Dicembre 21, 2014

An interview with Stana Katic in Estonian fashion magazine Mood (Fashion). Interview was originally done during the summer, in Athens.

Beautiful from the inside  out.

 

 

Canadian born actress Stana Katic, who plays a detective in an American crime show „Castle“, is not afraid of work. In addition to her role in the wildly popular show, she has her own production company, a charity organization, and she just finished shooting a movie in Italy.

 

Oh,  and by the way, she speaks fluently five languages (she mumbles modestly: “I can speak a few, yes“), she has studied International Law in an university (“I enjoyed that, but my passion for acting won“), and on her nightstand sits Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time“ (“and the magazine Scientific America, too!“), and her hobby is gardening (“I have more than 30 plants.“). If Stana could travel back in time, she would want to see the fall of Berlin Wall with her own eyes. But at the moment, she is encouraging people in the Hollywood to drive less by car. Her charity organization Alternative Travel Project promotes people to leave their cars at home for a few days and travel by alternative means. „I want to encourage people to travel more by foot, by bike or by public transport,“ she tells us. In Los Angeles, where being pedestrian is frowned upon, her mission seems more like mission impossible, but Stana says her project has had fair success.

 

We meet with Stana on a beautiful summer day in Athens, Greece. Before her interview starts, her agent asks us the copy of our magazine Mood (Fashion).  She says: „Stana would like to get to know your magazine before the interview starts. And she likes to browse magazines on the plane when she is travelling.“ In addition to our fresh number, we give her agent a book “Kaamos“, which is about Estonian fashion. When we enter to a cold meeting hall in Astir Palace hotel, Stana is already sitting behind the table and is reading our magazine and the book. She likes the cover girl Sandra Nurmsalu and her hair and compliments my dress.

 

I have a feeling that the phrase “beauty inside and out” was created for Stana. She really looks wonderfully good and graceful, she talks quietly and intelligently.  She likes to think before she answers a question. And when I ask her autograph for my daughter after the interview, in addition to her autograph she adds a long list of well-wishes and thank yous. It embarrasses me a little bit to think that I haven’t written anything like this neither for my friends or family, like she writes for a complete stranger.

 

I have been watching “Castle” from the start and I have noticed that your character Kate Beckett has transformed over the years and she looks more and more glamorous. Both her looks and her wardrobe.

Yes! Absolutely.

 

Let’s be honest, she looks sometimes even too glamorous for a police officer, don’t you think?

Yes, I agree. But in my opinion things are very well balanced at the moment. Because why deny that in real life, women want to look good. And don’t forget that the series takes place in New York, and every woman who has been born and raised there has a touch of glamour in them. But I agree, when it comes to police force, the focus should be on their work, rather than her clothes.  I hope that it will stay that way in “Castle”, too.

 

Is there anything from Kate Beckett’s wardrobe that really stands out for you?

Oh! She has so many beautiful things! (Laughs) There have been some Burberry jackets that I really wanted to keep. And I really like few of her jumpsuits and trousers. I like women who wear clothes with more manlier touch, like the ones worn by Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn and Slim Keith. I am really glad there are some real things and real clothes in Kate Beckett’s wardrobe. My everyday style is more girlish than hers.

 

Is there a bit of a Beckett in you as well?

Of course! She looks just like me! (Laughs) But other than that, I think that there isn’t much Beckett in me. She has some attributes that I really admire about her, let’s be honest, she is more like a superhero. But I am not. Beckett has very black-and-white attitude and has everything under control, whereas I don’t. I am more rock’n’roll and sometimes ridiculous. But Beckett is very inspiring to me.

 

How do you feel about fashion?

I love fashion! I just adore really good cuts, quality materials, unique and distinctive clothing. I don’t care where clothes are from, I mean the clothes don’t have to have a tag that says it’s from the hottest brand on the market (well, but sometimes they can have that too) but they have to be different, they have to have a good quality and the design should be exciting. Fashion is foremost like an art form to me. And a form of communication, because it says a lot about a person.

 

How would you describe your style?

It depends a lot on my mood. Sometimes I wish it would be effortless and simple, sometimes I like to experiment and play around. And sometimes I like to wear something that has a special meaning for me, for example if I have bought something while travelling or somebody has given me a gift.

 

Is there anybody whose style you really admire?

Slim Keith – I mentioned her before – is very elegant and inspiring person.

 

What about designers?

I love Alberta Ferretti, her style is very playful and romantic. Helmut Lang, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen… McQueen is wildly talented in my opinion! Daily, I like to wear more casual clothes, like Rag & Bone – which are both elegant and simple. I like many Japanese and Chinese designers, because they have some kind of special esthetics, simple straight silhouettes… Oh my god, I talk like I’m an expert in fashion, really, I’m not. But I love fashion shows. I just visited Yves Saint Lauren’s fashion show in Paris and Miucca Prada’s show in New York and when I was in Firenze for a movie shoot, I visited Ferragamo and Gucci museums in there. I think of it as a wonderful world which shows that fashion is more like a form of art.

 

You like to visit Europe quite a lot. I have read that you speak fluently French and Italian. 

I have studied both of those countries and because of my parents are from Europe, Croatia to be exact, I have adopted an attitude, which in my opinion is very European – that if you are living near or in beautiful countries like France or Italy, it would be wise to learn their language and their culture. For me, it has been elementary to learn at least some sentences of the language of the country I have been visiting. Knowing some foreign language will soon open the doors for you and you’ll learn more about the culture of the people you are talking to. I just hate when you go to visit a country and act like a tourist in there. When you know the language, it will be easier to melt in and earn respect.

 

How often do you visit your parents’ homeland?

The members of my family are both Serbian and Croatian. I really like to visit them as often as I can, but everything depends on my working schedule.

You have said in one of your previous interviews that every time you visit a country, you visit the opera in there.

 

Have you been in the opera in here, Athens yet?

Yes! I visited one yesterday. I know it sounds cheesy, but I really did! It was one of the coolest opera experience I have ever had, incredibly phenomenal “Don Giovanni”. Very emotional, very dynamic, very fresh, I was so charmed.

Talking about fashion, what has been your funniest fashion faux pas?

Oh! I have had plenty of them, but hopefully they are all behind me, somewhere in the teenage years.