By Linda Sanogo
A part of a portrait series of great Danes living abroad.
© Maria Sten-Knudsen
Maria Sten-Knudsen is 23, born and raised in Copenhagen but took a great leap a couple of years ago and decided to move to the great US of A. I
In 2011 I attended a beauty pageant with her in South Korea and this summer i had an opportunity to interview the great Actress, Performer(Dancer/Singer/Songwriter) and Model, not to mention former Miss Universe Denmark.
(see gallery at the end of interview)LS: Where did you grow up? Any siblings?
MS : I was born and raised Copenhagen, Denmark. Counting all of them, I have a total of 8 siblings, one brother, four sisters, plus two step-sisters, plus one unrelated sister. I only grew up with one sister though. She’s my big sister and my mother’s only other child. But family relations are what we make them, I believe . My mother is Danish, with a Swedish heritage (my grandmother is Originally from Sweden) and my father is Congolese.
LS; How did you get in to modeling?
MS: My mother is an acclaimed painter, and she’s been making me pose for her paintings or photography pretty much since I was able to walk hehe. As I grew older, and was always tall and slender, and everyone thought I could be a model, I started having my photographer friends take pictures of me. When I got to the States, is when I started looking at it in a more professional aspect. Plus I needed to work! I needed an income. And modeling is fun, demanding and challenging. That’s why I like it.
LS: What are your thoughts of the modeling industry in the US vs. Europe?
© Maria Sten-Knudsen
MS: I have actually never really modeled in Europe so I can’t say. In the US – this probably goes for anywhere though – you just have to know your strengths and play to those. I am technically too curvy to be a high fashion New York runway model (shhh don’t tell anyone) but I do well with commercial modeling. And of course I still do runway whenever possible. Know your look, and what people see when they see you.
LS: You’re a dancer too. How long have you been dancing?
MS: On and off, my whole life. I started doing gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics as a kid, along with ballet and flamenco. Then later on, I moved to funk, then to hip hop, house, dancehall, contemporary jazz and burlesque.
LS: How did you get into dancing?
MS: It was always a part of me. I am an insanely active person, I need to do and move and explore and create all the time, and dancing was just something that seemed very natural to me. Most kinetically related things come very natural to me.
LS: You’ve lived in NY, Las Vegas and now Los Angeles. How did you end up in the US?
MS: I always knew I wanted to leave Denmark and live somewhere else. At least for a while. Denmark has a great education system, but for an artist, the training , education and arena for The Arts in Denmark is very limited – compared to the US or England, I should add! A lot of schools we do have a great (Danish Theater School, Conservatories of Music, Royal Academy of Art, the Film School, etc) but it was too needle-eyed for me.
Plus I wanted to see what else was out there, potentially a place where there would be a wider market for me. So, I graduated high school (Gymnasiet) at 17, worked all summer to save up money and moved to New York City the day I turned 18 to pursue a career in Performing Arts.
LS: Describe a typical work day for you.
MS: Ummmm…. There is no typical work day. Because I do so many different things, every day is different, which I love, even though it gets extremely stressful. However, my days consist of this: I go to a commercial audition, I go to an acting audition. I have a meeting or I have a ton of business emails to write, I need to edit my resume or set up a shoot. I may have a dance rehearsal or a fitting. I have acting class, and after acting class I have a dance performance. Or I’m in rehearsal for a play. I’m currently in a play called “Women on Fire”, so I will do that and then still try to fit in another dance gig after, if the schedule permits. If I don’t have any of these things to do, I spend my time reading acting books, watching movies, reading a new script or play or studying for another audition. And then eventually, there are all the mundane things we cannot do without; I do groceries (often happens at 2am cause that’s when there is time), laundry, clean, eat, and sleep of course.
© Maria Sten-Knudsen
LS:Current agencies?
MS: I work with different ones, depending on where I am in the US. LA, Vegas or NY.
LS: Best and worst modeling experience?
MS: hmmm. The worst ones you usually put out of your mind. At least I do. And keep it pushing. But I a few years ago, I had gained some weight at the time, and went to a casting for a designer; the skirt I tried on ripped, and they sent me home so quick you wouldn’t believe. Then my agent told me they were looking for European sizes, not US sizes (European sizes run a size smaller than US sizes) but it still made me feel very low.
The best one. Hmmm. I don’t think one stands out, but there’s a few different ones: I loved getting my first magazine cover. I loved shooting with Vanity Fair because, well, it’s Vanity Fair! I love doing runway, especially when I love the clothes too. I remember doing a special Academy Awards runway edition for Macy’s in Vegas. I walked in beautiful gowns down a red carpet that was rolled out over the runway. Fabulous! I did a commercial for HP once, and the makeup artist who did my makeup had worked on Lord of the Rings, and as I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan, I was in heaven!
