We talk to Blade Runner’s Luv about starring in “one big cinematic masterclass of brilliantness”
You may not know Sylvia Hoeks by name but we have a feeling that is all about to change. The break-out star of Blade Runner 2049, Sylvia is well-known in her native Netherlands, starring in hugely successful European films like Ben Sombogaart’s box office hit The Storm and Giuseppe Tornatore’s The Best Offer, which won Best Film at the European Film Awards 2013.
Starring alongside Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford in the sequel to the iconic 1982 film, we catch up with the Dutch actress to discuss all things Blade Runner, fashion, beauty and her love of Game of Thrones…
Q. What can you tell us about your character?
A. My character’s name is Luv. She’s Niander Wallace’s right hand and she’d do anything in the world for him. They have a very conflicted and complex relationship. I think one of the important things about her character is her search for her identity.
Q. Blade Runner 2049 is a sequel to a hugely successful film, did that feel like a lot of pressure for you?
A. This was my first big American film. I have done big European films, but this feels like it is as big as it gets. It’s incredible. I have to pinch myself. I still can’t really understand that I’m actually in the movie and I actually had the chance to work with Denis Villeneuve and such talented people like Roger Deakins. It’s one big cinematic masterclass of brilliantness.
Q. What was it like working with Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford and the rest of the amazing cast?
A. It was fun. I always feel like such a nerd saying it, because it always feels like such a cliché, but they are such good actors but it is really true when I say they are just lovely human beings. They are just wonderful. They are just the funniest couple together, they should do a two man show together. They had a lot of fun on set. But they are very much team players. They are very generous and they made us feel very at home and safe. Everyone is so passionate about the project, we all felt like we are really in it together, that was very important.
Q. Everyone was talking about Jared Leto’s method acting during the filming of Suicide Squad, what was it like to work with him?
A. He stayed in the character the whole time. He’s very method. I had never experienced it before. I first met him on set and I introduced myself as Luv and he introduced himself as Niander Wallace. We hadn’t talked about our characters beforehand or rehearsed together, so it was a really different experience for me. Our characters and our scenes are very intense. The relationship between Luv and Niander is very complex and fragile and so I think that because I didn’t really know Jared, he became even more distant from my character, and she was trying even harder to get some recognition or approval from him. And that element was extra and added on further to what I would have expected it to be. It’s pretty interesting how that all worked out.
Q. You started your career as a model, was acting something you always wanted to do?
A. I never dreamed or wanted to even be a model but I loved the idea of travelling because I came from a very small village in Holland. Where I grew up there was one supermarket, one school, one hairdresser and that was it. It was a very small community. I was the little girl staring out of the window on a Sunday afternoon when it was raining saying, ‘I have to get out of here’. So when I was 14 and I was asked to model, it just gave me a ticket out of there to travel, but I wasn’t a model at heart. I wanted to be an actress and have more time to tell a story. Models tell stories in five seconds when they wear an outfit but I wanted to have more time and depth to really transform into a different character and create a different world around me. I always wanted to be a story teller in a sense.
Q. How would you describe your personal style?
A. I kind of have two different sides of me. I love Tilda Swinton and the way she dresses. She always looks like a piece of art. Everything she puts on is high fashion. But then I have this girly, romantic, floral side of me, like Vanessa Paradis. So on the one hand I love the cooler stuff but on the other cooler, bohemian vibes
Q. What do you think of this year’s strange beauty trends?
A. I’m not really into trends. I believe in strong elements that you use to strengthen your own characteristics with. If you’ve got it, flaunt it. I always feel that trends come back and I love to transform into different people with the way I dress. I feel like it’s such a crucial way to show off your identity. Clothes, make-up and hair can do a lot for you and I love how you can add on to your own persona. But I’m not the kind of person that would wear like studded eyelids, you have to be able to see! It has to be practical for me so I can go about my day.
Q. What’s the best piece of advice you have been given?
A. I think one of my first years in theatre school. I did a play and I was rehearsing a scene where I had to be really vulnerable. I was still young and after the scene I was blushing, and I was sort of ashamed of myself and laughing. Then my acting teacher made me do it again in front of the class. And that is when my teacher told me, ‘this is what acting is, you have to be vulnerable, you have to be ashamed and then you do it again.’
Q. What is your favourite thing to do after a long day of filming?
A. I love long dinners with friends. We have a group of friends that come over for dinner every Sunday night. We do a Game of Thrones night, when it was on, like a viewing party. We cook together and watch GOT and drink a lot of wine, and now that it’s not on we just drink a lot of wine.
courtesy= glamourmagazine.co.uk
