Femme fatale Elena Satine, originally from Tbilis, Georgia, is becoming a recognizable name on everyone’s screens as of late. Starring most recently in the live action remake of Cowboy Bebop, cowboy-western, science fiction anime series of the same name, Satine played Julia, a beautiful and mysterious woman with an inclination to fight for and defend who she loves.
Satine talked with GRAZIA about her career in acting, Stanislavski, how she unwinds after a project and her other passions in pursuit of artistic and creative expression.
JS: How/ why did you start pursuing a career in acting
ES: I was a performing arts kid from birth. I would put on shows for anyone that would humor me. My mother saw that in me and nurtured it. I attended a performing arts high school and after graduation, when it came time to make that decision whether or not I was going to continue down this path professionally, there was no doubt in my mind that this was the only profession I could function in.
JS: What are some of your best practices when getting prepared for a new role?
ES: There are certain tools that you learn in school, I studied primarily Stanislavski, but I pushed back a lot, there were some teachings that I fundamentally disagreed with that just didn’t work for me, which lead me to reading Michael Chekhov’s “On the Technique of Acting”. I took a deep dive into his “psycho-physical approach” – working with imagination through meditation, and found that it worked best for me. However I also find that every character informs the preparation.
JS: Besides acting, what are some of the creative outlets you pursue?
ES: I’m very interested in producing, that’s something I would like to focus on this coming year. We have a couple of projects in early development I’m really excited about. Just building something from the ground up and having creative control is very enticing at this point in my career. Often times I’ll do a job as an actor and think- ‘I would do XY and Z differently if I had that creative role behind the camera.’ It’s an uphill climb in an over-saturated market but that’s where I’m being pulled creatively.
How do you wind down after coming back from a shoot/ new project?
ES: Just grounding myself at home with my husband and my beautiful son.
