20-year-old American actress India Eisley is best known for her role as Ashley Jurgen in ABC’s family drama series – The Secret Life of the American Teenager and for her vampire role of Eve in Underworld: Awakening. This year, India shows us more of her versatility in Japanese Anime adaptation, Kite, where she’s cast as ‘emotionless killing machine’ Sawa.
In this Q and A, India gives details of what it was like working alongside critically acclaimed actor Samuel L Jackson as well as highlights of her career in 2014.
When did you fall in love with the art of acting and how long have you been acting?
Well, I've always loved films. I became interested in acting professionally when I was around 12 years old. That's when I started auditioning.
Your new movie "Kite" is based on the popular Anime/Manga. Can you tell us about how you got the role of Sawa and what made you interested in the role?
I got called in to audition for kite in 2010 and I didn't really know anything about it, other than what was written in the description which was just, young female assassin. So I went in, didn't hear back for two years, then got a call from my manager saying they had offered me the role..
Can you tell us a little bit about your character Sawa?
Sawa, is a young girl. She's an orphan. Her parents were killed when she was very young. She believes they were killed by a man called the Emir. Her "guardian" is a corrupt cop and he supplies her with a memory erasing drug called amp, which he makes sure she takes in order to complete these killing assignments that he arranges for her. She believes that with every kill she is getting closer to killing the emir and therefore avenging her parents.
What was it like working with Samuel L. Jackson on set?
He is a really lovely person. I can't say enough about him really. He's a very giving actor and really a comfort to have around because he brings all of his years of experience, that professionalism. I hope to work with him again at some point.
Kite has a lot of action scenes can you tell us a little bit about your preparation for the scenes. Did you train a little bit for the role?
I trained for 3 months with this wonderful stunt coordinator, Jeff Imada. He's such a great person and he was amazingly patient with me. He had me doing martial arts and weapons training, knives and guns mainly, which I thoroughly enjoyed!
What was the most challenging scene to film?
Well, physically things were a bit difficult as the locations were quite gritty and not the most "comfy" of places. Which looking back, I think that it shows that it was not a plushy set. Not in the least bit, but that worked I think. It gave a very visually raw feeling. So I would say that towards the end of filming, physically it was very difficult as I was quite ill at the time, a few of the night shoots were particularly tricky.
How long did it take to film and where did you film?
Filming took about 2 1/2-3 months. We filmed in Johannesburg.
Where can your fans follow you on social media?
I'm a tad horrible with the whole social media thing to be honest but, I do have a Twitter and Instagram. The Twitter is @indiaeisley1029 and Instagram is india_joy93. I rarely update or check them though, but I'm trying.
Kite is released and distributed by CAPTIVE CINEMA. It will be showing on October 29, 2014 in theaters NATIONWIDE.
