- Cinequest Film Festival - Camera 12 Theaters - San Jose, CA - 03/2010
 Anna Easteden may not be a name that is in all the headlines yet, but upon seeing her in any performance, she is instantly unforgettable. Anna is one of those people who is as genuine and approachable in person as she appears in her films. Anna was in town for the screening of film, the Swedish-made “The House Of Branching Love.” She plays as the centerpiece for several affections in a mishmash madcap folly of love, mistrust, suspicions, cheating... and back to love. As the object of desire in the film, she comes across as bubbly and sincere while those around her fumble in confusion. “The House Of Branching Love” is a fantastic vehicle for Anna’s character’s subtle yet vivacious, fun-loving self.
As the film screened at the Cinequest Film Festival 20, in San Jose, CA, we met up with Anna at the Camera 12 to talk with her about her latest film, who she is, where she came from, and what’s next. This is no ordinary girl, and far from having any “star attitude”, as we found out she has plenty of tricks up her sleeve and is no stranger to tackling anything life tosses her way - from her humble beginnings on a dairy farm in Finland, to modeling in Japan, to settling in Los Angeles and continuing to make films and TV shows internationally. As well, Anna has been instrumental, through charity work, in helping to enact laws for refugees and asylum seekers.
As we began, we got into the proper concepts of Finnish names and such (which can be difficult for many).
K2K: We are talking with...
AE: Yay! Anna Easteden.
K2K: Is that a Finnish name?
AE: Well, it was a Finnish name, I guess. Anna is a Finnish name. [She pronounced it properly as “an-nah”.] But my birth name is Shemeikka, which is not Finnish either. So, yeah, go figure. It’s kind of Russian, I guess. Yeah, random.
K2K: But Easteden isn’t Finnish.
AE: No.
K2K: Stage name?
AE: Yeah. But it’s also my legal name now.
K2K: You grew up in Finland. Helsinki?
AE: No, Tohmajãrvi, north of Helsinki, in the middle of nowhere, on a farm.
K2K: A dairy farm.
AE: Yes. We had 200 cows. Yeah. And we’d grow a bunch of crops like rye and wheat and barley and oats. And we had a bunch of forest. Yeah, yeah. And no neighbors.
K2K: All healthy food?
AE: Yeah, except that I liked candy when I was growing up. (laughs)
K2K: Did you have a problem with the Chernobyl blow-over? [Referring to the nuclear power plant meltdown in Chernobyl, Ukraine in 1986, that resulted in radiation clouds spewing over much of Europe, especially Scandinavia, tainting all the ground as well as food sources. - Ed.]
AE: Yeah, I remember I was really little when that happened, and I remember people freaking out about it. I remember my mom making soup and saying, “This is Chernobyl soup.” because she took all the stuff from the ground, like potatoes and carrots and, it was probably all infested with that [radiation]. But we ate it. I hope I’m fine. (laughs) I feel a little off, maybe that’s why. (laughs)
K2K: How old were you when you learned English?
AE: I was 8 when I started to learn English. I was in Finland.
K2K: When did you move here?
AE: Well, I left Finland when I was a teenager. I was 14 when I left, but I didn’t come to America right away.
K2K: Which takes us to the modeling question. How old were you when you started that?
AE: Yeah, 12. I got my first modeling job when I was 12. I got my first modeling job when I was in Finland, when I was 12. Then, as a teenager I went to Japan. My [modeling] contract was two months, and I stayed for three years. Yeah, I kind of liked it, a little bit. I was 14.
K2K: Did you go with your parents?
AE: No, I had a manager, who took me around everywhere.
K2K: Did you learn any Japanese?
AE: I did. (she goes into a Japanese phrase)
K2K: Do you speak it still?
AE: I understand Japanese a little bit. (laughs) I lived in fourteen other Asian countries as well.
K2K: I know.
AE: Oh, you looked them up. (laughs) Yeah. I loved it.
K2K: Was there a language barrier for you at first?
AE: No. Well, yes.
K2K: If you were American, everyone might assume you spoke English, but you were Finnish.
AE: I was Finnish, but I spoke English. But I spoke better English than my manager did. However, in some of these Japanese modeling jobs, there was nobody who would speak English. So I lived the movie “Lost In Translation.” Totally! I could totally relate to that movie. Somebody comes up to you at a shoot and go on for five minutes about what the shoot is all about, and then the translator says, “Smile.” Then you’re like, “That is not what he just said.” “No, no, no. Just smile.” I lived that.
K2K: So that’s a pretty true assessment of modeling?
