Briana Skye is a model and actress on the rise. Known for her portrayal of Amanda in the first season of Batwoman, Mira in SyFy’s Van Helsing, and Silvia Hines in the fifth season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, we caught up with Vancouver based actress for a chat about her career.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. How did you get into acting?
Thank you for having me! When I was a little girl, I always told my parents I wanted to be an actor. I really loved Disney and wanted to be a Disney star. My parents didn’t really want me entering Hollywood at such a young age, so instead, they let me do plays. I just became a drama kid…or just a really dramatic kid [laughs]. After graduating high school in 2009, I moved to Santa Barbara and became a muse to a lot of photography students at Brooks Art Institute. I fell in love with modeling and expressing myself through emotions and telling stories through photographs. Modeling allowed me to work and travel internationally and showed me how much I truly loved storytelling. It was a catalyst to making me want to delve into acting and find more liberation in my artistic expression. In 2015, through a long story of past loves and with the stars aligning, I moved to Hollywood North (Vancouver, B.C.) and began my acting career.
Who have been your career influences, and why?
I remember first seeing Christina Ricci in The Addams Family and thinking that I’m pretty sure I’m Wednesday. I was mesmerized by her and had to watch everything she was in after that. There’s something about Christina that I always connected with; she has always made me feel understood. She’s always been such a delicate yet strong presence on camera, beautiful, super dark, and layered with so many complexities. When I became a teenager, I really started looking up to Angelina Jolie. She’s always been so badass to me. I remember watching her in Girl Interrupted and loving how wild and unapologetic she was and that made me really want to be a badass like her.
What do you look for when choosing roles?
It is all about connecting to the character. The more I can resonate with the character, the better I can tell their story. It’s all about raw, authentic, human emotion and connection.
You’ve worked on several popular shows, such as The CW’s Batwoman and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Are there any influences, experiences, or particular memories that have impacted your approach to acting?
Every experience has been wildly different and each has added a new perspective to acting. The first role I ever booked was on this show called Ghost Wars, where I acted alongside Vincent D’Onofrio. For my first on-set experience it was really cool. I told him how his iconic scene from Full Metal Jacket – if you haven’t seen the film, do that now – is something that is burned into my brain. He’s such a kind and considerate actor; you can tell how much he truly cares about his craft. He made a new actor like myself feel so welcome despite my small capacity on the show. It showed me to take his lead and care about each character and their story, no matter the size. Batwoman was a really rad experience as well. Ruby was really sweet and dope to work with. It was my first time witnessing a superhero universe on set and it really taught me more about the technical side of filming fight scenes and stunt performances. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow was a fun set to work on. My character Sil, reminded me a lot of myself; a dark, moody artist who’s misunderstood. The cast and crew of this show were just the sweetest and they made me never want to leave. Their dedication, professionalism, and love for art showed me the kind of environment I’d want to work in every day.
You portray Mira in SyFy’s Van Helsing. Please tell us more about the role and what audiences can expect from the series.
Mira holds a special place in my heart. I love portraying this character. Mira is a vampire who was a part of the Sisterhood; a group of blood-thirsty vampires. She spent centuries of her life dedicated to this Sisterhood. After one bite, she’s turned back into a human and forced to deal with overwhelming emotions. Not quite remembering the life she lived before and losing a lot of her superhuman vampire powers, Mira is left feeling completely vulnerable and having to navigate through this dramatically radical change. As for what to expect this season…a lot of blood.
How has the pandemic impacted filming?
Van Helsing was actually one of the first shows back to filming in all of North America during the pandemic. Specifically episode five, “Sisterhunt”. We filmed that episode at the end of June and it kinda felt like we all had hawk eyes on us during production. I remember feeling a bit uncomfortable before filming just because of the uncertainty that the world was feeling at the time. No one was sure what to expect. In the end, production did an amazing job with making us feel safe and comfortable through all the new protocols of social distancing, wearing masks, and other safety regulations that came into play. We work in such a hands-on industry and I really commend everyone who works tirelessly to ensure our safety while allowing us to continue to create.
You’re also a professional model. How do you manage your time between the two professions?
Modeling is my first love. It’s an extension of embodying different personas and evoking emotions; something that very much translates into acting on film and TV. As for managing my time between the two, I’m so fortunate to have agents who take care of that for me. Time management isn’t my strong suit lol.
So, what’s next on the agenda?
I suppose you will have to stay tuned to find out. Or ghost me, whatever’s cool. [laughs]
Where can we find out more about you?
IG: @xxbrianaskye
Photography; Nick Thiessen
Make-up & Hair; Nadia Hoecklin
Styling; Jason Pillay
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Loving this Interview, It rocks!!