Behind the scenes, Ms. Wilding was recognized internationally by various organizations for her in-depth consultancy work on The Lord of the Rings motion picture trilogy. This included but was not limited to New Line Cinema, who formally thanked Ms. Wilding for her vast scope of humanitarian work and consultancy on the trilogy.
As an actress, Ms. Wilding has tackled notable and diverse roles in film and television from a battered wife, to a 1940′s screen star, to a Kubrick inspired television reporter in the 1960′s. Ms. Wilding has taken her place on stage with roles that include, amongst others, an award winning improvisational player in professional Theatre Sports , a guest star appearance with Second City in LA, a starring role as silent comedian in Fringe Festival Winner, Patience of Silence, and the role of Hermione in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.
In 2014, with clear evidence in hand, Ms. Wilding spoke out in the industry clearly and strongly about the movie fan site IMDB, and the fact it’s StarMeter system uses subjective and flawed algorithms and therefore presents flawed data to both public and industry professionals.
Ms. Wilding is also known for her philanthropic work. She founded The Wilding Foundation (www.wildingfoundation.co.nz). a charity that provides scholarships, and went on to raise thousands of dollars for deserving recipients following the devastating earthquakes that destroyed Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2011.
Anna Wilding’s acting and film work has been lauded by professional critics, as, “Moving”, “Beautiful, “Captivating,” and, “Must see.” Cited as, “Multi-talented,” Anna Wilding has completed multiple responsibilities in the film and entertainment business as Actress, Producer, Director, Writer, and Presenter. Ms Wilding’s work can be seen or felt in work ranging from Oscar nominees and winners through to Cannes, White Sands-Palm Beach, Chicago Film Festival, Tribeca, Santa Barbara Film Festival, Sundance and elsewhere.
Ms Wilding additional duties include through the years were camera operator, art director, set decorator. Ms Wilding actress ,director, producer, is an entrepreneur having founded and launched one of the top selling retail and online skincare brands in 2012 Kalon Skincare (http://www.kalonskincare.com) using pure New Zealand bee venom. In 2013 Kalon partnered with the Cheer Channel in the USA. In 2013 and 2014 Ms Wilding judged the national Australian Atom Awards -respected film and television awards .
Ms Wilding continues to be active as an actor and in all aspects of creativity, industry, philanthropy and business. Ms Wilding is member of various industry Unions, Guilds and Affiliates.
Anna Wilding is an accomplished and award winning actress, director, producer, screenwriter. She is in conversation with Namita Nayyar, President Women Fitness.
All content on this site is copyright of Women Fitness and no part of any article found on this site may be reproduced without an express permission and highlighted, do follow link crediting http://www.womenfitness.net/ or preferably the original page as the source. This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2016 Women Fitness
Ms. Namita Nayyar: You were first discovered by an agent in New Zealand and then discovered by visiting studio casting directors at the age of 16, who urged you to pursue an acting career internationally. You later went on to act in Shakespeare off-Broadway. You reached the pinnacle of success when you as a Narrator, Presenter, Director, Writer, Cinematographer and Producer completed the theatrically released and popular award winning feature doc film ‘Buddha Wild’. Your are a leading an actress, director, producer, writer, screenwriter, cinematographer and a philanthropist. How you manage such a remarkable multi-dimensional lifestyle? Tell us about your journey that took you to where you are now in the world of acting and film making?
