Q'orianka Kilcher
THE GIRL BEHIND THE LEGEND:
Q'orianka Kilcher brings Pocahontas to life with charm, maturity and insight.
By Traci J. Grant
It's a massive task for any fifteen year-old to have the lead in a major motion picture. But for Q'orianka Kilcher, it was not just a starring role, it was her first big picture. Plus she was responsible for bringing the legend of Pocahontas to life in New Line Cinema's The New World. In this epic feature, according to Q'orianka, "They're really striving to go toward the historically accurate legend that makes up Pocahontas." She continues, "It shows the story of Pocahontas. All the bridges she overcomes and all the obstacles from being with Smith, a very sparkly, young, kind of wild, untamable love, to John Rolfe, a very fatherly figure, a stable love, [to her] becoming a very different person and finally seeing that she was just living a dream her entire life, and coming to peace with it." Pocahontas's story is built along the plot of the collision in the 1600's between the Native Americans and English settlers.
Q'Orianka's words reveal how seriously she has taken on this enormous task,and her presence on the screen indicates she's accomplished it above any and all expectations. With the maturity of someone twice her age, Q'orianka explains, "I was just concentrating on whether I did justice to Pocahontas in showing her story as best as I could to the world." Q'orianka discussed how she used the costumes to delve inside her character's mind. "I had them put my shoes a size too small and tie my corset extra tight in order to feel the way I imagined Pocahontas to feel. It was so sad for me to feel...to have the corset on me and be in these English clothes. It was a transition from being in the woods in my traditional wardrobe to the English wardrobe - very proper and very confined."
Before she was swimming with Colin Farrell in a New World, Q'Orianka was just one of many young actresses trying to get break in a sea of Hollywood up and comers. Her journey to get the career altering role of Pocahontas was one of great triumph, and even greater excitement. "I went in there and they thanked me very much for coming, but I was definitely too young for the role. Then a week later my mom called me, said I got another audition, and I screamed so loud. It just kept on going like that, always to the next level, [saying] she's way too young. But then they'd bring me to the next level and the next level so it was really unexpected. The odds were definitely not in my favor, because the other actresses that were being considered for the role were older and more experienced than I was. I was also a teenager, and if you think about it, that's really unsettling for the studio to think of putting an entire feature film production on me. It was really hard and a very long audition process."
If in any way the studio took a risk on the young actress, it was well worth it. Q'orianka Kilcher has put her heart,soul and imagination into capturing who Pocahontas really was. While she admits that, "I was very terrified when I got to Virginia because it was my first big film. I was scared I was going to hold up the entire production team over there, and all the actors and director." But Q'orianka leaves with more than a history lesson. "I learned so much. I learned the different views and values of life, of how it was back then, and the importance of family, loyalty and trust...that one decision can change the course of history."
Q'orianka learned from working with a slew of talented actors in the cast that included Colin Farrell, who plays the other half of the immortalized legend, John Smith, she was bound to pick up something. "Colin Farrell really helped me out a lot. I did most of my filming with him. Sometimes when I'd really, really be lost or I was getting stuck in a scene, he would help me out and tell me about his insecurities about acting and his life. I've been a perfectionist ever since I was little. He showed me it's not about perfection, but being true to the spirit of your character and to yourself, and that's what matters most."
The true sign of a powerful film is when the actors themselves are moved by the work, after having been along for the whole ride of its creation. Said Q'orianka upon seeing only the final minutes of the film, "I was holding myself back so hard not to cry because of the experience. I was just imaging Pocahontas being in Virginia. How she was a very innocent girl. How she became a mother and she was just a girl herself. It brought me to tears. I just can't wait to see it all."
So how does one sum up the experience of a lifetime? "It would take a lot for me to sum it all up," Q'orianka said. So, with brevity, Q'orianka concludes, "It was amazing."
The message Q'orianka strives to bring across is advice she followed to get to where she is today. "Just keep going for your dreams. Never size them down to what you think is possible. Just always keep on going for the biggest dream. Never give up hope in anything you do."
All quotes in this artircle were given in an interview with TheStarScoop.Com