We met Anne Winters in LA, at the Paramount Estate, a beautiful mansion from the 1930s that acted as our background while we got to know this young woman, who is making her way into the world of cinema and television. In fact, just recently, she won her first Emmy Award as Best Actress for the Daytime show “Zac & Mia.”
But what are the reasons why we liked her from the very first moment? And why she is for us one of the rising stars to watch this year? Well, apart from what immediately jumps to the eye (that she is that kind of effortless beautiful natural girl), the thing that transpires mostly is her love and commitment to her work, her complete dedication. Her desire to keep challenging herself, to feel free on set, to feel what the character feels but to always do it through herself and her emotions, so as to be as true as possible.
While chatting and spending time with her during the photo shoot, we saw how sweet she is, but also how she is one of those people who know what they want, her determination is palpable in each answer. She doesn’t hide her insecurities in interpreting a character or testing herself with scenes that she has never done before, but she goes for it.
Anne will be one of the new characters in the Netflix acclaimed series “13 Reasons Why,” one of the main new characters that will rock the boat in season 2. “13 Reasons Why” is one of those series that has really shocked critics and audiences all over the world but that, according to us, and also according to Anne, speaks about something necessary, of which we must speak and be aware of. And above all, it must be accepted and act on that the reality is not so different from what they play.
Anne defines her character, Chloe, who is the cheerleader captain of Liberty High, as someone who will make the audience reflect, who will shed a new light on the series, who will show that not everything is black or white, that there are shadows and shades that must be seen before someone can judge.
So, enjoy our interview with Anne. “13 Reasons Why” second season will be available on Netflix from May 18th and, if you thought the first season had upset you, get ready for new one! But it will not be the last we see of her this year, find out also her other upcoming projects.
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When did you first fall in love with acting?
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Oh my gosh, that’s so hard! I feel I first fell in love the minute I stepped onto a set, which was when I was fifteen, I just fell in love with it. Just being in front of the camera and being under pressure, and seeing what happens in the moment and really going for it. Every time you are on set and every time you are on camera it’s something different and I feel different things happen every time, I just love the spontaneity of it.
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And who has influenced and inspired you the most so far?
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I feel I have been inspired by so many people throughout every set that I have been on, I could say that I was inspired by every director or different actors on every set I have ever been on.
But I would say that one of my favorite actresses is Rachel McAdams, I really look up to her, I think that she is funny but she’s also just very real; she can play so many different roles and I think that’s one of my goals, always doing something different, and challenging myself in any different kind of roles that I can find.
“…that’s one of my goals, always doing something different, and challenging myself in any different kind of roles that I can find.”
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We bet that you can’t say much about “13 Reasons Why” but can you tell us about your role, how did you prepare to play Chloe?
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Yeah, it’s funny because even the audition process was so crazy because they didn’t give me any idea of who I was playing, what my storyline was, it was all fake: fake names, fake relationships, fake sides. I got to set and still didn’t know what my character really was doing, and then I found out more, but I can’t tell you exactly what happens.
But Chloe is definitely going to stir up some drama this season, and I think she is going to really shed light on a new aspect of the show, which is kind of a grey area maybe, not as black and white as it was last season, when something might be wrong or something might be right. It’s like a grey area and I can’t explain exactly what that means, but she definitely represents a new aspect of the show that I am excited about. And people might have a different opinion of her from the beginning of the series and end of it because she definitely takes a very vague character arc throughout the season.
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Were you a fan before auditioning and being part of the second season?
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Definitely. I auditioned for the main role that Katherine [Langford] got for Hannah. And when I read the script at first, I was like “Oh my gosh, I love the show.” From the minute I read the first pilot episode years before I loved it and the show is amazing, so of course, I am a fan! I think it really sheds a light on a really important topic and it’s real for a lot of kids.
“Chloe is definitely going to stir up some drama this season…”
“The show sheds a light on a really important topic and it’s real…”
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How do you think shows like “13 Reasons Why” can shake the society and can help people? I think it’s really important to see those type of TV Series that maybe get some criticism, but they are really important, and we must talk about it.
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I definitely think that it is one of the shows that doesn’t sugarcoat things and I think it’s really important to show the true reality of situations and that’s what the show really does. And that’s why the show did get so much criticism, but I think it’s very important. And I think that kids these days are smarter than what we think they are, and they go through real things some of which are the ones we portray on the show. And I don’t see why we wouldn’t show the real aspect of what’s going on in high schools these days.
