Interview: Getting to know Olivia Luccardi
You might have seen Olivia Luccardi delivering an epically acerbic performance in Lena Dunham’s ‘Girls’. We caught up with the Brooklyn-based actress to find out about her experiences on the show and what she’s been up to since:
I am a Brooklyn native who spent several years growing up in a small town in upstate New York called Chatham. I love cameras, video and still photography. I’ve worked at Webster Hall in NYC for the past four years until last March when I quit to pursue my acting full-time.
Acting is my bliss. Acting brings me such happiness and fulfilment in life. It’s honestly one of the hardest things for me to explain. I am so very grateful to be living my dream.
I’m currently working on ‘It Follows’. It’s not your typical horror movie, David Robert Mitchell (the director) has such a unique vision. It is going to be the most artistic horror movie anyone will ever see. I look up to him in that sense. He can capture moments the average eye can’t see. Everyone with the film is great. We’ve all become quick friends and I love them all so much. This month I go back to NYC to plan my next art show.
Appearing in Girls was actually my first audition and role ever. It was all so surreal. It was my first professional job, I had my own little trailer. Lena, Alex, Jenni and the whole crew were just so amazing and warm towards me. I’ll definitely never forget it, even if I wanted to, people won’t let me… haha.
Aside from acting I curate and produce an Art program called, The Quarterly Arts Soirée or better known as “The QAS”, at Webster Hall in the East Village. It’s an art collaborative of all mediums. Art, Music, Fashion, Film, every kind of art you can imagine brought together for one night. It’s a pARTy! I literally spend all of my free time volunteering to make this happen for the community we’re building. The joy from giving people the opportunity to show their work, live their dream, is unexplainable
I am also an adventure seeker! I love not knowing what’s next.
Home is Clinton Hill/Ft Greene Brooklyn. But that is just for the moment to figure out my next move after I’m done filming in Michigan. I do move around a lot, so my “Will always be home” is upstate in Chatham, NY with my mother. I hope to one day to settle down in Lower Manhattan and then in Rome, Italy.
I spend too much time watching TV and movies. I have strange views on school. I’ve taken acting classes in the past, but I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way for me to learn about acting is studying other working actors. “What makes this scene so real, so natural?” “What made that seem like they were acting?” Or maybe this is my way of rationalizing my laziness and love for watching TV. haha.
I’m currently listening to Lorde. She is literally playing right this second, I just got into her. Lana Del Ray, 90’s No Doubt, Of Monsters and Men, The xx, Mozarts Requiem, Miley Cyrus (new and old), Tori Kelly, Sigur Ros, The Carter Family, The Good Life, always Rilo Kiley, The Freelance Whales and forever Paul Simon. I can only fit limited songs on my iPhone, so that’s what’s on there now.
It might surprise people to learn that… So I will be totally honest when I say, this question stumped me. I thought about it all weekend, asked my friends what’s “surprising” about me. I couldn’t figure it out. And then it hit me driving back from set. I am a surprise. What surprises people about me is how open I am. I put everything on the table and I act completely like myself and I don’t care. Oh, and I burp out loud with pride.
You can follow Olivia on Twitter and The Quarterly Arts Soirée on Facebook here and here.
Interview by Bobby Townsend. Photos by Josh Wehle and Carianne Blain.
