J:How do you handle life before, during and after a recording and do you feel chemically out of balance after life on set?
W & E: You 100% feel out of balance after shooting.
E: I would describe it similar to coming home from a summer camp when you were a kid
and you felt super lonely and just wanted to get back to all your friends, but at the same time it felt so good to be back home.
W: Post production depression is a thing for real. I would describe the time after as relatively dark. Every role is a new personal journey and you go through so many emotional states both before - during and after shooting. Everyday is packed with new challenges, new people and at the same time you push yourself to be at your absolute best. Going back to your normal everyday life from this emotional rollercoaster takes time. But most of all, you miss all the energy and the focus from being on set.
E: It’s really something you learn to become better at, but I don't think it will ever be completely easy, except if you're not going from one production directly into a new one. You put all your trust in the hand of the director and you're so vulnerable during this time too.
It's a lot of preparation to find your way of portraying your role and I would say it takes as long as the preparation does to separate yourself completely from the whole scenario. After wrapping it's a lot of post production like the editing and sound mixing where you get to see what you actually have been up to.
W: Absolutely! You start to reflect a lot afterwards about what you could have done differently, especially when you start to see parts of what you've been doing.
That's always a mix of emotions. No matter how hard a shoot has been or how self-judgmental I can be afterwards I always look back and glorify the time on set. I can’t be without it.
E: You really have to build up a good trustable relationship between you and the director to make both the time and the finished product as good as possible. It makes it easier to focus and be present in the scenes and communication is a big part of that.
J: Describe the love for your work and do you have a dream role and a role you would never play?
E: I would say that the love I have for my work is a bit complex, but I'm glad I feel as though there’s nothing better in life than acting.I’m so extremely grateful that I get to have this as my job.
W: I’ve always loved my job and never doubted if this is the right thing for me, I do have doubts, but never on my motivation and passion.
Dream role - I’ll know it when I see it. I love to play roles where you can retrieve some sides from yourself and at the same time explore other characteristics traits you don’t have. I don’t want to watch something I’ve done with the feeling that I portrayed myself.
E: I wouldn’t say I have a specific dream role. I know I would like to portray people that exist or have existed, a musician or a selfless psychopath maybe. As long as it's a good and interesting story that catches my attention I would be down to play anything. Like Wilma said, it's fun to explore traits that are as far from you as possible but where you also can look back at events in your own life and mix traits from yourself.
J: Theater or film and why?
W: I studied theater during my high school years and there are many theater techniques I find interesting. I’ve always been more drawn to film, but I am open to both.
E: I can feel very touched when I'm watching both theater and film, but when it comes to what I practice I feel more drawn towards film and I watch more films.
I never took any theater or acting classes, although I had an internship at Stadsteatern (Stockholm City Theater), under two weeks I got to observe a colleague during preparations and rehearsals for the theater production and that was a magical experience.
I really appreciate teather, I’m open to it and would also love to try it, but at this time I prefer and feel more drawn towards film, that will most likely change a lot back and forth though as my life goes on. In both cases it’s so many components that need to operate for it to be fun and turn out good.
J: How far would you go for the art of acting?
W: I could go extremely far but not hurt myself or my values. You must be able to watch yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and recognise what you see! I’ve never been afraid to talk to the director if a scene makes me feel uncomfortable.
E: I heard when you work with creative jobs you work on a spectrum where you have “comfort - discomfort - pain - injury and trauma” and you mainly wanna work in the “discomfort” part of the spectrum. You don't wanna be too comfortable and be in the comfort zone of the spectrum. You always want to stop before “pain”, but you want to push yourself to new levels of your profession within the “discomfort” section, without harming yourself.
There are different degrees of harm. In some roles you may need to gain or lose extremely much weight, which can be very stressful for the body. Personally I would be willing to go far both physically and mentally for a role.
But that doesn't mean you not shouldnt question if its a scene you feel uncomfortable doing. Like how some intimate scenes can be written at first.
W: Absolutely, a question I always go back to is whether a scene is necessary for the story or if it’s just to sell a sexy vibe.
J:Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Both personal and career goals.
(Edvin 24 years and Wilma 25 years)
W: I see myself being a better version of the Wilma I am today. I can’t wait to get away from the classic 20ies: overthinking, insecurities, anxiety and teenage drama. I feel like In five years I will have come a long way in dealing with my childhood mess and my years with anorexia, depression and PTSD.
In my career I hope I continue to learn a lot and get opportunities to show what I go for and LEARN!
E: Life always surprises you when you least expect it.
You never know where you end up. What I do know and believe is that humans are very good at adapting to their surroundings, so the future is not anything that really stresses or scares me.
I hope my work continues to move forward, takes me to more fascinating places around the world and brings a lot of new interesting meetings.
Personally I hope to become better at preventing and handling situations I've been experiencing the last year or years.