The one that stands out the most is probably winning Miss Denmark and competing for Miss Universe 2008 in Vietnam! That was truly a great experience and an amazing step in my career, although not exclusively modeling-related. I learned so much from that experience, in regards to modeling and the business, made great friends around the world, and those memories last a lifetime.
LS: You’re also pursuing acting. Tell us about that.
MS: Acting and I have had a long on and off relationship. I did my first play in 1st grade as D’Artagnan in The Three Musketeers (yes, that’s right, I played a boy), and found that I had a knack for remembering lines. And since, I’ve also trained and worked in music and dance a lot, so I didn’t stick with acting at first. I’ve always kept coming back to it over the years, as a teenager, and even when I lived in New York, studying dance. Eventually, I came to a point in my career, where I realized that I subconsciously had always been thinking about acting and filmmaking as the ultimate goal, and that’s when I started focusing exclusively on acting, moved to LA and started going to acting school. And it’s the best decision I ever made.
LS: What are some of your goals regarding you’re ac
ting career?
© Maria Sten-Knudsen
MS: I love the craft. So before anything, being a great actor is my biggest goal. I would like to do movies. I’ve always loved the movies and I think the process of filmmaking is so astounding; the creative process is unlike no other! In that media, my goal is to have the versatility of a career like Angelina Jolie’s. She is an action hero, which I am totally into, but she also does meatier, deeper, more conscious work, politically and controversially aware, and I love that. It’s the best of both worlds.
My first passion was musical theater, so that is something that’s always been on my wish list. Regular theatre too. Theatre is the actor’s medium, it’s the place where you as an actor, can really get creative and keep exploring your character and live chronologically as your character for weeks and weeks, because in a play, it’s really all about the acting, and that is an incentive in itself.
Lastly, I don’t think there’s an actor in the world who DOESN’T want to win an Oscar. And yes, that is on my list too!
LS: Does your family and support your adventures?
MS: Absolutely. I have a lot of artists in my family, and the support of my family means everything to me. We know what it’s like, we relate to each other’s work essence. And they know it’s not just adventures, it’s my life. It’s what I do AND who I am.
LS: What keeps you from not quitting acting, in other words: what inspires you to keep on acting/modeling/dancing?
MS: This is what Michael Caine says about acting:
“If you really want to become an actor, but only providing that acting doesn’t interfere with your golf game, your political ambitions, and your sex life, you don’t really want to become an actor. Not only is acting more than a part-time job, it’s more than a full-time job. It’s a full-time obsession.”
This is what countless of famous and not-so-famous actors and actresses all have said about acting:
“If you have something to fall back on, you will fall back on it. If you can see yourself doing anything else – do it!”
That pretty much summarizes how I feel about it. I don’t see myself doing anything else. Sure, dance and music will overlap, but those medias are also a part of the craft.
“Appreciate the struggle”, I always say, and then I find great acting inspiration quotes or read an acting book, or hang out with my acting friends who all know the feeling. So, when I’m down in the dumps, I know I have to get back up ‘cause what on earth else would I being doing with my life than what I already am?
© Maria Sten-Knudsen
LS: Do you take acting or modeling classes, go to castings?
MS: Yes I do. Technique, Scene study, and improv. And then I read many teacher’s books on acting, I watch a lot of movies and most importantly, I people-watch!
I don’t go to modeling classes no. Either I got it or I don’t, is kind of how I feel about that.
I go to castings, auditions, interviews, etc etc etc. Countless . That’s how you make your living.
LS: Whom do you see as an inspiration, female or male actors, living or dead?
MA: As previously stated, Angeline Jolie is a big role model for me: Her acting is superb, her career is versatile, but also because of what she does off-screen and how she uses her power and influence to do good in the world. But in regard to the craft specifically, the people that really blow me away, are people that are very versatile in their role choices, or people whose subtlety on screen is mind-blowingly powerful. People like Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, Maggie Smith, Renee Zellweger, Viola Davis, Denzel Washington, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Tom Hanks, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Liam Neeson, Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Leonardo Dicaprio, Alan Rickman. I forgot quite a few, but those are some of the people I watch, and I think “that’s why I’m doing this. I wanna do what THEY’RE doing. I wanna wake those emotions in other people like they do in me.” Great actors. Great inspirations.
LS: If you could work with any director, who would it be and why?
