AAG Featured Talent ELENA MONIGOLD dishes on Mary, Benicio, Viggo and Cowboys

AAG Featured Talent, ELENA MONIGOLD dishes on Mary, Benicio, Viggo and Cowboys

AAG: What/Whom is your inspiration for acting/theatre? 

ELENA: I’m a huge fan of Joan Cusack for comedy and Meryl Streep for drama.

AAG: What has been your favorite project to date? Why?

ELENA: Probably Cincinnati Playwright’s Initiative 2012 winner, The Best Intentions at the Aronoff 5/3 Theatre. I played Rose, an active alcoholic in Act 1, a recovering alcoholic in Act 2, and then practicing again by show’s end. Such an intense roller coaster. Challenging, in that in drama you MUST find the comical lining/relief, or you’ll exhaust both yourself and the audience.

AAG: What is your dream role? Why?

ELENA: Mary Magdalene in a One Person Show that I’m currently writing. I love characters that deal with Spiritual messiness. They make a lot of mistakes but they never give up on their Faith or Hope.

AAG: Who would you like to perform with in a film/on stage? Why? 

ELENA: Morgan Freeman for his generosity and grace; Joan Cusack for her quirkiness; Philip Seymour Hoffman for his brilliance and true talent; Melissa McCarthy for her genuineness and fearlessness.

AAG: Tell us something about you that nobody knows?

ELENA: Uh oh, crazy time. Well, I still wish on stars & feel blessed when I see a Red Tailed Hawk (my totem), and pray that I’ll retire out West on a Ranch with a cowboy. Is that enough?

AAG: Have you ever been starstruck?

ELENA: No, not really. But I do have a thing for both Benicio Del Torro and Viggo Mortensen. If I met either, I know we would end up dating! (Did you see that shooting star?)

AAG: What advice can you offer to a new actor?

ELENA: Be YOU. There is no other you. And enjoy the unpredictability of it; don’t take it too seriously.

AAG: What is next for Elena?

ELENA: Finishing writing my OPS and renting a space to perform it in with a selected audience for feedback.

Want more Elena? Check her out here -----> ELENA M