AE: Absolutely. It’s so spot on. I was laughing so hard at the movie, saying, “Yes, yes, yes!”. Then I learned “right” and “left” and “smile” and, yeah.
K2K: So that’s when you started learning Japanese.
AE: Yeah. That’s when I learned things like “food,” “I’m hungry,” and “Where’s the bathroom?”. (laughs)
K2K: The most important things.
AE: Yeah! (laughs more)
K2K: You lived there for three years and then you went to Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Slovakia, Guam, and other interesting places.
AE: Yeah. I was in Guam for a while. Korea. All over Asia.
K2K: What got you into that? Why were you being passed around Asia being a Caucasian model?
AE: Well, it was kind of one of those things that I wanted to travel. Then I’d find out things from these other models who had been to Hong Kong. “Oh, which agency were you with there?”. I’d call them up and they’d send me a contract, and I’d go, just so I could see all these places. It was so awesome. Yeah, yeah. And I met up with all these... white models. In each country, I’d run into them over and over again.
K2K: We have an “Asian Invasion” obsession over here [in America]. Do they have a Caucasian obsession over there?
AE: I think so. Maybe. Yeah.
K2K: With you being European and your hair is somewhat light, did you have any problems with, like the stories that go around about the Yakuza and kidnappings and such? [Many rumors abound about white women being kidnapped often in Asia, primarily Japan, for the sex trade operations. - Ed.]
AE: Oh yeah. No, yeah. I did meet some Yakuza’s grandson, for real. Yeah, and he was so cool. He was the coolest person, and we partied pretty hardcore. He partied with all the models, all the time. (laughs)
 K2K: Were you worried?
AE: No, no. He felt like he was a friend. Yeah.
K2K: Was he Yakuza also?
AE: I believe so, but he was also kind of a rebel against his parents. So, whatever. Of course, I was so young, so you’re not scared, you’re just brave, and you do whatever you want, because you’re invincible, and you’re not going to die ever.
K2K: How old were you when you got into acting?
AE: Well, I was doing commercials and music videos, as a model. Then it kind of happened by accident. It was a little bit more and more and more and more. So I don’t know if there is an age for that [for me]. It just kind of occurred. I was in my 20’s.
K2K: What made you want to become an actor?
AE: Because I didn’t know what else to do. Or maybe it was one of those things where I wanted to do so many things, that the only way to get to do that is by being an actor. Because I wanted to be a lawyer, and I wanted to be a flight attendant, and I wanted to own a travel agency. You know? So I could play a lawyer, and I could play a flight attendant, and I could play a travel agency owner. Yeah.
K2K: Then what got you into modeling? Any need or desire?
AE: Oh I always wanted to do that. I was one of those girls who was six and played with Barbie’s all day long, and would do fashion shows nonstop. (laughs)
K2K: Is there a difference [for you] between modeling and acting?
AE: No, I love acting much better than modeling. It’s more challenging.
K2K: Do you find modeling to be superficial?
AE: A little bit. I do. However, you can get really good at it too. You can just be good. I think it’s also the viewpoint of how you look at it. You can look at it that it’s positive, or you can look at it as crap, and that’s how it’s going to be.
K2K: Do you prefer [doing] TV or films?
AE: Films. I think it’s the journey you go through in making a film, possibly. I would do TV any day also. I have nothing against that, but if I had the choice...
K2K: What are your ultimate goals? What would you like to have been, ultimately?
AE: (ponders the question for a moment) I’m trying to come up with something really profound. Something like I’d like to be the savior of the world, or like the peacemaker of the planet. But, then there are also goals like, I want to be a [James] Bond girl. (laughs) That’s one of my goals coming up. I think it would be cool. And there hasn’t been a Finnish Bond girl, so I could be the first one. There has been Swedish, so they should have a Finnish Bond girl. Sshh-yeah.
K2K: One who is perky and happy.
AE: I know. But I could be evil.
K2K: Do you get typecast a lot as the “pretty girl”?
AE: Maybe.
K2K: And is that a problem for you?
AE: No. I don’t mind playing the pretty girl. No, I don’t think I get typecast anymore. I don’t know. For some reason, in Finland, I’ve noticed actors, they don’t get typecast at all. Everybody plays all these random, different roles, which is awesome.
K2K: Tell me about your character, “Bee Sting” from the [Stan Lee developed] “So You Want To Be A Superhero.”
AE: It was so much fun.
K2K: Was that a serious show?
AE: It was two seasons, with Stan Lee. I got to work with [Marvel Comics founder] Stan Lee. That was pretty cool. He’s getting up there and he’s working and on set. He’s awesome. He’s totally an icon, and just hanging out on the set. It was so awesome. And I loved my character. It was so out there.