I was most driven as an Actor and Director. I went to the only professional production company in town and told them I wanted to Act, Direct and Produce. They of course laughed at me and told me, as was standard for the time, “No, women don’t Direct or Produce” . I have great stories about some of the things I have been told as a woman in this business. I really don’t think girls today, up to the age of let’s say 37, realise how unequal and unfair this business was to women who wanted to direct or produce feature film. Today girls have a much easier path. Now a woman just as to say “I wan to direct” and they are pretty much told “okay” Anyhow that company however ,did take me on as a production assistant for a few months. They were doing a TV series with USA talk show host Leeza Gibbons. They would use me as an actor as well when shooting commercials etc. I also was doing a photography degree at the same time,which I later worked in professionally as well, shooting for local magazines, fashion shoots ,things like that. Within a couple of years I had written, directed and co starred in a play Patience of Silence” that won the Fringe Theatre Award .The Director of a big Festival was over from Brisbane , discovered it and wanted to take the show and me global. By now I had also done a couple more TV shows, and a film. I auditioned for NIDA in Sydney Australia a the age of 16, one of the best acting schools in the world. I flew there by myself. After a gruelling 3-4 day process. I was in the last 26 of 25 to be chosen but I wasn’t chosen- I missed by one. The vice-head if the school came running after me down the hallway when I was leaving and said, “Anna I want you to know you were the best, but we have kids who are 18 or 19 who have tried for 3 years to get in,and we have to take them.” I learned pretty quickly then that its not exactly a fair industry and that politics and other things come into play. I proceeded to move to Australia anyway, took a job , and was accepted into a full time winter scholarship program studying method acting with a famed NY coach in Melbourne at another great school Victoria College of the Arts VCA.. I also was already performing professionally in theater and tv between Australia and New Z. From there I made my way to LA and worked three productions jobs in Hollywood- about 90 hours a week and good jobs too. I was exhausted all the time.
One of those three Los Angeles companies eventually bought me out of the other two and took me on at a livable wage and continued to promote me over the next year .I ended up as General Manger and In House Producer-producing major rock music videos. It was an exciting time but my heart was still in acting though. .At the same time I auditioned at the grand old Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (former home of the Oscars) and out of about 5000- 10 000 auditions that were held nationwide I won a coveted space of the top 25, so I was invited to a summer scholarship program at the New York National Shakespeare Conservatory- I think it was either an adjunct of Yale,or had Yale tutors. It was a great little school for a time, and one of my professors was Meryl Streep’s former professor. This was just uncanny to me, as I was often, since I was a teenager ,as an actress being compared to the Streep, though she, of course, is a few decades older. Meryl Streep is a wonderful actress, great, one of the best and always loved her work. It was my first time in New York and I loved it. Anyhow I was still under contract at the time to a music video company in LA and returned studying to take up that contract. This saw me working on projects for Rolling Stones, UB40, Stanley Jordan, and many others .From there I moved to other production companies, eventually become Head of Development, then Vice President, of motion pictures by the time of age 25 or 26.. I even art directed for a couple of years on set and learned all about Hollywood film crews and Hollywood way of working. I was still keen on acting, its where my heart is, but it was clear the casting couch was prevalent so I kind of focused on the production. I am someone who likes to know how everything works, like all the cogs in a wheel, so I learnt my craft well. I then had my own and popular little film production company in London and was flying between UK and USA developing and packaging A list projects and A list talent, doing deals.
I was one of the few female film producers around (though there were many female TV producers) and I now had enough experience to be called into consult on movies. I was one of the few around in the heyday of Co Productions, who had on set experience worldwide and in Hollywood. I knew how different crew from different countries worked on set.
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By now the trades had well picked up on me and were writing stories in trade papers and consumer press. I was quite taken aback at times to see my name in print on the same page as Spielbergs, or Monica Bellucci. I had been in Italian vogue or something as “one to watch for” as well. But at the same time I was also quite not taken in by “Hollywood” so to speak. The whole “celebrity” thing is not really me and I never really understood that part of it so I probably didn’t take up on some opportunities as that’s not what was driving me. My work was and telling good stories and good screenplays. By the year 2000 I had some major contracts as actress, director and producer. Then things came to a slow down and standstill of course with the tragedy of Sept 11 and various WGA and unions strikes.
After this I started spending time in London again and was a member of a great club, that had a lot of British and other nationals returning from Middle East and Asia. Through watching their filming techniques and work more closely , I realized that if I combined what I knew from Hollywood, with this more guerrilla style film making I could make something that creatively and technically could stand up in cinemas, and that I could basically just go and make it. I had all the knowledge , I had worked hard , what if I didn’t need a large studio or big distribution deals to make a feature film and tell a story? So I did.
