Interview: the unconventional actress, Anneke Weerts

April is “inspirational women month” in Srsck country. Today we are interviewing a Dutch actress, filmmaker and model. She enjoys every facet of life and has an interesting and special look upon the world. Knock, knock, Miss Anneke Weerts.

You are a model, a filmmaker and actress, do you have a preference for one of the three or is it a package deal: Anneke Weerts, artist?

It definitely is a package deal! Don’t you ever dare to force me to pick only one! But hey, okay, I admit it is impossible to combine the three exactly at the same time. That would leave me performing in front of a mirror, filming myself. Lonely. The thing I like most about modeling, acting and filmmaking is that it enables me to work together with lots of inspiring people. Great teamwork is what I love!

I’ve heard one of your sisters singing once, she is very talented. How come you have such a talented and artistic family? Was art an important part of your education?

Our parents don’t do anything with art at all, except they like to look at and listen to it. They both worked in care jobs. Together they’ve created some creative children: maybe it is caused by a strange kind of mutation? All of them have beautiful voices, except for one. I’ve tried to sing myself too, several times. Especially while taking a shower, but as soon melodies appeared from my mouth, people started to knock at the door and ask me to shut up immediately. I seem to sound like a crow.

When did you first start acting and what is it you enjoy most about it?

I started acting after a photographer, Patricia Steur, asked me if I was an actress when I performed in front of her camera during a photo-shoot. When I answered ‘no’, she said it wouldn’t take long before I would become one. It turned out she was right: a few months later I appeared in my first movie. I love to be ‘in-character’ for a long time; the energy I get from it is very addictive.

If you were not yourself, who would you be?

I think I prefer to be a ‘what’ instead of a ‘who’. I would be a chicken. Not the one fried on a plate, but the one walking on the green grass, in a lovely spring season.

I know you have chickens; I always wonder what’s up with the chicken?

As I told you before, I would love to reincarnate as a chicken. Chickens are beautiful and kind animals. They also live together in wonderful polygamous formations, which is something that reminds me of my own relationship with both a man and a woman.

Yes indeed, speaking of your triad relationship: how did your friends and family react when you first got into that relationship?

They were a little astonished when I told them about it, but as soon as they met both my boy- and girlfriend, they accepted my choice completely.

Do you look at them as a man and a woman or just as two people you love, never mind what gender they are?

I’m sexually attracted to both the softness of the female body and the strength of the male body. But I didn’t fall in love with two bodies: I fell in love with two people with their own wonderful personalities.

What do you think about it not being possible to get married for people like you? If it was possible, would you?

I think it is pure discrimination, caused by on an old law, written by men only and influenced by church and western values. Our whole society is based on monogamy, but a lot of people don’t live monogamous at all. People divorce and remarry, cheat or live the ‘happy-single’ life. Law and tradition force us to look for ‘the one’.

I am glad marriage is open to gay couples nowadays, so if your ‘one’ turns out to be the same sex you don’t have to worry. But if your ‘one’ turns out to be ‘two’, you have a serious problem if you want to get married (I would, if it was possible!). Bigamy (I prefer to call it group-marriage) is a crime in the Netherlands and will get you in prison for about four years. Personally I think there are no social, cultural or economic objections not to change this old-fashioned law. Love, in any possible shape, is not a crime!

Well I wish the three of you a long happy and, why not, married life. Now to get back to filmmaking: who is your favorite filmmaker and why?

I don’t have one favorite. I like different movies created by different filmmakers. Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures hit me hard. I can fantasize for hours about the paradise romances in The Blue Lagoon and Summer Lovers (both directed by Randal Kleiser) and I absolutely adore Jumanji (directed by Joe Johnston), where wild nature meets vulnerable human beings. I was also very impressed by the computer animation and animatronic techniques used in it. Jumanji inspired me to start a study in 3D computer animation and visual effects at the Utrecht School of the Arts; I graduated with a master degree in 2009.

I think Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers is a great arthouse movie full of references to old French movies. More recently Tom Ford’s film directional debut A Single Man totally blew me away. How to survive when the love of your life dies? Tom Ford tries to answer this question in a realistic but at the same time visually beautiful stylized way. Pedro Almodóvar made an amazing movie about identity: La piel que habito (The skin I live in). Acting, script and visuals are just perfect.

I can also recommend you to keep an eye on Dutch directors David Lammers and Pieter Kuijpers, both creative geniuses that make terrifying realistic movies. I’ve learned a lot about filmmaking from them while working as a script-continuity supervisor and director’s assistant on the movie set of the Dutch BNN television-series Van God Los.

What will you be doing in ten years?

I hope I’m still creating movies and still sharing my life with both my boy- and girlfriend in this happy three-way relationship, in the best case extended with children, a horse and a farm 😉

What do you think is overrated in our society?

Monogamy is overrated, but at the same time fidelity is underrated.

What is your biggest fear in life?

My biggest fear in life is to become blind. If I lose my sight, I won’t be able to work as a model, actress or filmmaker anymore.

What advice would you give to a model just starting out?

Work on your portfolio and try out different things. Modeling is a job you learn by doing it.

What I love in your work is it seems so genuine. Do you see yourself as an honest and genuine person?

Honesty is my key-value in life. I understand this might sound strange from an actress’s mouth, but it is true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which heroine in world history would you like to play, or would you like to make a movie about, if given the possibility?

I haven’t found this heroine yet, but if I find her, I love to make a movie about her if given the possibility!

Where can we see more of your work?

You can see more of my work on http://www.annekeweerts.com