Best known for her role as the enchanting Maurella on “True Blood” and Galina in Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” Hawaiian actress Kristina Anapau trained and performed theatrically under the tutelage of The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and with the American Ballet Theater and the Joffrey Ballet in New York City. Her other film credits include the thriller, “Cursed,” “Cruel Intentions 3,” “Madison” and the comedy “100 Girls.” She has also appeared in a number of TV series and films, including “Escape from Atlantis,” “The Glades,” “House,” “Monk,” “CSI: NY,” “Without a Trace,” “Once and Again” and “General Hospital.” And she recorded an album and performed the opening for Destiny’s Child on MTV’s TRL Tour. In this one-on-one interview, Anapau reveals her passion for acting and the challenges she faced in working on this complex drama.
What drew you to this lyrical mystery/drama of Hawaiian culture?
Kristina Anapau: I’d known Brian Kohne, the director since 2011. His film that year won the Grand Jury Prize. So for a few years, we met at the Big Island Film Festival in Hawaii. We just kept in touch and he sent me an earlier version of “Kuleana,” which was very different from the one you see on screen. He invited me to get involved and it was such a beautiful film that presented a much-needed subject on Hawaii and for the world to learn about. He just kept sending me evolving and better versions of the script. He’d been working on the script for about 12 years. He told me that the first draft of the script was a comedy.
If you auditioned for the role of Rose, what was that like?
KA: It wasn’t really an audition. Just me talking about myself and my career. Initially, I was to play a different character in the movie. My character, Rose Coyle, wasn’t even in the script. She was developed by me talking to Brian over the years. For me, Rose was drawn out of multiple people.
“Kuleana” powerfully addresses child abuse, family violence, and assaults on culture and the environment. What did you find most challenging about being in this film?
KA: The child abuse element was challenging because I don’t have any direct experience with that. I wasn’t abused and I don’t have children. Learning that her daughter was being abused by her husband was a heavy scene. Young Kealani Warner, who played Kim, brought that aspect of the film to life. It was her first film role and she was a one-take wonder. Everything she did has so much depth and gravity to it.
Are you so different from the character you portray?
KA: I’m very different. The elements of myself that I brought to the character were more otherworldliness. There have been times in my life where I felt trapped or suppressed by some circumstance, so I brought that into it. All in all, I’m a pretty happy, cheerful, grateful, free kind of person. I’m not married. I don’t have children. I live a very different life than Rose Coyle. That said, if we were in a different era, there would be a chance that my life could resemble Rose’s life. She married Coyle because back then she may have had no other option.
That fight scene at the edge of the cliff with Stefan was scary to watch. Were you really at the edge of that cliff?
KA: It wasn’t that close to the edge. That was the final shot of the main production. The sun was setting and we had this beautiful cliff and the ocean was incredible. It was a super emotional scene where everyone was bringing 150 percent. That was my favorite scene by far. I love the intensity of fight scenes. It’s a lot easier for me to tap into emotions and tears because there’s so much physical intensity going on.
You landed your first acting job at 16, playing Katriana in the fantasy adventure “Escape from Atlantis.” What was that like?
KA: I had never wanted to be an actress. I graduated high school at 16, was in college, and really focused on academics and classical ballet. I wanted to get my Ph.D at 21 and also get into a ballet company. The acting job came as a total surprise. I started with a modeling agency when I was about 12. Universal called and asked if I wanted to be an extra in this movie and I said okay. After going back four or five times, I got the lead role. So I sort of just fell into it. My first day on set, there was a scene in this realistic village set. It was my first time on a film set and the Atlantis set was so magical. On my first day, I had to do a crying scene. After that, I was very excited to move to L.A. and kept acting and had to decide what I wanted to do with ballet. I thought acting was a career with more longevity. And then I got the role in “Black Swan.” It was just such an interesting path that I couldn’t say no to.
At 20, your recorded an album and performed the opening for Destiny’s Child on MTV. Do you still sing professionally?
KA: No. I grew up idolizing Madonna. And once, I got into L.A. I really wanted to be a pop star. I got a voice coach to help me with my singing. I did it all in secret. I was actually afraid to sing in front of anybody. But I sang for the producers and they ended up hiring me for the group. Next thing you know, I was in the opening at the Greek Theater singing for 20,000 people. But even now, I don’t like singing in front of people.
You were on the ballet with American Ballet Theater and the Joffrey Ballet in New York City. Do you still perform?
KA: I don’t perform but I do go to class once in a while. “Black Swan” was such an intense experience, physically. It took me a good year or two to go back to ballet class after doing that film. There was a lot of training involved to prepare for that. I lost a toenail just auditioning for it. What’s hard is that in filming, you’ll do the same ballet scene over and over, which is not something even a professional ballerina does.
What’s next for you? Any TV or films we can expect to see you in?
KA: This past year, I co-created and produced a kid show called “The John Kerwin Kids Show” and it’s like the “Tonight Show” for kids. It features all the stars from Disney and Nickelodeon and kids in the audience. The show airs nationwide on DirectTV. We’re completing deals with a bunch of online platforms like Amazon. So that will be in front of a much wider audience in the next month or two. We’ve already done three seasons so far. I have a couple of other projects in development. I’m super focused on writing and producing right now. I also do a lot of voiceovers.