Hence award winning film, Buddha Wild, which was praised for its creative and technical achievements at the time. It was a story that came to me quite organically. It was my response to racism actually, an instance I witnessed. If I just ever made one film I would be happy with Buddha Wild. I like what it says and it brings joy. Film is a craft. I know young kids today think they can just pick up a camera, but there is more to it than that. Making something for You Tube doesn’t mean it will stand on legs in the cinema technically or creatively.
I made a film on the devastating Christchurch earthquakes after Buddha Wild, and another one on a New York artist. Both these did well, in a different kind of way from Buddha Wild as I didn’t release them or make them to be released for theatrical runs in cinemas like Buddha Wild was.
I am now in active development on a narrative feature ,seeking investment for my films, and looking at tv and film scripts as an actor. I just signed with a new agent. My lovely Mum passed away last year- bless her. A very sad time, This was shortly after getting married so last year was about family. In fact, the last year or two have been about family, healing and regrouping, as my hometown Christchurch was destroyed by earthquake in 2011. So now moving forward and focusing on work again. I like to work everywhere in the world.
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Ms. Anna Wilding: I have made many music videos, worked with some great artists and still do make them . I don’t have time to submit them all into festivals though, nor do the often shrinking budgets allow for that.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: How does fashion fit into your life?
Ms. Anna Wilding: I love designers. I love fashion. I have attended a lot of fashion shows and love the energy. However I never knew how much I really did appreciate it personally, not just for my work, when one day, it was a grey dull day. Everything was grey and dull to the pores of the street to the blops of rain about to fall from the sky, and then all of a sudden I saw this girl walking down the street wearing the most striking stylish dress and hat. It cheered me up no end. Made my day. I love style.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: What exercises comprise your fitness regime or workout routine you shall like to share?
Ms. Anna Wilding: I do like to be physically active. It’s important to me. The freedom of movement. I still love playing tennis when I get the opportunity. Like everyone I have had a couple of injuries that have slowed me down at times but I have worked through them with swimming, pilates and hiking. I love hiking on the hills and conversely I love swimming and if it’s swimming in safe tropical waters even better. I love sailing too and being on the ocean. I spent three weeks on a cruise from Hawaii to New Zealand after an injury, as a way to heal myself and it really helped. Swimming is one of the best things for injury-to stay fit -hiking on hills.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: You are a vegetarian. Do you take some special diet or have a strict menu that you follow to remain healthy and physically fit?
Ms. Anna Wilding: I haven’t eaten red meat since I was 15. I am allergic to it. I eat fish, chicken, turkey once or twice a year and vegetables. I wish I didn’t have to eat chicken or turkey , as I can’t stand factory farming, so I try to buy organic and free range where I can. If I go too long without protein I get a bit faint and weak so I do eat white meat 2-3 times a week. I very rarely eat cheese, or ice cream and I never eat deep fried foods. Vegetables are the best. I also take Vitamin C daily.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: Advice and motivational words for our inspiring and budding women actresses who all are your fans, what should they do for their climb to the ladder of success in field of acting?
Ms. Anna Wilding: First follow your dreams, whether its acting or being post man or being a scientist. Acting is a tough endeavor. TV and film have seen a drastic decline in roles since the age of reality TV and special effect movies. The business is often less about the craft of acting anymore. I think women first should balance up whether they want to make a good living or else have a very insecure living .That’s the responsible answer. If a woman can deal with the latter, especially in the age of digital, when all there peers are most likely making a fortune in IT and other businesses, then they need to study with good acting teachers, at accredited schools in whatever country they are in, and get to know people in their business. Its hard work. Women could also look at other aspects of the industry they may enjoy. Not everyone is multi-talented but at the same time a girl who wants to be an actor may find out she would rather write, or edit, or direct. For me, its in me to be an actor, but I also love being a director and I always knew from an early age I wanted to do it all.
