Post by Jazz on Aug 25, 2006 8:25:06 GMT 1
lookie...another Suanne interview ....about ....Hollywood..BTW thanks for the link to this interview: ;D
It's coming up roses for 'reject' Suanne
Leap Day birthday girl Suanne Braun turned eight, or 32, this week with a big party, a new play, a new man and plans for a singing career. Not bad for somebody who's been cast in the role of Hollywood reject...
Reports of the demise of her Hollywood ambitions have been greatly exaggerated, says Suanne, romping through the role of Alice in The Secret Lives Of Henry And Alice at the Theatre On The Bay in Cape Town.
Better known as a television presenter and cover girl than an actress, Suanne is a thespian to the fingertips: wonderful makeup, trademark auburn hair tied in a topnot, one of those beautifully modulated theatre voices and a whole repertoire of accents and gestures to call on to illustrate her points.
She's having fun with Malcolm Terrey in Henry And Alice, a hilarious two-hander about the mundanity of married life and the redeeming power of fantasy. For one who loves comedy, it's a plum role - but it's also a chance to take another swipe at the perception that she is more a pretty face than an actress.
Suanne left South Africa for Hollywood five years ago amid much hype about her acting prospects. As long as she popped back for a whirlwind visit, she had the benefit of the doubt.
Now that she's accepted work offers here, the mumbling has begun: "Shame - she's back. She obviously didn't make it". Thanks to the urban jungle of Los Angeles, Suanne is bulletproof.
"Initially, I was so offended," she says. "Even when I came back the first time, after eight months, people were going, 'So - how come you haven't made a biggie yet?'
"And I remember feeling quite stunned, and thinking, phew - where did that come from? You were all on my side eight months ago!
"But then again, it's part and parcel of the job I do that you can't please everybody all the time. And I did leave this country with everybody going 'She's the great white hope - going to conquer Hollywood'.
"It has been the most extraordinary adventure. It hasn't panned out the way I thought it would, but I truly believe it has made me a better actress; definitely a better woman."
She wasn't alone in her ignominy - actor Arnold Vosloo was the butt of some snide remarks, too, over his non-speaking role in The Mummy.
"It doesn't matter that he doesn't talk in the film. He's doing really well over there," says Suanne.
"You have to understand the magnitude of what you're up against there. At any one time in Los Angeles, there are 250 000 actors unemployed - a quarter of a million people.
"It's a different ball game. When you go for an audition here, there are maybe 10 people going for the same role - maybe five.
"There, they go through piles of photographs and choose who they want to see - and, even then, there are probably 300 to 400 people a day auditioning. So when you land a job, even if it's five lines in a sitcom, it's a big achievement."
She had South African "princess" status here - so why did she take the risk? She pulls a wry face and considers carefully.
"I've wanted to act since I was five years old," she says. "I've never wanted to do anything else. I've never had a fallback career, which I've sometimes regretted.
"I dropped out of drama school and began working for M-Net as a presenter at 19. It sounds naive, but I never expected it to have the repercussions it had. It was quite overwhelming to have people recognising me wherever I went.
"The travel programme, Bon Voyage, was an incredible experience, but I became known as a presenter and I wasn't taken seriously as an actress. Every time I did something like Miss World or Miss South Africa, I'd say to my family, 'I want to do comedy'!"
She starred in the long-running play, Nunsense, but it wasn't enough to establish her as more than a dilettante in theatre.
"I finally took three months off and went to London, New York and Los Angeles, and while I was there I was signed by the William Morris Agency.
"Now, it seems bizarre - they never sign people up just like that! And somehow I had the confidence to go for it - now I'd be terrified."
The ups and downs were nothing, if not dramatic.
"The most bitter blow I had there was losing a role made in heaven opposite Tim Curry. It was a pilot for a television series called Madness Reigns.
"I thought it was hysterically funny. They called me back eight times and Tim wanted me in it - and I'll never know why I didn't get it."
Then there was the disappointment of losing a role in Don Juan de Marco with Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando.
"I met the director and Johnny Depp, but in the end they told me I was too old for the role," she says.
There were highlights too: working with Richard Dean Anderson (McGyver) in the television series, Stargate, which was shot in Canada, and several sought-after television pilot programmes with top directors like Peter Bogdanovich.
The last thing she did in the United States was a guest artist slot on the sitcom, Don't Shoot Me.
For a long time, she supplemented her income by working as a maitre d' at a Los Angeles restaurant.
"A very good friend of mine said once, 'You don't choose acting, it chooses you', and I truly, believe it. Nine times out of ten, it really is a grotty industry.
"It's sordid, it's underpaid, it's filled with neurosis and people who are a bit lost and wayward. So, you have to love it.
"And Hollywood is such a microcosm of that. There are people who truly believe in their art - and they may never make it. And others who have gone to Hollywood because they have a beautiful exterior, or they've won a beauty contest.
"For a while, that was really hard to take. But you can't get bitter about it - it's too big. And it's been such an interesting journey."
Suanne arrived in mid-December and planned to stay a month, but so much has happened that it will probably be six before she sees her possessions again.
She's cagey about two projects that are in the planning stages in South Africa: a CD release that will launch her as a singer and the production of her own one-woman show, based on her experiences in Hollywood.
Then there's the man in her life - all I could find out was that he's single, lives in the southern suburbs and does a conventional job.
