  I know the least about Destiny, because I didn’t come in until late and I was a very small part of Destiny III, so I’d like to watch it because I don’t know a lot about it and it’s interesting to me.

Q: 

What’s your favorite costume, accessory, or prop?

A: Oh here it is - you ready? I’ve got it: my black boots, you gave me pair of cropped like sort of gray pants, and then I had this like Army, cropped jacket like thing – it was green.  I put that on and I felt like my character!  (Me” was that King of Elflin’s Daughter?) Yes! That’s it!  I didn’t really talk much in King of Elflin’s Daughter, so all I really had was that costume, but I liked it a lot. 

Q: 

Who’s your favorite actor co-star/actor you’ve worked with?  Who would you like to work with in the future?

A: That’s a hard question.  Okay, favorite people to work with? Definitely Danny Skirvin, definitely Diana Neatrour, and Rachel Anderson.  I like working with Rachel and Danny cause they’re really goofy and they can lighten the mood and they’re really, really unique people – both of them.  They have a very entertaining sense of humor, very non-sequitur. I like working with Diana because she’s the same way, but she keeps it inside – she’s very subtle and I’m still so glad I got to film with her. I just like her as a person, I just like to be around her.

I’ve gotten a chance to work with Brittany Ann Whalen-Meyer, she was really fun and I’d like to work with her more.  I’d also like to work with obviously Annamarie, and obviously Jacob – they’re like the most talented people in the world, so wouldn’t want to work with them.  I really enjoyed being around Syndi Eller as well.  I think working with people is not just about how they perform and how they look but also just the kind of people they are, and that’s a really cool thing.  All of them are reasons that most of the people are just people you want to be with.

Q: 

Sum up each production you’ve been in using only one word or short sentence.

DESTINY III – Fajita

DRAGON & UNICORN –  Necklace in my tea

KING OF ELFLIN’S DAUGHTER – Lip-syncing, and pretending to play a violin

PERFECT COMBINATION – Serious…

THE VIGIL – The raccoon skin cap, mornings, Ryan Segovich…I think that’s all to say about that.

PANDORA’S BOX – “Find the bomb and detonate it!”

EIDOLON – We filmed by a lake. It was cold.

GODDESS ANONYMOUS – Shh! and cupcake cleavage

Q: 

Top 5 favorites: (not SFF related)

Favorite Color - Yellow

Favorite Movie or TV Show –Wayne’s World and The Office

Favorite Song or Band/Artist – Song? Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler. Favorite band would be 

The National and REM

Favorite Food or Drink - 

Honey and Water (but not together)

Favorite Holiday – Halloween!