I'm a real blonde.
— Nina Arianda
What makes an actor, I think, is a combination of a deep curiosity about life and a case of the crazies.
When I won the Tony, I blacked out. I don't remember anything. I had bullet points jotted down, but I forgot to read half of them. My hands were shaking. It was an insane honor to be recognized in that way.
My favorite place to vacation is anyplace by the ocean.
Film is new for me so I'm so fascinated by it and love it, but I would pass out if I could never do theater again. I'd be physically ill!
I never approach a character from a negative place.
Now that I'm on Broadway, it's like NASA engineering with the costumes. I was very grateful for the slightly more high-tech ones in my show, 'Venus in Fur'; our costume designer Anita Yavich is kind of a genius.
I let steam off by watching 'Downton Abbey.'
I got last-minute rush seats to Baz Luhrmann's 'Boheme,' and my favorite singer, Ekaterina Solovyeva, was playing Mimi that day. My face got burned off when she sang the aria 'Donde Lieta Usci.' The woman was technically sobbing and singing opera at the same time. I don't know how you do that.
When I was a kid, my daily routine was playing make-believe, and I kind of created these stories throughout the day. And when it came time to go to preschool, my English wasn't really so great because my mother wanted me to learn Ukrainian, so she signed me up for these children's theater groups.
If I'm having a bad day in rehearsal, I'll sleep with my script.
I had a year at 3 when I wanted to be a conductor in the opera.
I was into opera as a kid - I'd play 'Carmen' and sing and dance. My mom signed me up for a theater group before preschool, and I never looked back.
I love all things Queen - their songs are epic storytelling.
You leave part of yourself on every stage you're on. How could you not live in the air somehow?
I don't really know what 'American' is. I know what Ukrainian is. We're happy Slavic people. We're not Dostoyevsky Slavic people. There's this sense of 'pick it up, get your hands dirty, make the best of it, celebrate.'
When I was 13, I moved from New Jersey to Germany with my family. The high school was so supportive of my dream to continue with my theater training; instead of taking PE, I would get credit for dance lessons.
I try not to put my purse on the floor - demons will get into it.
Every audition is different, but I get incredibly nervous and insecure and worked up for however long I have to prep - that's when I get to spin. But you're not allowed to spin once you enter the room. Doubt really can't enter the room when you're auditioning - unless it's part of the character.
I've had a very supportive mother my entire life, so I've had strong women around me.
I was a hostess, I sold shoes, but I don't function well in jobs that don't have to do with what I love. I have cleaned bathrooms in theaters, I have sold wine in theaters, I have sold tickets, because I will do anything, anything, to stay in this world.
When I was 3, I recited a poem at a festival in Passaic, New Jersey. The applause was tremendous, and it hit me that I could affect people positively by performing.
I'm mildly obsessed with skin care. I do a lot of masks at home, like Elisha Coy's Korean Collagen masks. I also use an embarrassingly wide variety of facial creams.
I see something new in 'Gosford Park' every time I watch it.
I think if you want to get to know me, you should come and see a show. A person might get to see more sides of me.
I would feel ill without theater. It's kind of a cliche, but every time you make a mistake, you really do have to learn from it to move on. When you're doing something live, there's no time to dwell. Hopefully you'll laugh it off, but if not, you can always take a day to hate yourself.
Going to the theater or having the honor of performing in theater reminds you of your humanity in a very different way. It's a real release and an incredible challenge. But the stage is a dangerous place. You gotta be trained. Plus, crowds like when things go wrong. I think that's part of the thrill. Anything can happen.
I can't have white roses. They symbolize death.
Before I left for Germany, I had gotten accepted to the performing arts high school in New York, which was a big dream of mine. And having to leave that was very sad for me.