K2K: Did you design it?
AE: No. It was scripted and I got the script and got the part.
K2K: I thought the audition was for you to come up with your own character.
AE: No, no. There are those characters also, but I played a super villain who is evil. Those good characters came up with their own thing, and my character was scripted.
K2K: What was the secret thing you could do?
AE: Oh, I could do all kinds of things. I could release bees and get [those people] stung, and I really did. They were real bees.
K2K: Did the people really get stung?
AE: They claim that they got stung, but I don’t know if they really were. And I could pour honey on them anytime. It was a lot of honey, and really sticky. It was fun. And they can’t escape it. They’re in a glass cage and the honey comes, and they can’t go anywhere. I got to be so evil and so mean, it was so much fun.
K2K: Did you like comic books before or after?
AE: Yeah. Do you know Wizard magazine? I was actually on the cover of that, before [the show]. I have it on my website. I’m as Mary Jane, Spiderman’s Mary Jane. They drew Mary Jane as me.
K2K: Have you ever gone to Comic Con [in San Diego]?
AE: I have. I did. But I haven’t been there for a booth, but just hanging out. One year I went when [KISS bassist] Gene Simmons was there, and hung out with Gene. He introduced me to everybody as his cousin or someone.
K2K: Not as a sex partner?
AE: No, as family. It’s funny because he’s Hungarian and I’m Finnish, so he felt like we were relatives.
K2K: Wait a minute. Are you telling me that you met Gene Simmons and he didn’t try to...
AE: No comment. (laughs) No, no. He was cool. He’s really smart. I was really impressed with his knowledge.
K2K: How have you liked attending Cinequest Film Festival so far?
AE: Oh, I love it. I think this film festival is actually really well organized. Yeah, it is. And I like the people. I had actually met some of the Cinequest people in Toronto before. Then they called me up for here, and it was, “Oh, friends!”.
K2K: How about “The House Of Branching Love”? What does the title actually mean?
AE: OK, how is the house branching with love? In a way I always looked at it as, there is a lot of love going on in that house, and it was branching from person to person. But maybe it’s because it’s based on the book, and that’s what the book was called.
K2K: Any other screenings of it?
AE: Yes, it’s playing at Cleveland’s International Film Festival this month, and Method Fest in L.A. this month.
K2K: Will there be any theatrical release?
AE: It’s been released in Finland and France and a couple of other countries. I don’t know about America though.
K2K: Was it number 2 in Finland?
AE: Yeah, it was number 2 at the box office overall.
K2K: How did you like making the film?
AE: I loved it. I had so much fun. I did. It was really cool to go back to Finland to make a film.
K2K: How did you get the part? How did you audition?
AE: They called me from the director’s office. When they told me it was him, I thought I didn’t even care what the movie is about, I wanted to make a film with him. Then they sent me a script. I read the script, but I didn’t know which part. So I wanted to be Nina, but if they offer me something else, I’d like something else, but I wanted to be her. So they told me it was her.
K2K: Of course. Every girl’s dream is to play a hooker. (laughs)
AE: Yeah, yeah. (laughs) So the director asked me to fly to Helsinki to meet with him. I was like, I don’t want to pay for my plane ticket to fly there if he might just say “No.” So I actually put myself on tape, in L.A., and I sent him the tape. I said, “Watch this, and tell me if you’d like me to come.” He said, “Yes, I want you to come.” Fine, I was going to go. Then he offered me the role there in person.
K2K: You didn’t audition for any other roles other than Nina?
AE: No, no, and I think all the other roles had been cast at that point.
K2K: How were the others? All major stars?
AE: Yeah, they are all major stars, award-winning actors. They were also sweet and so nice, and really good people.
K2K: The characterizations are hilarious. Everyone is so defined in the movie. And the horny neighbor doesn’t come off as a pervert, only as “just interested” in the trampoline scene.
AE: Oh, that’s hilarious. I’m so glad that they put the trampoline there too, it made our scene way funnier.
K2K: You have no problem with nudity, I take it.
AE: Well, um... no. I guess, because I am naked in the movie. (laughs) However, it is really scary to shoot those things. “Oh gosh, what am I going to look like?” But I am very happy with how this turned out.
K2K: When you were shooting the one scene with the main actor, and you are both buck naked, did you put something between you?
AE: Yeah. And we tried to shoot that many times. He had different types of underwear that he was wearing. OK, it went from boxers that rolled up, to tighty-whities. We tried to shoot it every way. We kept shooting it with different underwear. He ended up with these tiny little nude things that just had strings on it, and he ended up wearing that. I think he ended up wearing something, but it was really small. And that was actually the first nude scene that he had ever done in his life as an actor, so he was really nervous about that. (laughs) It was good that we were both nervous about it.
