‘Beloved Beast’ actress Sanae Loutsis is an inspirational Teen Star on the Rise! (Interview)

If there is one thing that my friends will tell you about me, it is that I have an extreme passion for movies; more particularly, the story behind the movie. I’ve used this reference several times before, but a movie is like a painting. There are so many colors and layers and sketches when it comes to a painting, and the same can be said about a film. When you combine your talent (actors/actresses’), a story, a set and a director – you have something beautiful.

When it comes to the talent behind the film, I always love hearing their stories that go beyond the characters that they play. I love learning about their passions, and the things that they believe in. One actress in particular that I have learned quite a lot about in the last few months is Beloved Beast star Sanae Loutsis. Sanae is heavily involved in helping out others, and doing incredible works of charity. One of her upcoming films, Friday the 13th: Vengeance, will be donating much of their Kickstarter funds to the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital – and Sanae herself has even donated to this cause directly. Not only is Sanae incredibly inspirational to other teens, but to adults as well!

A big project she has coming up goes even beyond community – it goes worldwide! She is sponsoring a children’s book called ‘BE A VOICE’, where she will educating people of the inhumane and cruel acts that people inflict on sea life.

Recently, Sane won ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for her role as Nina in the Award Winning Feature Horror Film, Beloved Beast, by Filmmaker Jonathan Holbrook!

 

I had the pleasure of speaking with Sane recently, and I have to say – she is truly a remarkable and inspirational young lady!

 

 

 

Jules: You have been in quite a lot of horror flicks! Is Horror your favorite type of genre to act in?

Sanae: Even though I have done a lot of horror films I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite. I really don’t have favorite genre because I am interested in (almost) all of them. However I am looking forward to my next film, Friday The 13^th Vengeance, because I have actually heard of it before and there is going to be some cast members that are from the original franchise.

Jules: What was the most challenging scene that you’ve ever had to film and how did you overcome that challenge?

Sanae: I would have to say it was a scene I did in Beloved Beast. When it came time to shoot the final scene, or at least my final scene, we had already worked a long day beforehand. About half way through the scene it just got to dark so the director had to call the day. Unfortunately when we went to shoot it the second time, pretty much the same thing happened. The third time we shot it though, we nailed it. What made it so difficult is it was an emotional scene that I had to cry in and to get into character for that scene three days in a row was tough but we pulled it off and it turned out great!

Jules: Speaking of challenging scenes… was it difficult playing the role of Nina in ‘Beloved Beast’, where you had to do a lot of method acting?

Sanae: For me it really isn’t that acting with little dialog and using facial expressions as the main source to portray my character is so hard, it is more the fact that I feel I have to stay in character pretty much the whole day. If I get out of character, sometimes it takes a while to get back in and that is probably hardest part. I have actually been accused of using facial expressions at school a lot from my friends so I guess it kind of comes natural.

Jules: What was your favorite scene to film in ‘Beloved Beast’?

Sanae: This is hard, I have so many fun scenes with some incredibly talented actors, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be the one that I did with Tabitha Bastien who played the role of “June”. It was a scene with just the two of us where we meet for the first time. It takes place in the kitchen of the house I was staying at and we have a pretty emotional one on one conversation. What I liked most about the scene was actually watching and listening to Tabitha put on one of the most believable performances I have ever seen. Tabitha is an incredible actress and I actually get the chance to work with her again soon in Friday The 13^th Vengeance where she takes on the role of “Joey Higgins”. I can’t wait!

 

Jules: Another ‘horror’ film that you did, was called ‘The Parish’. What was your favorite part of the role you played in that film?

Sanae: Wow, This is kind of easy if I am answering your question right. My favorite part of the role itself is that I got to play the daughter of my acting coach, good friend and mentor, Angela DiMarco. This is something that I had only dreamed of, performing with her at any capacity, let alone Co-Leading opposite her and I surely didn’t think it would happen so early in my career. We had so much fun on set, don’t get me wrong, it was a lot of work too (David S. Hogan if your reading this) but it was just so cool working with Angela!

Jules: What kind of research do you do for your characters after being cast in a film?

Sanae: Honestly there is not much research I can do for most of my characters because they have all been fictional so I go into the film making them my own as well as listening to the director and what he or she might be looking for. However for Ashley Jarvis in Frida The 13^th Vengeance, I am just now starting to get to know the Jarvis family. The Jarvis family has quite a history with Jason Voorhees and the Voorhees family so I feel the more I learn about them the better I can prepare for my character of Ashley.

 

Jules: What was it like working with Frankie Muniz on ‘The Black String’?

Sanae: I cannot say enough about having the opportunity to work with Frankie Muniz. I think “his fans” and more are going to be pleasantly surprised to see the “normally” comedian style actor portray a pretty crazy character, Jonathan, in The Black String. He is such a professional in every way. He would come to the set prepared, not just for his scenes, but for everything to do with the day. It is one thing for me to know my own lines but Frankie would not only know his lines, but he would know everyone’s lines. I learned a lot from him and can only hope to be as good as he is someday.

