In Conversation With Elena Satine

Elena was virtually photographed & interviewed in Los Angeles by Alison Engstrom

Hi elena, it’s great to Meet you! I’m excited to Learn more about you aNd your career. I’d love to start by asking What was it about performing that captured your attention at the young age of six when you first started?  

My earliest memories were my mom playing a lot of studio-era films at the house, all the time; she loved Old Hollywood films and still does. I was just captivated by them at a young age, this idea of stories and storytelling. I would start to repeat what I saw, both for the films my mom would play, and the Disney movies she would play for me. I would memorize all of the lines and all of the movements then I would corner anybody who came over to the house and perform for them (laughs). That was how I had fun as a kid—I wasn’t playing outside with my friends or playing with Barbies. For me, it was putting on performances that I was excited about. It's something that my mom noticed—I'm very fortunate to have had a parent who nurtured that and realized this was my passion and whatever it might turn into didn’t matter. She just wanted to nurture me and make me feel it was safe and okay to do. She put me into different extracurricular activities that revolved around acting, singing, and music. She put me into piano lessons at six years old and singing lessons. It was just something that was always around me. 

I think it's so important to use your imagination. I hope the younger generations Can still do that since there are so many distractions with technology. 

I often wonder how technology and social media are going to shape the youth because we didn't have that, especially growing up in post-Soviet Russia. We only got a handful of movies; we didn't have the same Rolodex you might have had here. We had very few things that were representative of the Western world that we could watch. So it was a very interesting childhood, to say the least. 

Since then what have been some milestones that shaped where you are today?

Every few years, there's been a milestone in my life. When I was 11, we moved to the States. It was just my mom and me, we were immigrants, and I barely spoke any English. I got into a performing arts school, which was very fortunate, but I had to go to school with all American kids. I sounded funny when I did speak the language because I had an accent; I had to get past a lot of things. I had to be really brave at a young age. I was taking the subway to school by myself when I was 11 years old because my mom was working two jobs to support us. I went to school in Hell's Kitchen. It was a lot to go from a very quaint little city—I grew up Sochi—that was very small and safe, and go to New York City, but it was wonderful. Sometimes we would cut school after lunch because we’d get student tickets to any Broadway show. We’d go see a matinee and get the most amazing front row seats. I remember seeing Aida like 20 times (laughs), it was pretty incredible. When I graduated high school, I decided that I still loved to do this and it was something that I wanted to continue to pursue.

When I moved to LA, I had only been on a couple of auditions and I did a self-tape for a little show called Game of Thrones. Six months went by and I didn’t hear anything, so I had completely forgotten about it. Then I got a call from my manager saying they were recasting the role of Khaleesi. They wanted me to come in and read against one other actress. 

I remember going into HBO and it seeming like it was the biggest deal in the world. I remember thinking, this is it; I'm doing something right (laughs). Needless to say, I didn’t get it but I remember having this funny feeling where I wasn't sad. Typically, if you lose a huge job once you get so close to it you would be upset, but I remember my frame of mind being, well, I've only been at this for a couple of months, I got to this point, and I feel this is a sign that I should continue to do this. About a month later, I got a fantastic show called Magic City that I'm very proud of to this day, it’s one of my favorite jobs and probably my favorite character I've ever played. There were definitely things that happened very early on that made me believe in myself and my ability to keep going.  

What’s been the most rewarding part of your profession and what is the most challenging?

I think the most rewarding part is just being on a set and on a project you believe in. It's so rare that you get to do that as an actor. I mean, look, it's difficult to even make a living doing this. But to do a project, or be part of something, you feel inspired by and feel creatively satisfied with at the end of the day to me is so rewarding. I know how difficult it is to get to that point and to even have those opportunities just once or twice in your career. 

I think the challenging part is, for me to be quite honest was there would be pockets where I didn't work for a long time. It wasn’t due to the lack of opportunities, but I think it was because Magic City was so satisfying and it was the first big job I did so things that would come after paled in comparison. I didn't feel inspired; I didn't feel drawn to a lot of things that came my way and so I decided to just wait. I did that for a long time. I’d wait a year; I'd wait two years; I would wait until something spoke to me because I didn't want to work for the sake of working. I burned through all of the money I made from Magic City and had no money left. 

That's so brave, though, to make that decision to wait—it has obviously paid off.

I would get sent scripts and I would go, no, I don't want to do this, it feels like a step back. So I worked as a hostess at a restaurant; I was an assistant to a business person; I did some modeling, things that paid the bills that didn’t make me feel like I was compromising.

You wanted to preserve your creative integrity, that’s admirable. Now to talk about ‘Cowboy Bebop’, congratulations on the success of the show! You mentioned you filmed it in 2019. 

We started filming in 2019 and instead of doing it by episode, we were shooting out sets they had built. So the first set was our penthouse that Vicious and I live in. In 2019, we shot every scene in that set from episodes one through ten. It was interesting to tell a huge part of my character’s arc from the beginning and be done with it and then all I had left was anything outside of that. Right after we wrapped the penthouse, I think it was the following day, John Cho got injured, we had to shut down production and we all went home for nearly a year. It was supposed to be seven months then the pandemic hit and things had to get figured out. Then when we came back, a whole year later, we had to pick up where we were a year ago and that proved to be challenging in itself.  Once you have time away from the character and an unfinished story, it's difficult to just jump right back in.

