- Interviews
Nathalie Kelley: ‘Our show is a love letter to the Latin culture’
"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>It’s funny, I was having this thought the other day when I was on my hands and knees cleaning the kitchen floor and I thought to myself: Noa Hamilton has never done this in her life. So obviously there are massive differences because I am just a simple girl from Lima, Peru, that emigrated to Australia and was lucky enough to have a good education and have all the opportunities that I have had in my life. But I did come from very humble circumstances. Noa was born into a very wealthy family and so there’s that major difference. But I think at our essence, at our core, we both have similarities in that we are both just women who are trying to figure out love and men and how to navigate dating in this modern age. She has a lot more fame and celebrity than I do. But even the little bit that I have, I realize wow, it’s really hard to have a relationship that everybody knows about and talks about. So, I do relate to her in a lot of ways but very big differences, like Noa, does not clean her kitchen floors and I do.
"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>Well, yes. And that was something that I was really happy that the creators of the show, we worked together in kind of forming that part of her character. And I think that the writers also met me, and they understood my passions and thankfully they thought it was a good idea to incorporate some of those elements into Noa as well and vice versa, Noa inspires me. Noa builds schools in Puerto Rico, one day I would love to do that. So, I think that there’s some philanthropic inspiration going on both sides.
"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>In terms of how much influence she has and how much good she can do on a philanthropic level, I would say sure, why not, because I think that there are not that many inspiring examples of women out there, especially occupying the space of beauty and beautiful women. And Nathalie would like to be an alternative example to young girls. But on the other hand, Nathalie also loves her privacy and being able to do what she likes to do without other people knowing about it. So, I think thankfully that will be something that I will decide, but I always like to operate with a level of just discretion about my life, there are some things that are personal and secret, I am learning now.
"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>Oh, that’s good that at three you don’t know yet, because we always want there to be that level of danger, otherwise, it’s too easy. And the truth is, Noa is somebody who in the past has met people, had a nice time with them and then kind of moved on quickly. So, there is a very real threat that she can just decide hey, this isn’t working for me, I am going to go back to my life, you should go back to yours. But this is a love story and it is true love despite all circumstances. But I think the danger element is always going to be there when you date somebody that has that kind of existence, that is so large and in the public eye, you always run the risk of being forgotten.
"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>Notting Hill"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>Yeah, I think this is a very common fantasy. We live in a culture that is obsessed, obsessed with celebrity, probably more so than ever before because now we have so many different ways of looking at what these celebrities are eating for breakfast, everything they do, 24 hours a day. So, I think that a lot of us tend to project onto these people and especially I will speak as a beautiful woman, people like to project things onto you and maybe imagine that you are a certain way. But then the reality of it is that you are just a person and you are not perfect and sometimes that is very hard for people to understand when they get to know you. And that is what will happen throughout the season is that Daniel will get to discover the real woman underneath the fantasy. I think it was, who was it, Rita Hayworth who said they go to bed with Gilda, but they wake up with Rita. You go to bed with the fantasy and you wake up with the reality, and I think that is the story we are telling over the course of the season.
"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>Not really, I personally would not want to do that (laughter). It’s not for me. Although when I was in my 20s, I dated somebody for ten years that was very successful, and he was much more famous I guess than I was. And I have to say, it was uncomfortable for me, I guess I like to be the center of attention. I think it was just uncomfortable because I felt like I was always in his shadow and I didn’t like how that felt. And I eventually had to break out on my own so I could do my own thing. And I don’t think that everything that is happening in my career now could have happened had I kind of remained this man’s girlfriend, because that becomes your identity. And I don’t like to speak much about my personal life, but I will say that now that the tables have turned, it’s hard now for any man being with me to feel like they are in my shadow. So, I think it’s really interesting, this constantly changing dynamic between men and women and struggling to find that balance.
"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>Yes. It was so beautiful to film a show about Latin culture in a Latin country with a Latin crew. It was really special to be telling that story. And the crew were so invested in telling the story they were part of it. And all the women on set could relate to the mom and all the men understood what it meant to have a father like Rafael and a brother like Mateo. And we are telling the story of a quintessential Latin family and so everyone who was working with us there could relate. So, it was a really beautiful experience. And I would say our show is a love letter to the Latin culture.
Mermaid that didn’t go on the air. What do you think would have happened with your career and with your life if that had become a TV show?
"Arial",sans-serif;color:black’>I am exactly what I was meant to be right now. And that decade, from 20 to 30, was a decade full of missed auditioning, stuff missing out on roles, pilots not going, like a decade of continual disappointment and rejection. And any other person would have quit, even I am proud of my perseverance. I also understand now that I was not ready, I did not have the training, I did not have just the foundation in my character to support this kind of attention at such a young age and so I just needed the years of learning and failing to get to where I am now, that’s just my life path. And at the same time, there are so many actresses who in my 15 years of auditioning, some of them were the same ones who keep beating me out for roles. And I would think why can’t I beat them, why are they booking everything, and I am booking nothing? And to be honest, I think a lot of them had their moment and then kind of faded away. And so, for me, I always viewed this as a marathon. And that is hard for women to do, because the industry puts age limits on us and tells us this is about the age when I should be quitting and saying oh, I have reached my peak, time to quit. And that is crazy that we are telling women that their peak is in their 20s. I didn’t have the talent and the training in my 20s, I’m sorry, I only got there in my 30s. So I just think that, I am really proud of myself that I stuck it out, I am really proud of ABC for casting me at my age in this role and hopefully, that is something that is talked about a little bit but like the diversity of age in roles is really important too. We need to look at television and see people who really represent us in terms of, not just ethnicity, but age too. And so, I am grateful that