Actor Tanna Frederick talks Film and Fitness

The GGS Girls were lucky enough to get the opportunity to interview actor Tanna Fredrick – yay, Girls! Tanna most recently starred in the acclaimed film, Irene in Time, and she currently has three more films in post production.  We asked Tanna for her thoughts about film, fitness, and – of course – footwear.

GGS: Tanna, is acting all that you thought it would be? What, if anything, surprised you when you landed your first role and you started working on set?

TF: The first time a p.a. [production assistant] brought me a diet coke on set while I was in the make up chair my mind was blown.  I couldn’t believe it.  All the spoils that come with being the lead in a film-amazing.

I had done some student films and low budget films in obscene conditions- but it was all fun and we were happy just to have a camera pointed at our faces.   It was more than I ever dreamed it could be.  For five years I had driven past trailers wishing I could be in one of them even for a tiny role, and then suddenly I’m the lead in a film and there’s thirty trailers lined up…I’ll never get that image out of my head.  I think I started crying.  I’m a total geek, but it’s true.

And it never ceases to amaze me, that herd of trailers and that sign posted saying, ‘CREW’… And working with Noah Wyle was unbelievable. Not only is he a breathtakingly incredibly talented leading man, I watched him in my living room as a kid, and he’s my mom’s favorite actor.  She’s a nursing professor and the only t.v. show she ever watched was E.R.

He’s the modern version of Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda.  Somehow his work has that 1940’s pizzazz, but with subtle, heart-stopping emotional undertones…He’s brilliant.

GGS: Can you tell us something quirky about you that people wouldn’t necessarily guess from watching you on screen?

TF: I’m all quirkiness on screen-so I guess my quirkiness would be that I’m actually normal in every day life.  Sometimes I mix Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms together for breakfast and get crazy  -a trick I learned from the great Simon Jaglom.  Other than that, I’d like to think I’m fairly boring.  I like to run a tight ship, run or surf or TKD [Tae Kwon Do] in the morning, meetings or rehearsals during the day, and microwave popcorn and the Sopranos at night.  I’m usually in bed by 8:30 pm so I can get up before the sun comes up.  I’m boring myself just talking about it.

GGS: How do you balance stress when you are working?

TF: Acting is never the stress -it’s always the other stuff.  Trying to get more acting jobs, although Jaglom’s got me pretty set up with that right now.  I’m a lucky actor!  But the stress of the ‘business’ I  handle by trying to beat my times and run a faster mile or surfing for three hours.

Making i-mixes calms me for some reason.  And my dog, a little Shiba Inu ball of love, Garbo, always de-stresses me.  Watching a good Bogie film also takes off the edge.   …Or just talking to my Mom or Dad.

Also, playing Auntie Mame to the daughter and son of my friend/ director Ron Vignone’s kids is always the best stress reliever…He directed this brilliant dark family comedy called Katie Q – I play Katie Q in it – and he has the most wonderful kids, Gio and Minnie.

GGS: We hear you are an avid swimmer, runner and surfer and that you even hold a 1st degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do.  Tell us a about your interest in sports and what dimension they bring to you as an actor.

TF: I think that competitive explosive sports help me to relax on stage. I have a very volatile emotionality, and the more I can get it out with focused activities like Tae Kwon Do or surfing, the less angry I am on a day to day basis.  Not that I’m an angry person, but I tend to suppress my feelings and I like to let the steam out incrementally instead of having a complete emotional meltdown for a week.

Also I love lengthy workouts where I don’t have to think – swimming a mile or two or running, anything where my body is working hard and doing the same repetitive movement, quiets my mind for some reason.

GGS: Will you share with us what a typical daily workout is like for you? Does it change when you are working?

TF: I wake up at 6:30 am and either get out to the water and surf for two to three hours, or I’ll run six to seven miles…Right now I’m training for the LA Marathon in March, I’m going to be doing it to raise money for the North Iowa Area Transition Center and the North Iowa Alliance for the Mentally Ill, so I’m trying to get as many runs in as possible while cross training with surfing and Tae Kwon Do.  I’m working hard to get a sub-four hour time this marathon. Victor King, my TKD instructor, has also started this great workout called squat boxing- it’s the hardest workout-but amazing for your legs and butt!

GGS: Have you participated in any races or competitions? If so, what was your favorite and why?

TF: I did the Chicago Marathon four years ago and finished in 4:08, which was almost my goal-I wanted to finish in four hours, but I drank too much Starbucks Double Shots and had to pee at mile ten… Bahhh.  But there’s nothing like running in the final mile of a marathon and hearing ‘Chariots of Fire’ playing in your head and realizing that you just ran twenty five miles…It made me realize I could do anything!

In college I competed on the Hawkeye Tae Kwon Do Team and went around to different states competing…I loved it except for one tournament that I fought my best friend Krystal-we each beat out all the other girls from other colleges and had to fight each other.  We both were devastated and swore we’d never fight each other again in the locker room that day.  But that was one great fight-she’s the toughest girl I’ve ever fought!!!

GGS: So, about that Black Belt…have you ever had to use your skill to defend yourself in a real-life situation?

TF: No.  I don’t think it’d be a good idea.  Look, I’m a legalized weapon. I‘ve never pushed that final detonation button.  Girls in Iowa are feisty and I’ve been ‘invited’ to challenge them in bar fights, but martial arts are about self defense and I’ve never stepped in.  But I am ready to do a martial arts film.  Let’s get ‘em Jackie Chan.

GGS: We understand that you co-founded “Project Save our Surf”.  What is Project Save our Surf and why is it so important to you?

TF: I was raised in the middle of the country where we’re dependent on the land and we were hyper-aware of our surroundings as they determined my most of my family’s income. We respected our surroundings, and tried to give back as much to the earth as it had given to us.  It’s a duty, I feel, and I’m so lucky to live next to the ocean, to surf in the ocean, and it just is a given that it needs to be cleaned up, that all of the wonderful people who go out and enjoy the Santa Monica beaches on the weekends should be the ones who celebrate the water and keep it and it’s ecosystems safe.

Project Save Our Surf is a way to give the community a chance to celebrate our water, access to opportunity to raise awareness and invest fortitude and resolve to continue to improve our oceans forfuture generations…It’s been beautiful watching these legendary surfers – Shaun Tomson, PT Townend, Tom Curren, Rob Machado, and legendary actors – Dennis Hopper, Gregory Harrison, Judd Nelson, come out and surf or support Project SOS in the Santa Monica bay…

GGS: Here on GirlGetStrong.com, we’re all about growing stronger physically, mentally and spiritually.  But we also love shoes!  So let us in on a little secret…what type of shoe girl are you? Runners or high heels or…?

TF: Bare feet!!!  That’s what I prefer!

I like dirt under my toenails and to grass under my feet… I guess that’s the Iowa in me.  I used to run around on my grandparents’ farm barefoot every weekend when I was little, and I love stepping into the ocean with no booties-it’s so freeing! (Unless I step on a sand shark, that’s a little mind altering).  I still walk like a baby giraffe in heels, I don’t think I was meant to wear them. But I do like Minnetonka Moccasins…I walk decently in those.

Thanks to talented and gracious Tanna for answering our questions.  We’ll be rooting for her as she runs the LA Marathon in March 2010.

~Melanie