Profile No. 3: Andrea

Andrea Vasiliou is an English bred Actor and Model, now adding Activewear Co-Founder to her resume with a new line, Lotus On Air. Our worlds collided in 2015 when we met as fellow Amazon sisters in Wonder Woman. Since then we’ve maintained a fabulous friendship and always dive into the deepest of conversations about art, work, rebuilding after rejection and boys - but we left boys out of this one. There’s more important lessons to be learned right now…

Shall we just start talking about Wonder Woman? Because you know that we will organically talk about everything else from there.

Yes please!

Because Wonder Woman was such a turning point for me - and a starting point of a new mentality. From this mind set of female empowerment…

I completely agree. When you say “a new mentality”, explain that to me.

That feeling came from our training - Amazon bootcamp! I felt like every day, especially at the beginning, I’d face a mental milestone I had to overcome. When physically we were so tired and I wanted to drop out, I knew I couldn’t because all my team mates were giving it everything and I didn’t want to be the one to let the side down. I didn’t know I could push my boundaries like that, mentally then physically. It gave me a huge amount of confidence in knowing that, Yes! I can tackle things that I wouldn’t initially think I was strong enough for and I felt a lot more capable in other aspects of my life because of it.

It was also so fun to have a group of friends every day at work! That was so refreshing, how we would bounce off each others energies. The environment was amazing because we were hugely competitive with each other and ourselves, but even more supportive of one another and it made us emotionally stronger as a group of women.

How do you feel Wonder Woman made you a better artist?

I found that the work we did taught me discipline. The daily routine of our rigorous training. Having the choreography of a sword fight but we had to practice on boxes before doing it with a partner. That muscle memory every day taught me discipline and I went on to use those tools in my acting. It also really cultivated my imagination and helped me get out of my own head. We had to imagine that those boxes were the German soldiers. Or being on set and running on the beach past green screens and imagining the big battle…. We were thrown into it and it was like GO! In that position I think of Sink or Swim.

I love that! Because we really had no choice but to swim.

Yeah - and we always swam! We never sunk - and that was because we had no time to think about it - we just did. It wasn’t for the faint hearted. Also, I didn’t do full time training at drama school so for me the was the closest thing to physical discipline training I got.

What is your artistic canvas?

Acting. I love creating a character. Starting from the beginning, reading the script, doing the research, taking parts of myself and mashing it together to bring this character to life in this brand new world. It’s my passion and drive and what I absolutely love and thrive on. It’s art in a visceral way because you’re embodying it - and that’s the fun.

When did you start acting? How did that all develop?

When I was 13 I attended Italia Conti Drama School in Devon on weekends. Then I started auditioning but all the auditions were in London. My mum would actually drive me 4 or 5 hours to London for a two-minute audition and I’d get so excited and nervous on the drive that I’d go in and completely fuck it up! But that excitement stuck with me and I made the move to London to study at Uni and get an agent.

My parents wanted me to study academically, so I studied languages, Spanish and French, and took acting classes on the weekends. Then to make money and understand the film industry more I began doing background work. My breakout gig was Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises.

Wait - what?! I didn’t know this was a thing!

Yes! So… I’m in Devon, it’s 22:30 the night before a 5:00am call time for extra work on this film in London. I knew I was done with extra work and didn’t want to do it anymore and so I was really naughty and called sick - quickly learned my lesson! The Booker was like, “Andrea! You’ve been chosen by Christopher Nolan to play a young Anne Hathaway in a flash back scene, you have to be there!”. I’m like - shit OK I’ll be there! I go to wake mum up to drive me to London through the night, she’s half asleep and says, “Go to bed it’s late,” but then my brother heard us and was like “Oh my god Batman?! Mum you have to drive her!!” Thank God he did because even though the scene was small, it made the cut and helped me get into the room afterwards. It was so fun, I was in a scene with Michael Caine and Christian Bale and I was wrapped for the day before my mum even got back home to Devon from her 10 hour journey!

No way! I had no idea that happened! That’s amazing… Meant to be. What is the biggest challenge you face?

The rejection. But bigger than that, is picking yourself up to keep moving forward when you face that rejection. It’s difficult to be resilient and believe in yourself when you get all those knock backs because then you start doubting yourself and that’s not a mentality you can have while going on auditions. Also, you rarely get feedback. So you don’t know how to improve or if you’re just crap. All you can do is trust your instincts and consistently be in classes and working with coaches. Discipline!

Did you see a change in how you held yourself pre and post WW as a woman in the industry?

It taught me to be me. We were all celebrated for being so different in that film. I had more conviction in my decisions. I stopped being the victim. If a job came along that made me uncomfortable I wouldn't even consider doing it whereas before I would take it as an “opportunity”. If a crew member or costar was inappropriate with me I had this new confidence to say No instead of just being polite and letting them rattle on.