K2K: I’m assuming that you were friends by that point.
AE: Yes. Oh yes. And he’s married and has two kids and they’re all awesome.
K2K: When looking at films from there, Finland has a reputation of being very depressed and sad. Is that a cultural thing, or the sun?
AE: It must be. Or maybe it came from the war with Russia that made them...
K2K: But you are so not like that.
AE: I’m not. Yeah. When I go there, people stare at me because I am so not Finnish-like. My mom... we go to the grocery store and she says, “Be quiet. People are staring at you. Stop acting out.” I’d say, “I’m not. I’m being normal. I’m just talking.” “Well, talk quiet.” Yeah! She was embarrassing me and I was being normal.
K2K: How do people meet there?
AE: I don’t know. (laughs)
K2K: What kind of singles personal ads get put up in Finland?
AE: I don’t know. “We can be depressed together and stare at each other’s shoes.” or something. (laughs) Yeah, yeah.
K2K: So, most Finnish films seem to reflect that.
AE: Yeah. The ones that I’ve seen are really depressing and sad. So I was very happy that this movie was as upbeat as it is.
K2K: Another angle to touch on about the characterizations in “The House Of Branching Love” is that here you were, the girlfriend of a man who is overweight, bald, and seemingly kind of “shlubbish.” Would you say that that inspires hope in men, or that it’s relatively unrealistic?
AE: I think there was something in Finland about that. In some reviews, that’s what they said is that there is hope for men. (laughs)
K2K: My first thought was, good, anyone can do that.
AE: Yeah, yeah. I know. I think that was cool. I love it.
K2K: It transcended from you[r character] being paid to do it, to liking him.
AE: Yeah. But maybe that’s part of a prostitute’s feelings sometimes, that they get used, and when they finally find someone who really cares, and is a nice person, they want to love them.
K2K: What next projects are coming up?
AE: I’m supposed to be shooting something in Mexico City. It’s all on 3D. I’ve never shot anything on 3D before, so it should be pretty cool.
K2K: Is that going to be CGI heavy?
AE: I have no idea. They have Sony cameras for 3D. I’ve read the script but, it’s funny that it’s not an action script at all. To me, it doesn’t have anything that requires 3D, per se.
K2K: Tell me about “Voice In The Dark.”
AE: That one was very ensemble role, an ensemble feature that takes place in L.A. It’s what happens when the world is kind of coming to an end. One of “those” movies.
K2K: Is that going to be released soon?
AE: I have no idea. I haven’t talked to the director. It’s an indie film. From what I’ve seen of it, it looks really good.
K2K: Tell me about your TV roles in “Bones,” “Passions,” “Law & Order.”
AE: They’ve all been one-episode things. I’ve played a Russian mail-order bride, which I played in “Bones.” Actually I’ve played almost all Russians. I don’t know what that’s all about. [Her slight accent undoubtedly is what the directors focused on. - Ed.] In “Law & Order,” I actually played a movie star. Yeah. In “Passions,” I played a nurse. Yes. And in “Days Of Our Lives,” I played a French hair dresser.
K2K: So, the “pretty girl” roles.
AE: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
K2K: How did you like doing “Days Of Our Lives”? And how are soap operas different here than in Europe?
AE: I thought it was great. Well, soap opera is so fast. In “Days Of Our Lives,” I pretty much did each scene twice, and that was it. I’d be ready for another take, I thought “This time I’m going to do this this way...” They’d say, “No, no. Done.” Yeah. So it’s, in a way, a let down, because I wanted to do it again and they’d say that’s enough.
K2K: How much rehearsal do you do?
AE: Very little. It was same day. You rehearse and shoot the same day.
K2K: What if you screw up lines?
AE: Then I guess you get another chance. Really, if you don’t screw it up, and it’s “good enough,” then that’s it. You have to bring it, every day, on soap operas. You don’t get another chance.
K2K: How old were you when you came to America?
AE: The first time I came to America, I was 16, and I stayed for a little bit. Then I went back to Europe and Asia. But then when I moved here, I was 21.
K2K: Regarding cultures, you seem pretty adaptable to anything.
AE: I am.
K2K: Was there ever a culture shock for you?
AE: Not really. It’s almost like the opposite, that now there’s a culture shock when I go to Finland. I love every country, and I see good and positive things there. I enjoy it all.
K2K: How is it going back to the dairy farm now?
