In an exclusive interview, Flickering Myth sat down with Leslie Susana Campbell to talk about acting, life in Los Angeles and her lead role in Guns and Gold at High Noon…
Hi Leslie Susana Campbell, welcome to Flickering Myth! Was it always your dream to be an actor?
I had always known that I was an artist of some kind, but I had yet to have any interaction, or run-in, with performing until my senior year of high school. That year I had given a senior speech, and my speech was a spoken word piece that I had written. I received a standing ovation for it, and that moment had changed my internal world. I knew I was meant to be on the stage. Initially, I thought it was as a spoken word performer. After graduating, I went to Arizona State University, where I began as a Cellular, Genetic Development major. I quickly realized this was not the path for me. After being miserable my entire first semester at college, I called my parents and let them know that I had to change my major, because something was not right. On an impulse one evening, after classes for second semester of my sophomore year opened up, I added an acting class to my list of classes. In that class I met my first ever acting teacher. She was instrumental in placing faith in my ability as an actor. She gave me a lead role in her MFA thesis project. From there my love for acting was solidified.
Congrats on your leading role in Guns and Gold at High Noon. Can you tell us about the movie and the role you played?
Thank you! Guns and Gold at High Noon follows the young protagonist Rick Walters, aka ‘Drift Wood’, a spontaneous, laughable, young, and irrational but highly skilled drifter. Drift Wood is on the run with several enemies hot on his trail. They’re after the bag he’s in possession of, and the hefty 750,000 bounty placed on his head. Between the Carver sisters: sisters who aren’t blood but spent their lives training to be tougher than any man, more cunning, have drawn more blood from enemies than Butchers from Beef, thus their nickname “Carvers”; Solomon Red: a popular, high tempered, blood hungry Mercenary & leader of the Reds; Falcon: a sharpshooter that lives for the thrill of the kill, and many others; Drift Wood has his work cut out for him. Will he make it?
For this project I play Eve Carver, the oldest of the Carver Twins. The twins are regarded as the best knife wielders in the West. Their reputation precedes them wherever they go. I think I share many similarities with Eve. Eve Carver moves with focus. She is serious and calculating. She knows her strengths and moves calmly to execute. She is a total perfectionist. Even more so with her knife in hand.
Talking of combat, we understand you are trained in combat. How did this help you prepare for the role?
This role required me to incorporate my stage combat and martial arts background. So, I really needed to freshen up my basics. We were fortunate enough to have David forward time period/reference materials, i.e. music and visual suggestions in order to really establish our sense of place and time. The story so far, I know, is just a fraction of what David envisions. So, with this in mind, I didn’t want to play a completed character arc. There needs to be room left open for Eve to evolve. With that said, I focused on moment to moment work and establishing the relationship, and dynamic between my sister— specifically, ‘what makes us the Carter twins’?
Being able to incorporate different facets of acting is highly useful. What else makes you unique?
It is useful! I am incredibly observant, I am sharp, quick witted, and I am self-assured. I think all of these attributes make for an extremely instinctive and dynamic performer. I think what makes me most unique as an actor is the type of reverence I hold for the craft, and my ability to contribute to story.
Outside of being a performer, what I think makes me unique is: my patience, my warmth, my nurturing nature, my willingness to collaborate, my love for humanity, my frustration with mankind, my talkativeness, my thirst for knowing, and all of the other qualities I got in trouble for having as a kid in school.
How would you describe the projects that you typically prefer?
I absolutely prefer projects where there is some form of personal attachment. The projects that I’ve been in so far have been driven by my colleagues, and fellow storytellers’ desire to reveal how said attachment has impacted their life. The end result has always been a beautiful, working relationship, and an even more beautiful project,
I prefer projects that have a deeper history to the creator. I prefer projects that impact our understanding of the set status-quo or cultural hegemony of you will. I have an utmost preference for projects that reveal some sort of undiscovered truth about the human condition.
Which actors/directors would you like to collaborate with in future?
I would love to collaborate with Adèle Haenel, Cate Blanchett, Zoe Saldana, Ayo Edebiri, Simone Ashley, and Emma D’Arcy. For directors, I would love to work with Ava DuVernay, and Jodie Foster, I am also an absolute fan of international cinema, and would love to work with Birce Akalay, or Deepika Padukone. Directors I’d love to work with would be Celine Sciamma, Metin Huseyin, Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
How can people find and follow your journey?
Thank you, my work can be found on my IMDb and my Instagram to keep up with my daily news!
Our thanks to Leslie Susana Campbell for taking the time for this interview, and for Liz Rodriguez from EMR Media for helping us with the interview.
