Q&A with femme fatale Cassandra Hepburn

Actress Cassandra Hepburn. Photo copyright Isabelle Ruen.

Cassandra Hepburn is the epitome of a femme fatale.

In fact the ultra-cool, international model/actress/dancer graced the cover of a recent issue of Femme Fatales Magazine. And last year, she appeared in the Quentin Tarantino production of Hell Ride starring Michael Madsen, Eric Balfour and Larry Bishop.

Born in the Philippines, she grew up living in places all around the world, including stops in Hong Kong, London, Paris, Milan and New York.

While in America, she worked on her first film at age 11, Stephen King's The Stand. Following her passion for performing, she attended acting courses at Sande Shurin Studios and the enrolled in the acclaimed Tisch School of the Arts: Film and Television program where she studied the Meisner Technique. Upon completing the program, she was offered a part in the daytime soap "As The World Turns" playing the role of Monica.

After a stint in the soap opera world, she traveled overseas to study at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. There she became versed in Classical and Shakespearean acting.

The dark-haired beauty has also appeared on the TV show Medium and alongside Matthew McConaughey in the comedy movie Surfer, Dude. She has recently completed a new movie called A Voice in the Dark.

Tell us about your role in A Voice in the Dark...

Well my role in A Voice in the Dark is the character of Daphne who is married to a guy but you can tell their relationship is a bit strained but they keep the facade of it being good I think more for the fact that they want to show to everyone that they aren't failures but you know they don't have that spark for each other at least on her part.

What motivated you to take the part?

The reason why I took the role and did this movie is I loved the concept! It is basically an ensemble cast and how each of these little vignettes of scenes mesh together because each character has a dream about the end of the world all on the same night but the concept is nothing happens after that but just the thought of what if everyone had a dream in their own context of how the world would end what would happen afterwards if anything?

When can audiences expect to see the film?

As for it appearing on screen, I was just told by my director and producers that the film is expected to screen at the Latino Film Festival and that we already have at least two distributors wanting to have the project released so will keep fans posted on my Facebook page. [Fans can also view her website at: http://www.cassandrahepburn.com]

Michael Madsen, Hepburn and Eric Balfour.

You come from a rich multicultural background, having been raised in Asia, Europe and the U.S. How do you feel that affects your acting and the types of roles you are offered?

I think acting is all about observation of real life, real people, real situations so anytime one has the opportunity to expand beyond just their community and see a more worldly view helps them tremendously not just for acting but as a human being in relation to others. I definitely get cast more as the exotic international type but I kind of like it plus I also can deliver other characters so sometimes I would play a role that no one would expect me to because I like to break the boundaries because again it is called acting and therefore one must act if one is an actor!

You were trained in Classical and Shakespearean acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. How has that helped you in terms of your career in Hollywood?

The experience I had at RADAR is invaluable and gave me a very strong appreciation for classical theater and a enormous amount of affinity for Shakespeare. I think training in general for an actor is good because like I said in my last statement if one wants to be an actor one must act and acting classes help you to do just that, but if you can't afford classes then just get a couple of friends together and do improv in public and have your audience watch, which is the people on the street. I remember even though I was in drama school in New York I had five friends of mine from class and we would walk around Greenwich Village and just do performances in restaurants, shops, the sidewalk and anywhere we could find where there were people to watch. And we would create improv skits which was so believable that the audience would sometimes get involved because they thought they needed to help out then when they found out we were just performing they would laugh and they would applaud us for our performance. That is my most favorite memory of New York whilst studying there.

What's next for you?

I just got attached to do another indie film that is a biker movie that stars Mickey Rourke which we start production in late August I believe plus training to do an action flick so been going and training in gymnastics, sword fighting and martial arts. I love physical roles because I already know martial arts, gymnastics and dance so it's nice to be able to show that I can pull off action films as well as drama or comedy.

Any advice for aspiring actors?

Just keep putting your dream out there and do everything you can to make it happen by going to acting class, performing in front of people even if you do it for free at least in the beginning, get headshots, resume, submit to film schools because they are always looking for actors for their student films, [which will] give you footage to have in [your] acting reel. Also keep yourself busy [and always on] purpose [so that you get] to the point at which you want to be as a successful working actor by keeping your body healthy, taking voice lessons, dance lessons, martial arts, gymnastics, piano, or whatever it is you want to learn to do because that will be another skill you can put on your acting belt and say, "Hey I can do this and this and this!" And remember: "It's always up to you to go as far as you want to go with whatever it is you want to achieve!"