She does want to get married and have children one day - all of which sound like good enough reasons to be back in South Africa, and proud of it.
It's coming up roses for 'reject' Suanne
Leap Day birthday girl Suanne Braun turned eight, or 32, this week with a big party, a new play, a new man and plans for a singing career. Not bad for somebody who's been cast in the role of Hollywood reject...
Reports of the demise of her Hollywood ambitions have been greatly exaggerated, says Suanne, romping through the role of Alice in The Secret Lives Of Henry And Alice at the Theatre On The Bay in Cape Town.
Better known as a television presenter and cover girl than an actress, Suanne is a thespian to the fingertips: wonderful makeup, trademark auburn hair tied in a topnot, one of those beautifully modulated theatre voices and a whole repertoire of accents and gestures to call on to illustrate her points.
She's having fun with Malcolm Terrey in Henry And Alice, a hilarious two-hander about the mundanity of married life and the redeeming power of fantasy. For one who loves comedy, it's a plum role - but it's also a chance to take another swipe at the perception that she is more a pretty face than an actress.
Suanne left South Africa for Hollywood five years ago amid much hype about her acting prospects. As long as she popped back for a whirlwind visit, she had the benefit of the doubt.
Now that she's accepted work offers here, the mumbling has begun: "Shame - she's back. She obviously didn't make it". Thanks to the urban jungle of Los Angeles, Suanne is bulletproof.
"Initially, I was so offended," she says. "Even when I came back the first time, after eight months, people were going, 'So - how come you haven't made a biggie yet?'
"And I remember feeling quite stunned, and thinking, phew - where did that come from? You were all on my side eight months ago!
"But then again, it's part and parcel of the job I do that you can't please everybody all the time. And I did leave this country with everybody going 'She's the great white hope - going to conquer Hollywood'.
"It has been the most extraordinary adventure. It hasn't panned out the way I thought it would, but I truly believe it has made me a better actress; definitely a better woman."
She wasn't alone in her ignominy - actor Arnold Vosloo was the butt of some snide remarks, too, over his non-speaking role in The Mummy.
"It doesn't matter that he doesn't talk in the film. He's doing really well over there," says Suanne.
"You have to understand the magnitude of what you're up against there. At any one time in Los Angeles, there are 250 000 actors unemployed - a quarter of a million people.
"It's a different ball game. When you go for an audition here, there are maybe 10 people going for the same role - maybe five.
"There, they go through piles of photographs and choose who they want to see - and, even then, there are probably 300 to 400 people a day auditioning. So when you land a job, even if it's five lines in a sitcom, it's a big achievement."
She had South African "princess" status here - so why did she take the risk? She pulls a wry face and considers carefully.
"I've wanted to act since I was five years old," she says. "I've never wanted to do anything else. I've never had a fallback career, which I've sometimes regretted.
"I dropped out of drama school and began working for M-Net as a presenter at 19. It sounds naive, but I never expected it to have the repercussions it had. It was quite overwhelming to have people recognising me wherever I went.
"The travel programme, Bon Voyage, was an incredible experience, but I became known as a presenter and I wasn't taken seriously as an actress. Every time I did something like Miss World or Miss South Africa, I'd say to my family, 'I want to do comedy'!"
She starred in the long-running play, Nunsense, but it wasn't enough to establish her as more than a dilettante in theatre.
"I finally took three months off and went to London, New York and Los Angeles, and while I was there I was signed by the William Morris Agency.
"Now, it seems bizarre - they never sign people up just like that! And somehow I had the confidence to go for it - now I'd be terrified."
The ups and downs were nothing, if not dramatic.
"The most bitter blow I had there was losing a role made in heaven opposite Tim Curry. It was a pilot for a television series called Madness Reigns.
"I thought it was hysterically funny. They called me back eight times and Tim wanted me in it - and I'll never know why I didn't get it."
Then there was the disappointment of losing a role in Don Juan de Marco with Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando.
"I met the director and Johnny Depp, but in the end they told me I was too old for the role," she says.
There were highlights too: working with Richard Dean Anderson (McGyver) in the television series, Stargate, which was shot in Canada, and several sought-after television pilot programmes with top directors like Peter Bogdanovich.
The last thing she did in the United States was a guest artist slot on the sitcom, Don't Shoot Me.
For a long time, she supplemented her income by working as a maitre d' at a Los Angeles restaurant.
"A very good friend of mine said once, 'You don't choose acting, it chooses you', and I truly, believe it. Nine times out of ten, it really is a grotty industry.
"It's sordid, it's underpaid, it's filled with neurosis and people who are a bit lost and wayward. So, you have to love it.
"And Hollywood is such a microcosm of that. There are people who truly believe in their art - and they may never make it. And others who have gone to Hollywood because they have a beautiful exterior, or they've won a beauty contest.
"For a while, that was really hard to take. But you can't get bitter about it - it's too big. And it's been such an interesting journey."
Suanne arrived in mid-December and planned to stay a month, but so much has happened that it will probably be six before she sees her possessions again.
She's cagey about two projects that are in the planning stages in South Africa: a CD release that will launch her as a singer and the production of her own one-woman show, based on her experiences in Hollywood.
Then there's the man in her life - all I could find out was that he's single, lives in the southern suburbs and does a conventional job.
She does want to get married and have children one day - all of which sound like good enough reasons to be back in South Africa, and proud of it.