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Ms. Namita Nayyar: You have been associated and founder of the registered charity Wilding Foundation. In February 2011 you started an emergency relief fund-raising appeal for victims of the Christchurch earthquake. You returned to NZ to work on the ground voluntarily for the charity over a year, this charity has been dear to your heart, tell us how you have been able to achieve and quench your thirst of giving back to the society through this endeavor of your?
Ms. Anna Wilding: I founded my charity Wilding Foundation just before the New Zealand earthquakes and I raised money and gave it out to those in need. Life is all encompassing and we have to be thankful and grateful for everything we have and/or are given. I live my life in gratitude and at awe at the beauty in the world. I am incredibly touched by the goodness in humanity when I see it in play. No matter how you help people, or tell your story or other stories, it doesn’t really matter so long it is for the good in the world .
Anyhow, that’s just me. And who I am. Other girls when they were 4 years old in class ,drew pictures of what they wanted to be when they grew up. They ALL, every single one, drew princesses in carriages. I drew the world -the globe with trees on it and said I wanted to save the world. I also had and do have a thing for trees. No one person can save the world, but we can all help. If that’s what we want to do. It’s what I want to do and there are many different ways to do it in life. It doesn’t have to be art , or sciences, or fashion. it can be anything. Everyone has different motivations. Happy people make a happy world.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: In 2008 you were declared as one of only 100 women Directors who had a feature length film run “formally” in cinemas – for more than seven days. Tell us about this achievement of yours?
Ms. Namita Nayyar: Who has been your inspiration and motivation that led you to your success in the world of acting, directing, writing, producing, editing and being a cinematographer?
Ms. Anna Wilding: The world! The universe. The wonders of humanity, I was bought up on a steady diet of French films. I was first inspired by wanting to tell the stories of Africa, and then the Amazon. As for cinematography, or camera operator. that has often just happened by default. but as I am quite specific in style and its sometimes easier and more expedient I do it myself, but having said that I have worked with some great cinematographers and would gladly do so again. Especially on bigger movies. I am in awe of some of the cinematographers- especially the old school ones who know their craft well. I think with photography you either have an eye or don’t, though technical side can be taught.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: With exceptional hard work you are credited with all your achievements. Do you believe that does the hand of Providence (Supreme Being) played a role in your success?
Ms. Anna Wilding: That is a great question. I think there is good in all religions. all religions say in essence, at their heart, be kind to others. Do good to one another. I think its good to believe in something greater than ourselves outside of ourselves. Whether it is a Supreme Being or the universe or Mother Nature. I think anyone in tune with the universe or themselves or those around them, knows there is something greater than any one of us. It’s important to be good to one another and not harm one another.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: You founded the skincare line Kalon Skincare “Anna’s Pocket Bee Venom Vitality Cream Mask” using pure New Zealand bee venom. The skincare was named # 1 Hottest New Beauty Product in America on Amazon. Elaborate about this endeavor of yours?
Ms. Anna Wilding: This was exciting for me and fun. It has been a joy to get emails in to say how much Kalon helped people with their skin. I never though or knew I would help people in that way .Its a wonderful product and I stand behind it.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: What you wish to say about the website Womenfitness.net and message for its visitors?
Ms. Anna Wilding: Womenfitness.net is a great portal and magazine. It’s important that fitness is part of our daily lives. Fitness is part of beauty no matter what shape or body type you are. And every woman is beautiful.
To know more about Anna Wilding, Check her out at: http://www.annawilding.com/
To know the latest about her, check her out at:
- https://www.facebook.com/annawilding2
- https://twitter.com/annawilding
- https://twitter.com/buddhawild
Women Fitness Team thanks Anna Wilding for giving her valuable time for this interview and quenching the thirst of her fans to know more about her and made this interview happen.
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All content on this site is copyright of Women Fitness and no part of any article found on this site may be reproduced without an express permission and highlighted, do follow link crediting http://www.womenfitness.net/ or preferably the original page as the source. This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2016 Women Fitness