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How was the mood on set?
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It definitely is a dark type of show, but we do have so much fun on set. All of us are like a family. Of course, we are all close together and we are hanging out outside of the set, as said, we are like a big family, and everyone is around the same age, so it’s just like a big group of friends. I felt really great coming out into set, even as a new character I felt I fit in right away.
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What was for you the most beautiful thing about being on the show?
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Specifically for this show, I think that the most beautiful thing was really exploring the character that I’m portraying this season, she is very different. It was a very challenging character for me and I was put in situations that I had never been put it as an actress before and some uncomfortable scenes that I had to do, and I feel that was a great thing. I really enjoyed about being on set, just doing something new!
“I definitely think that it is one of the shows that don’t sugarcoat things…”
“It was a very challenging character for me and I was put in situations that I had never been put it as an actress before.”
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Can you tell us something about your future projects?
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I have a movie coming out with Kevin Hart called “Night School” in September and I am really excited about that, the trailer dropped last month. And I’ve also just filmed the pilot for an ABC show called “Grand Hotel”: it’s very royal. It’s Eva Longoria’s new show that she is producing and taken on and based on a Spanish series called “Grand Hotel” on Netflix. I play Ingrid who’s the maid of the hotel and who has a lot of secrets and has a lot going on. Other than that, “13 Reasons Why” is probably the soonest, most up and coming thing.
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What is acting for you?
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I think acting is just putting yourself in the character’s situation and reacting how you would react. I mean, it’s genuinely feeling something that may look like a story on a page but it’s actually really taking that on yourself and putting yourself there and see what happens. I think that’s the beauty of acting. It’s like you can’t rehearse and you can’t know before the scene what you’re going to do, it’s all about being there, being the other person in the scene and really being there for the other person, really being in the situation and see what happens. It could be different every time!
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What’s your dream project?
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You know what’s really cool? I just watched a show called “The End of the F***ing World” on Netflix and it’s so good! The girl character in there is so good and she’s just so real and so blunt and so honest and so…just fun. That would be a kind of character I would love to play. Just that kind of blunt, cool, just say-how-it-is, very leader type of girl. That seems really fun. Other than that, I think it would be fun to be like a superhero or something like that.
“…I would love to play a kind of blunt, cool, just say-how-it-is, very leader type of girl.”
NOW, ON THE FUN PART…
Must have on set: Yerba mate tea for the morning. I love yerba mate, it’s my coffee since I don’t really drink coffee.
Superpower: To read minds!
Epic fail on the job: Oh my gosh… that’s so tough! I don’t know, I try to forget those moments! I actually did have an auditing for this pilot season that was an actual epic fail. I went into the audition room and I don’t know what happened, I was super confident, but I forgot the same line, I think, ten times. And there was a minute in the audition when I stepped back, and I was like: “Guys I’m sorry, this is so bad.” And I just stepped out of the audition room. That was probably the most recent epic fail I can think of.
Happy place: The beach.
Favorite accent: Italian, because you have an amazing accent. You don’t hear it that often…you hear British and Australian a lot here in LA, but you don’t hear Italian.
Movie then: My favorite movie when I was a kid was “She’s the Man.” “What a girl wants” was my second favorite: Amanda Bynes movies were, like, my favorites.
Favorite Word: I think “beautiful,” but I was also thinking about “bellissimo” because you guys were saying that earlier.
Favorite Emoji: ?
Favorite quote: I really like “dream until your dreams come true.” I actually painted it on a mirror thing in my house and then I realized I spelled it wrong, just stupidly, because I was writing in cursive and I just got carried away with the “l” and I did two. So now everybody who comes over is like, “you’re so dumb. Why did you spell until with two ls?” and I’m like, “I don’t know! Just in the moment, painting it!”
The last series you binge-watched: Probably “The End of the F***ing World”!
Ops! Break Time:
Snack Crush: Honestly this is going to be so stupid but just, literally, an apple or an orange. If I can see an apple or orange I choose that. I’m like super LA in the gluten and the dairy, I’m very healthy-ish. I’d say fruit.
Sweets or Popcorn? Sweets.
Since we are Italian… Hawaiian pizza, yay or nay? I’d say no. I honestly don’t really eat pizza!
Photos and Video by Johnny Carrano.
Makeup by Harriet Hadfield at Opus Beauty using Hourglass.
Styling by Lo VonRumpf.
Hair by Gui.
Thanks to The Paramour.