Jules: You’ve been casted as ‘Ashley Jarvis’ in the upcoming ‘Friday the 13th: Vengeance’, what can you tell us about your character?

Sanae: I am not sure how much I can actually give away here but I think I can tell you this much. Ashley Jarvis is one of the Jarvis’s of course and as I shared earlier, the Jarvis family is frankly a pain in the rear of Jason Voorhees and vice versa. Ashley is the younger sister of Angelica Jarvis and let’s just say we set out to kick Jason Voorhees butt! I really like my character and I look forward to the challenge of making Ashley a worthy “Jarvis” and hope the fans of Friday The 13^th enjoy what I bring to the film.

Jules: How do you think that your character will match up against Jason? You are a Jarvis, after all!

Sanae: Ha, well I kind of have a little banter going with Jason Brooks (who plays Jason Voorhees in the film) that has stuck so here goes. Jason, you’re going down, I am going to take you down, and I mean Angelica and I are not just going to take you down, we are going to dig a hole and bury you, and you’re going down so low you will be under ground man. Does that answer your question lol.

 

Jules: What are you most excited for, in regards to ‘Vengeance’?

Sanae: Actually, the most exciting thing to me is that all the extra money over the cost of production of the film will go to charity, the Shriners Children’s Hospital to be specific. I mean I am truly excited to work with all the fabulous cast and crew, some of who I have worked with before, but the charity is very important to me. I even heard that C.J. Graham (who plays Elias Voorhees) is donating his salary to the Hospital. I have a couple very cool scenes with him that I am super excited for. Working with the legend himself “how cool is that”! For those that don’t know, he was Jason Voorhees in Friday The 13^th VI.

 

Jules: Team ‘Vengeance’ is connected with the Shriner’s Children’s Hospitals. You like to do a lot of community service work! What type of community projects have you worked on in the past?

Sanae: Well, the school I go to is involved in a lot of different charities and community projects so through the school I have been involved in a few myself. One time we had a bike drive where we would bring in old bikes and donate them to a company called Bike Works. They would take these bikes and teach kids how to fix them and then they would let them keep them. Another project I was involved in several times was volunteering at homeless shelters where we would help out in many ways. Sometimes we would just talk to the homeless and find out their stories then offer encouragement. My most recent project is not so much charity or community but actually worldwide and has more to do with making people aware of our oceans and marine life that are facing potential devastation. In particular I am sponsoring a children’s book that author Tracey Ozdemir wrote called “BE A VOICE”. We are hoping to educate people (starting with children) of the inhumane and cruel acts that people inflict on our sea life. The book should be out soon and I hope to be able to share with schools in my area.

Jules: Aside from acting, what are some of your other hobbies that you like to do?

Sanae: I really enjoy painting and other types of art. For some reason I am pretty good at baking so every once in a while I get the urge to bake a cake or make some cookies. I always like to do it from scratch and don’t really like the boxed stuff. Most of all though, I like to spend time with my dog Diamond. I take her for walks and play with her in the yard as much as I can.

Jules: What do you think is your biggest accomplishment as an actress?

Sanae: I would have to say simply that I have learned patience. What I mean by that is in acting, while on set, it is inevitable that you will have a lot of down time. The days are long and quite frankly you spend a lot of it waiting to be called on so I have learned not only to be patient, but how to utilize my down time efficiently. When I first started acting it was new to me so I would show up on set early ready to go, only to find sometimes I would sit around for hours waiting to go to work. It didn’t take me long to learn to bring things like books, puzzles, games and even homework with me to set. This has helped me in everyday life as well.

 

Jules: Do you have any words of advice to young actors and actresses looking to start their career?

Sanae: First of all I would tell them that it is not all glory like they might think. When you watch T.V. or films some actors make it look so easy and give the impression it is all fun. Don’t get me wrong acting can be fun but that is usually only after you book a job. Getting to that point is the hard part, it is where the work comes in. Acting is a very unforgiving job for the most part. You will hear the word “NO” far more that the word yes. What I mean by that is you will fail on audition after audition and start to think you just don’t have what the casting director’s want. I was to the point once where I was feeling no matter what I did it wasn’t good enough. Then I had an audition for a film that actually was pretty good and made it to theaters. No, I didn’t get the part but something just as good or maybe even better. I actually went and saw the movie wanting to see just who this little girl was that beat me out for the part. To my surprise it was not a little girl at all but a little boy instead lol. My eyes were opened wide at that point as I realized that it was most likely not a poor performance at my audition for that film but simply that I was not even close to what they were looking for. I guess what I am saying is expect to work and I mean work really hard. Expect a lot of disappointment but if acting is something you really want to do then go in with the “Never Give Up” attitude.

 

 

 

Sanae can be seen in the upcoming Friday the 13th: Vengeance, which will premiere in late May 2019!