It’s possible you’ve heard Serena Lorien’s voice work in a number of places, including in Agatha Christie's "Evil Under the Sun" for the Nintendo Wii. If you haven’t seen her face yet, you will. She has been very busy recently, lending her talents to a number of feature films including 2014’s House of Manson.
CGM: According to your biography, you began acting at just six years old. At that young age, did you know you wanted to make a career of it?
SL: I did, I actually told my mother I wanted to be an actress at the age of 3, I started dance classes, got my first agent and modeling job at the age of 5 and then my first commercial when I’d just turned 6.
CGM: You got your earliest acting experience where you grew up, in the UK. What made you decide to make the move to Los Angeles?
SL: I visited LA with my family when I was 9 and I loved it. When I was talking about wanting to be an actress at such an early age I wasn’t referring to British films, but American-made movies, so it was always a goal for me to be living and working here.
CGM: Lately you’ve been doing quite a few feature films. How do you find them different from doing the episodic television you worked on earlier in your career?
SL: I love both film and television, but my goal was always to be working solidly on feature films. TV has in some ways has come more to the forefront now, in the sense that big name actors who would never have done television before are now taking on the lead roles and I think there is some brilliant television being made right now. Almost all of the few shows I have time to watch are more similar in some ways to film due to them being epic, larger than life productions, rather than slice of life, so I would love to be on one of those type of shows, but other than that I enjoy the ever changing world of film, the genres I work in are switched up as are the roles and that for me is more exciting and fulfilling.
CGM: Recently you’ve played roles ranging from a reporter, to a doctor to a murderess in House of Manson. What is it like jumping from one character to another in different types of movies?
SL: As I mentioned above it’s really what excites me about being an actor, I think one of the reasons I may have wanted to be an actor is that I get bored doing the same things over and over again, I’m constantly trying new things, exploring new places and meeting different people and it’s such a bonus that I get to do that for work. There are some views from people who feel if you’re not a household name actor yet you should stick to your ‘branding’, those roles which people can see you playing the moment you walk through the door, for me those are the educated, intelligent, attractive reporter, doctor, lawyer etc, but some of the most fun I’ve had on set has been playing a murderess or a psychologically disturbed person, so as much as I understand the business viewpoint of why branding yourself could possibly help get you in certain doors I’d rather explore some meatier roles and enjoy expanding my abilities as an actor between the more typical roles above.
CGM: Tell us more about House of Manson and when people can see it.
SL: House of Manson is a biopic feature film about Charles Manson and his former ‘family members’, unlike other depictions it aimed to show more of Charlie’s background and explore why the young people around him may have ended up in the circumstances they did. It is currently making the festival rounds, it just played at Snowdance in Germany, a festival in Australia and had its debut at the academy-qualifying Twin Cities Film Festival. I will be attending the screening at the DC Independent Film Festival in Washington at the end of this month and it will be screening at a festival in Miami the beginning of next month. The film will likely be released around the end of Summer. I play the role of Patricia Krenwinkel who is currently the longest-serving female prisoner in the California penal system for her major role in the horrific Tate and LaBianca murders.
CGM: Your next project sounds like you'll be working in yet another different genre. Tell us more about ‘Welcome To Purgatory’
SL: Welcome to Purgatory is a fantasy/ action trilogy which is being executive produced by Scott Spiegel (Producer of the ‘Hostel’ trilogy and Writer of Evil Dead II) and will be shot at Pinewood Studios in England later this year. The film follows 5 main characters, Willis, Taylor, Nina, Danni and Guardian Paul as they navigate a new and fresh version of the Afterlife, where the gates of Heaven have been destroyed and hell has broken loose. They have to find a way to put things right to prevent an eternal battle between good and evil. I play the character of Nina, a strong woman who has seen and been through a lot. The cast includes Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean & Game of Thrones), James Buckley (The Inbetweeners) and Adam Rothenberg (Ripper Street) among others.
To learn more about Serena’s recent and upcoming work you can visit her official site at www.serena.actor, find her on IMDb at www.imdb.com/name/nm2161732 and her official facebook page at www.facebook.com/official.SerenaLorien