What excited you the most about the script, which is based on the very popular anime?

I was a huge fan of the anime, so when the opportunity came to audition for this, it was one of those things where I had to manage my expectations. When you're reading for something that you're really excited about, chances are, it's not going to go your way. I find that the more invested you are, the more they smell the desperation on you (laughs). So I had to go in and be cool. 

I felt like I had a take on the character that was unique; I felt good about what I was presenting. I took it a day at a time, and it ended up being a very long audition process—for me, it was nine months. I was the very first Julia they saw and this was before John or anybody else was cast.  They had to build up the entire cast before they could even consider her.  I kept getting brought back in and given new scripts because the scripts were also being written as we were auditioning. Nine months might sound excruciating to audition for something, but honestly, it became like a workshop in a way because I knew they were responding to what I was doing. Otherwise, they wouldn't be bringing me back in. Every time I’d go back in, I’d be in a room full of producers and we would just play with what was on the page and we’d figure it out together. I feel like I have great ownership over this character because it felt like we found the art together in the room. The call that I got the job was absolutely delightful.

How did you prepare for the role? is it inline with your typical process? 

It was somewhat unique to this one because, when you look at the anime, Julia is there as a tool to tell Spike’s story. We don't know a lot of people, except for the little flashes of who they may be. The one thing I noticed about the anime was in Spike’s memory, she's angelic, light, bright, and motherly. When he meets up with her later in the anime, she's wearing black, shooting guns, and racing cars—not exactly the same woman. So to me, it was the idea of perception, Julia, is told through the lens of the men around her and in our live-action, that was very much the case as well. We get to see her through the eyes of Spike and Vicious but we don't get to know who the real Julia is until she decides to take control of her destiny and navigates for herself, which is where we find her at the end of the season.

I was reading there has been talk about maybe a second season, can you confirm or deny (laughs)? 

We have not been told that there's going to be a season two, but it seems like everybody is very hopeful. It depends on how the show did and what the reaction was—all five of us, collectively, are very much hoping to go back for a season to keep telling the story. It does leave off in quite a cliffhanger and it would be a real shame if we didn't get to resolve that.

Since you live in a creative household. What do you do to nurture your creativity and your craft? 

I love to sing and play the piano.  My husband (note: Tyson Ritter is the lead singer of the band The All American Rejects) is a talented musician and we do a lot of fun things around the house. For instance, he's making a record right now with his new band, Now More Than Ever, the record is gonna come out next year, but he’s been recording stuff at home. So he'll have me come into the vocal booth and do all the backup. It’s so much fun for me to be able to play in his world a little bit. He's also acting so when he has auditions or when I have auditions, we'll put scenes up in our living room together. We're constantly creating; we're constantly doing stuff together, which is fun. 

I'm interested in producing, something that I've been focusing on since I wrapped up on the show. I knew that I didn't want to go into another on-camera job right away because I wanted some time to take this character off and spend time with my family and myself. I found I became interested in telling other stories and while I dabble in writing, I don’t fancy myself a writer. But I think I really do have a great producer brain; I'm very pragmatic in a way that I see pieces come together in my mind. I’ve been collaborating with my husband and a couple of our wonderfully talented screenwriter friends on several projects. So hopefully, some of those will see the light of day.

Since we are coming to a close on 2021, do you have any hopes and dreams for the new year?

These past couple of years have been so revelatory for so many people. For me, I've taken this year to slow down and be thankful for every day, every opportunity, and every moment that I get to spend with my family. So honestly, 2022 is just about gratitude, looking forward, and just realizing how fortunate we are every day. Being grateful that we are able to tell stories and be creators, and also that I have such a wonderful family. I'm just so grateful and feel like this year has shed a lot of light on that.

Favorite city…

We've been talking about trying to get out of LA. We'd like to move some other place. I think we've decided that our favorite American city is definitely New Orleans. We love jazz; Miles Davis has been the soundtrack to our love story. We're big food lovers. It’s a city that really calls to us, it has a palpable energy that you can't find anywhere else. Outside the States, I love Budapest; I'd love to spend some more time in France—there's still many places I want to explore.

Go to meal…

In LA , there is a restaurant called Petit Trois. It’s our favorite spot. 

Must have beauty products…

I love Vintner’s Daughter Serum. I have sensitive skin and I don't react well to a lot of things, but I was using it on Bebop. Also, Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream because I have dry skin. There's also a great skincare line by this woman named Emma Lewisham, a New Zealand-based company I discovered while working over there. I love her entire line; it’s completely clean with organic products, they are wonderful. 

My favorite time of day…

Sunset; we get beautiful sunsets that we can see from our home. Tyson and I often go up there with a glass of wine and watch the sunset together. 

Follow Elena Satine on Instagram

Stream ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Now on Netflix

This interview was edited slightly for clarity