WW also made me be more realistic with where I’m at. I’m a big dreamer and I look at the big picture instead of the steps that need to be taken. Again that’s discipline, with working bit by bit.

One of my teachers in theatre school was an old school English fellow named Joe Blatchley, he used this analogy of our career as a mountain to climb and the peak is “success”. On this journey we’re so busy looking up that when we get stuck we don’t look down to work out why we’re stuck. Nor do we take a minute to look out and take in this gorgeous view and be grateful for how far we’ve climbed!

Exactly! Gratitude is so important. It translates to trust and happiness and that makes you more relaxed in your work which makes you a better performer. Not holding on to what you didn’t do or get but letting go and thinking I've done X, Y and Zed! It’s all so mental. I think what's going on in my head hugely translates to how well I'm going to be in the room. Like if I feel I have to book a job compared to letting it just happen and I stop caring… Is that just me?

No, I feel the same way! I don’t think it’s when we stop caring… I think it’s about control, and there’s two ways we approach it: There’s doing all the work and trying to control the outcome, then there is doing all the work, taking a step back and trusting the outcome.

I think you’re right! You know, I’ve always thought, “I’m not a perfectionist - I’m usually so chill about things”, but when I think about it I do put a lot of pressure on myself! Which is a kind of perfectionism, but that can have a negative impact ...

Oh for sure! Every successful person I talk to though, puts a lot of pressure on themselves because of the ambition.

It’s such a thirst and excitement! We pour all the energy into this work… And there are great successes but so many more failures and you take all of it on with you in this journey. But again, it’s so important to let go… It’s funny - when you go through these hard times that’s when you get the good stuff. In a way WW was a snap shot of that because it was such a struggle to get to all the fun we keep talking about!

I know. That job literally took three months of auditions and fight training to book.

Yeah it was torture at times!

Let’s take a minute to be gratuitous! What’s happening with your life in this moment?

Well I’ve co-founded an elevated basics activewear brand called Lotus On Air. It’s a line that is meant to take you from the gym, to brunch with your friends, for the busy woman who feels strong but can still dress feminine and be comfortable on the go. We’ve got loads of new cutting-edge styles releasing this year, I’m really excited about it!

The Amazon life style!

Yes! Total Amazon life. Leggings and sports bras is all we lived in.

How did that come about? From finding yourself in the modeling world?

WW really kickstarted that direction for me because I started booking more campaigns with different sports brands. The funny thing about modeling, is that as soon as you start booking jobs it just snowballs because people think you're important and want to take part. That all happened on instagram as well because people want to know what’s happening….

With Lotus On Air I collaborated with a guy I met on Instagram! Insta really helped me build a career actually. I think of my career like a tree, it grows up then these branches appear and you grow into those while still moving up towards your end goal. Acting, LOA, modeling, fitness, these are the branches I’ve grown while achieving my end goal of being a prominent actor.

I feel like you've been successful over the years through various branches! You’ve got a business savvy side and strong artistic, creative side. You’ve had a lot of jobs and they make you stronger and who you are.

Totally! And there’s no right or wrong with side hustles or other jobs. They are presented to you and you roll with what feels right because there is always a learning lesson there. We’ve discussed this before, about feeling pulled in different directions when you want to be known as an Actor but are branching out. I think industry professionals respect an artist that has her business on the side, when she understands both avenues.

OK back to the original question: What else is happening in your life?!

I’m super fortunate to be cast for a film that all came about so quickly. I was asked to self tape through a Facebook message but he wasn’t a friend so I didn’t see it until 6 weeks later! I wrote back and they let me submit last minute. It’s called, “Ulysses Coyote”. I fell in love with this character, she’s a British rock star who comes to America. We shoot in LA and London through March and April. I’m learning to play the guitar for it. Thank God he has a double for me though - I’ve still got a long way to go before mastering the guitar.

You have to tell me dates obvs.

100 hundred percent!

What advice would you give your younger self?

Uhmm….. I’d say relax. Trust the process. Don’t take setbacks to seriously. Don’t think to seriously in general! Enjoy what you're doing and keep being curious. That will fuel you. Do you know what I mean?

I always find that when I’m in a bit of a rut with my work or auditioning or whatever - I know a direct contributor to the rut is I've stopped being curious. I have to schedule time to sit down with a new book, or bio, or album and listen and read it to get that fuel again.

That’s it! You have to feed your brain and your body. Get inspired when find yourself caught in a mental haze - it happens! In the creative industry nothing is stable or promised so you're always fighting in some way. But that’s part of the fun of it. Then the rewards are great when you do get the job. It's a compulsive drug - you can’t leave it or do anything else! It’s such a high, performing.

Andrea is an actor and model born and raised UK, residing in London.

Follow Andrea on Instagram Here, check out Lotus On Air and learn more on her iMDb