MS: James Cameron – because he is a freaking genius! His brain is out of this world. He is not just a director, he is a creator. He creates a world for you to live in, or watch as an audience. He draws you in completely, in a way that’s very rare, even for many brilliant directors of our time. Steven Spielberg – well because he’s Steven Spielberg. He’s amazing! And Nancy Meyers. Because I watch her movies over and over and over again, like 37 times each. She makes movies people can relate to. You feel a brightness inside you and you want to be in there with the characters when you watch her movies. She is another creator, but one that encircles you as a confidante, rather than impress you with grandeur.
LS: What would be your dream job in acting?
© Maria Sten-Knudsen
MS: It’s difficult to say, because that character has probably not been written yet. Or I haven’t read that script yet. I would have loved to do Zoe Saldana’s role in Columbiana, or Halle Berry’s “Storm” in X-Men. I’m currently playing a NY ad-exec who is having second thoughts about the morals of her job in the play Women on Fire, and I really like that role too. There is not one recipe for the perfect role. It’s all about what you make it I think.
LS: Tell us about the competition; is it hard to land a job?
MS: YES. Very hard. Los Angeles is a city of 10 million people.. And probably 8 million of them are aspiring actors, looking to find acting jobs. The other million is people who just happen to live here, and the last million is a mix of the stars who get all the jobs thrown at them, but only takes them when the money or script or director is worth it; agents, producers and casting directors, sitting on all the jobs, until a star comes along to take it; and the leftovers who had their dreams crushed and now live on the dark side of “TInseltown” with drugs, alcohol and diseases.
Ok, I’m dramatizing. But it’s not that far from the truth. They say if you go on 100 auditions and book 1 job, you’re doing well. But you learn from every audition.
At the end of the day, you can’t let any of that bother you or distract you. I focus on my craft, the audition at hand, the job at hand, keep it moving, and enjoy learning from every single experience.
LS: The biggest differences between living in the US vs Denmark; work load? People? More/less money?
MS: Health care. Health care is honestly the biggest difference. We don’t think about how fortunate we are growing up in Denmark with free health care and free education. Millions of Americans are living in the streets in the US, and even more Americans are sick, but can’t do anything about it because they cant afford health care. For me, personally, it’s just a hassle going through the motions of filing health care reports when you go to the doctor.
© Maria Sten-Knudsen
As far as people go, there is way more versatility of course, Denmark is a tiny country compared to the US. Here, there are people of all religions, all races, colors, countries, speaking a hundred different languages. That’s what I fell in love with, first living in New York. The melting pot aspect. You’re used to seeing a person of a different ethnic background or religion than your own every where you go, and even though there are still problems with racism overall in America, the diversity is part of what makes America so fascinating. And that embrace of diversity is severely lacking in Denmark, and one of the main reasons, I believe, why the Danish immigration system has officially and absolutely tanked, why there are so many immigration issues, why there is growing violence in Denmark, and why our Danish immigration system is viewed as one of the most contemptible in the western world.
Other than the people aspect, the biggest and most important difference is that I make a living doing what I love, when I want to do it. It’s not as “Hollywood” as it sounds, but it’s a matter of hard work, perseverance and immense stubbornness to prevail and succeed. I believe that life is what you make it, so I made it so. It’s an extremely liberating feeling, and it makes me so grateful for always choosing to follow my heart and my dream. It makes all the struggles worth it and as I keep struggling on and striving to be better, it inspires me as a constant reminder that hard work pays off and dreams don’t come served, you have to make them happen.
© Maria Sten-Knudsen
LS: Do you think you will spend the rest of your life in the States, or will you come home to Denmark to grow old?
MS: I don’t know. I love New York. New York is where I feel most at home. I’m not opposed to London either. And given that my family and all my childhood friends are still in Denmark, it will always be priority for me to keep coming back, and Denmark will always be my true home. But living there permanently, I don’t know. Wherever my career takes me is where I’ll be.
LS: What would your advice be for upcoming actors who are unsure of what to do and where to start?
MS: First: Be 100% sure that this is what you want to do. Or you’re wasting your time. Second: Study!! Study as much as you can, read as much as you can, learn about the world, politics, history, religion, culture, art. Because you never know what kind of character you’ll come across, or how fast you’ll have to get ready for it. Third: Act!! Act as much as you can, work for free if you have to (which you probably do to begin with). Just get out there and ACT! Do a stage reading, join an acting school, find friends who want to shoot a little short film, write it yourself, and have someone film you, just stay acting. Every moment of acting is useful experience, ‘cause if the day comes when they offer you your big break part, and you’re not ready for it, it won’t be your big break part.
LS: 3 things you would bring if we had to leave planet earth?
MS: Tea, my Lord of the Rings Extended DVDs pack and a pepperoni pizza.
I wish the best for this star on the rize and if you want to know more about Maria, feel free to check out her website; http://www.mariasten.com/home.html
AARHUS EXPERIENCE SAMLING 