AE: Oh, it’s wild. Now I appreciate it though. Now I like the peace and quiet and clean air, and clean everything. It’s just awesome.
K2K: OK, now to ruin fantasies for some guys - You got married in 2007.
AE: I did. Yeah. I know. I married a total American guy, who was born in Hollywood. Yeah. He’s a baseball coach. Division one college. Yeah. His name is Rob.
K2K: Tell me about your charity work.
AE: Yeah. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). I worked with them in Slovakia, in Bratislava. When I did get tired of modeling, actually, I went there and wanted to do something completely different. I was there for a few months. I did this legal research study about the laws for asylum seekers and refugees. They actually passed some of their laws, in Slovakia, according to what I presented. Yes! I was really impressed that they actually did that. Then after a few months of doing that, I thought OK, I was ready to go back to modeling, and it was all good.
K2K: Are you still involved with them?
AE: Yeah, yeah. I’m still a big supporter. At the same time, I was also working on a major voting project, to get people to go and vote, in Europe. I actually worked for quite a few [charities].
K2K: What might be something about you that might surprise people?
AE: I don’t know. Would it surprise people to know that I’m just a really homey person? Homey, like I just like to stay home, and like to make food, and I just like things like that.
K2K: I would expect that.
AE: Oh, you would. OK, good.
K2K: Especially with all the traveling that you’ve already done.
[Turning to co-interviewer, Keith Denison] Are you surprised?
KD: No.
K2K: OK then.
AE: No? OK, that doesn’t surprise you then. What would? I’m a vegetarian, and I do organic cooking at my house. I grow some of my foods
K2K: That sounds about right for someone involved in charities. A charity worker, type.
AE: A “charity case.” (laughs) Exactly.
K2K: Any unusual hobbies, or what do you do for fun?
AE: I feel like I always try everything once. It’s one of my mottos. You should try it once, and then if you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it again. But the things that I’ve done are - I have a motorcycle license, and I have scuba diving certification. I get these things and then I do them.
K2K: Skydiving?
AE: I have not done skydiving. I have done parasailing.
K2K: Dirt bikes? Motocross?
AE: A little bit, but I’m kind of, yeah.
K2K: Are you girlie or tomboyish?
AE: I do both. I feel like I do both
K2K: So you don’t have a problem with getting down and dirty, taking off the make-up and doing whatever you want.
AE: No, no. Recently I’ve been doing the remodeling of my house.
K2K: A model doing remodel. How novel.
AE: Yup, yup. I took down four walls of one room, by myself. Seriously, with a frickin’ sledgehammer and a pry bar. It was pretty cool. And the room looks good too.
K2K: It looks as though we’ve covered just about everything. You ended up just being a nice person. No scandals or anything. (laughs)
AE: I know. I’m sorry that I don’t have anything shocking about myself. Yeah.
K2K: Any advice for anyone getting into the business?
AE: Oh yeah! Just go for it.
K2K: But maybe not for anyone 12 or 14 like you did. You seem to have been very lucky.
AE: Yeah, I know. And right now it seems scary to me to look at someone who would be 12 or 14 who would just leave home. It seems just ridiculous. But when I was that age, there was no holding me back. I was not scared, and I was just going to go. So actually my advice to anybody, if somebody says, “No. Don’t do it.”, like with an art thing, I say fight them back and do it anyway. Yeah.
K2K: Do you ever look back and think, “Oh my! I should never have done that.”
AE: A little bit. It almost seems like the modeling stuff, it’s a different lifetime. It feels like it wasn’t me, but it was. Yeah. It just feels like, “Wow!” But my parents, both of them, were my whole life. They said a little bit, “Don’t do that.” and “Why would you do that?” and “Get a real education and get a real job.” And I said no.
K2K: Are they happy with what you’re doing?
AE: Yeah, they are now. But there were many times when they said, “No, no, no. You are doing to school.” and doing this and this and this. I just said no. (laughs)
K2K: Suggestions for vacationing in Finland?
AE: Yeah! I would go in the summertime, because I don’t like cold. The sun doesn’t set at all, so it’s kind of like Alaska. It’s pretty cool. I would absolutely see Helsinki, and all the way to Lapland, where there are the deer, and all the cool stuff.
And with that, it was time to go to check out the rest of what was happening at Cinequest. In going back over our chat, it’s amusing to note how many times Anna uses the exclamation, “Yeah” to emphasize her points. As with her personality, always in the positive, always affirming, and always with a smile. We’re sure to see much more of Anna Easteden in future films, and hopefully as an upcoming Bond girl (get those petitions going out there).
- Written by Philip Anderson [with help from Keith Denison]
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