Brea Bee [Interview]

Today we are oh so fortunate enough once again to share some amazing words from a brilliant and insanely talented actress who is steadily making waves in her industry. Her name is Brea Bee, and she may very well be one of the nicest people we have ever had featured on this little site of ours!It has been 6 years since a little “indie” film came out that has become forever imbedded in my movie muscle memory as a brilliant story, the likes of which we only get to see every other year or so. That film was Silver Linings Playbook, featuring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence and……Brea Bee!

While Brea’s appearance within the film are actually rather short, her role is one of the most important pieces of acting within the film. She’s the one who officially turned Ole Coop into a psychopath. And I will be damned to hell if Brea didn’t pull off her role with so damn much charisma and skill that had the ability to leave this viewer completely conflicted with the situation at hand.

Brea is an absolutely brilliant actress who has done some amazing work in the business, and I am so excited that we ca share a few words from her with you all today. So check it out!

When did you discover that you had a passion for the world of acting? What drew you to this life?

David O. Russell changed my life.  Working on SLP was the most surreal experience of my career. I almost turned it down because the role was constantly changing.  Producers were on the fence as to how much screen time Nikki would have in the film. When I auditioned, the role had at least two scenes including the shower scene and the dance scene.  When I was offered the role, David was still in the process of writing the ending, and was not sure if Nikki would show up at the dance.  I had never done nudity before, and I was pretty adamant that I not make my feature film debut as a random unknown naked actor in a shower scene with no dialogue. David talked with me about the significance of the scene, how important it was to the story, and that I would have lots of opportunity for improvised dialogue.  He also promised that if I were ever considering doing nudity, his set would be the most safe and professional.  I don’t know if it was his sincerity, or the fact that it was potentially the opportunity of a lifetime, but I was on set the next day, and he 100 percent delivered on his promise.

 

I had no idea how I was going to react when it came time to shoot the scene, but I was determined to deliver the absolute best performance, and to prove that I was good enough to be there.  We wrapped the scene after several hours in the bathroom and I made my case for coming back at the end of the film.  We had a conversation about it and I went off to a vacation in Napa Valley.  While I was there, I got a call from casting that I was coming back for the dance scene, which to me was almost more exciting than actually getting the part.  I spent another week on set with the entire cast and got a beautiful moment on screen with Bradley Cooper and it kind of changed my life.  Both David and Bradley treated me like I was just as significant as the movie stars in the film, and made me feel completely relevant and included in the process. The entire cast treated me like an equal and I will never be able to express how much that meant to me as an unknown actor from Philadelphia. I will be eternally grateful to David for taking a chance on me, and allowing me to be a part of that fantastic group of artists in that extraordinary film.

David has an incredible energy and a lot of what I did in the film was created as we were shooting, so it was very important to stay open and focused as he would come up with things on the spot.  It was quite a thrill to work with such spontaneity and a sense that anything could happen in each take.  I learned a very valuable lesson from him in being totally open and trusting myself to let go of any planned ideas and live moment to moment, regardless of what was going on around us at the time.  He also allowed me to make my own choices and that level of trust kind of blew me away, that he really does value the input of every actor, regardless of the importance or size of the role. 

What was the last thing that made you smile?

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