I am lucky enough to sit down with the lovely Chelsea Grant to discuss all things film! Keep up with her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/chelseasummergreen/
Me: Hi, thanks for doing this, how are you?
Chelsea: I am absolutely thrilled to be here. Thank you so much.
Me: What’s one thing people won’t know about you?
Chelsea: Oh gosh, um…I grew up in a small town in rural New Zealand. I was racially discriminated against for being too brown growing up and then when I embraced my Maori heritage, I was racially discriminated against for being too white.
Me: No way!
Chelsea: Yeah haha, go figure (eye roll) it’s like I really got to know first-hand what it feels like, on both sides. I have to say, the organisation who were almost condescending toward me for being “not Maori enough” were the worst. That’s got to be the worst type of person. Pushing away their own.
Me: Yeah. Were they 100% Maori or something?
Chelsea: No, not at all. There are no longer any 100% Maori. We are all mixed. I just did one of those DNA tests and I’m 44% pure English and 33% Maori. The rest is Scottish, Irish, Jewish, European and 1% Asian.
Me: You are incredibly beautiful. Have you considered modelling?
Chelsea: Oh, thank you. Yeah, I actually started modelling when I was a child and then took it seriously when I got to about 16. I loved it. I am very creative, so it was a nice outlet growing up and also nice to get a bit of cash.
Me: I saw you did a Givenchy Asia ad. What was that like?
Chelsea: Stressful, well-paid and quick.
Me: Haha, and is that how you feel about film? Why do you make film?
Chelsea: Film is the thing that gets me out of bed in the morning. Film has kept me from loneliness or sorrow. If I can give the viewer just a small part in their day where they completely switch off and are entertained. Where they have no stress, no strain, no struggle, no sorrow. And they are fully engrossed in the film, they are entertained. Then I will be happy.
Me: Tell us about War Lands.
Chelsea: War Lands is the feature length film of a short I made in 2016. It won some awards actually and was a really fun experience. We had about 60 people on set. A nice budget to play with and a really experienced team. I wrote, produced, directed and starred in Titiro. War Lands is something I wrote and then rewrote with two very special writers Janet & Lee. They wrote Pompeii and one of the Batman’s so working with them was inspiring and really a great learning curve for me.
Me: How many people will be involved in War Lands?
Chelsea: 100’s if not 1000s. In one scene alone we have 200 warriors fighting. So, its going to be the biggest production I have ever worked on.
Me: Wow great stuff. Is there anything that made you not want to be in film?
Chelsea: No, I have always known I would be in film. There were and still are a lot of people who are envious or jealous and they try to detour you or put you down. Just ignore that nonsense!
Me: Too right, thank you so much for joining me. Any last words, any wisdom you can impart on?
Chelsea: Keep believing in yourself and knowing how great you are, how hard you have worked to get where you are. Don’t let anyone’s opinion of you make you lose sleep; at the end of the day it is nothing more than their problem. Don’t let it become yours!
