May 23, 20163 min read

Interview with Katie Vincent

Star of our Short Film of the Month "Prego", Katie Vincent, took some time out her busy schedule to talk movies, characters, acting and yearning to be the love child of Hollywood royalty.

Interview by Chris Olson.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your film career thus far

I’m Katie Vincent and I’m an NYC based actor, writer, songwriter, and visual artist. I’m a total film buff, so naturally, I do mostly indie film work. So far I’ve done a good amount of features, shorts, episodic work, and commercials. Went to NYU Tisch. For specifics you can visit my website, www.katievincent.com.

What can you tell us about your character (Emily) in the short film Prego?

Emily is the ‘Little Engine That Could’. We all make mistakes, and throughout the film she is trying her best to make the best out of her really crappy situation. She’s sassy, and honest - so far as I can see, a true-blue fighter. Sure, she has moments of weakness, but she seems pretty damn determined to make it work. After all, she’s having a baby! And that comes first…Granted, the ending is a bit of a twist, but maybe it’s truly a blessing in disguise (no spoilers!).

Why did you want to feature in this film? Was there anything that drew you to the character? Or was it more the project as a whole?

When I got the script for the audition, I thought it was really funny. I love a good comedy, especially when it’s chemistry dependent. I have worked with Taso on other projects, so right away I knew that the dialogue would absolutely open up if we two were the one’s to do it. Similarly, it’s a comedy, but it’s based in real emotions. Being funny and being truthful are two traits that are surprisingly rather closely aligned. If I can make someone laugh because I’m crying over real life stuff that stings…what’s better than that? That’s downright Chekhov right there.

How do you approach a role? Do you have anything specific you want to achieve? Or do you evolve with the filmmaking?

When I approach a role, my number one goal is to make sure that ‘I’ am the one approaching the role; not my idea of what the role should be, or what someone else thinks they’d like to see. This is a person in a circumstance - honour both of those things, and more often than not, it’ll all be okay.

Do you have any favourite actors or directors? Who would you most like to work with?

In a perfect world I’d be the seemingly impossible love-child of Joaquin Phoenix, Jim Carrey, and Marlon Brando: awkward and dark, but kinda sensual. Now that’s understood, if I could then have Tarantino or Kubrick direct something that I’m in with any (or all) of these actors…I’d be smitten. I don’t know, maybe I could make this into my own feature, “It Happened One Night”…I’m sure everyone will get on board…Brando and Kubrick might be a little hard to get a hold of though.

That actually sounds pretty amazing! What’s next for you?

Next I’m working with Usher and Taso again! We’ve got ourselves a bit of a film family at this point. We’re a little more than halfway through with principle photography for a feature called ‘Pickings’. We’ve been working on this thing for close to a year now. Usher was/is terrific enough to bring me on as a writer and a composer for the project. I’m also co-starring in it with some other fantastic talent! It’s been such a labour of love and a creative adventure. I consider myself very lucky. Aside from that…I’ve got another short coming out called ‘Hotel’ with Manmade Productions. I’ve also got a feature, that I shot with Manmade, in the festival circuit that’s doing pretty darn well called, ‘Before The Snow’. What would you say if you were a dolphin? Probably something more intelligent than anything I’ve just said… Dolphins are supposed to be reeeaaaaallllllll smart.