From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Fri Jul 17 2009 - 07:44:58 EDT
Actress Ella Thomas talks about surviving 'The Storm' and having
'Surrogates'
July 16, 11:24 PM Comment RSS Email Print
Actress Ella Thomas Ella Thomas is fearless.
In fact, the real-life supermodel and actress takes on "The Storm" in an
upcoming NBC two-part series that premieres July 26.
Moviegoers can also see the statuesque beauty portraying a robot opposite
Bruce Willis on the big screen in director Jonathan Mostow's new Sci-Fi
movie "Surrogates" opening September 25.
A rising young star in Hollywood, Thomas was born to an Eritrean mother and
an American Air Force Officer. She grew up in Germany but moved to the
United States as a teenager.
"I've been extremely fortunate," she says, reflecting on her quick ascension
through the Hollywood ranks.
In addition to movie roles, Thomas has guest starred opposite Sean Combs on
the hit CBS show "CSI Miami" and played the role of Viveca, a model who
attempts to seduce Vince (played by Adrien Grenier), on the HBO hit
"Entourage".
During a recent phone interview, Thomas found herself waxing philosophical
about her career, technology in today's society and the future of mankind.
NBC's "The Storm" "['The Storm'] raises the question: 'How far are we
willing to push technology,'" Thomas says. "How far will we go before we
lose our humanity? What will be the fallout from our tampering with nature?"
Thomas stars alongside James Van Der Beek and Luke Perry in the "The Storm,"
which is part of "Survival Sundays" on NBC, a three feature drama series
focusing on disasters that could possibly lead up to the end of the world as
we know it.
She plays Anna Roberts, a newly single New York City bartender that must
reunite with her ex-boyfriend to save her best-friend, who is trapped
outside when a massive storm hits the city.
According to Thomas, the three-month long shoot was the first time she had
an opportunity to be involved on a day-to-day level for an entire movie
production. During the physically exhausting shoot, the former Vogue and
InStyle magazine model, did almost all her own stunts.
Thomas also got to work closely with director Bradford May, who allowed her
to offer input into developing her character.
"He was just so kind and generous," Thomas says of the director.
As a former biology major, Thomas also found herself right at home dealing
with the movie's themes of science, nature and technology.
"There's a butterfly effect," she says about humans tampering with nature.
"There are exponential consequences to our actions."
According to RHI Entertainment, "The Storm" plot revolves around a
billionaire named Robert Terrell (played by Golden Globe and Emmy nominee
Treat Williams) who fulfills a lifelong obsession and makes history with
"weather creation" technology though his Atmospheric Research Institute.
But during a test run, a blast of energy is sent into the ionosphere with
unexpected results. The experiments hurtle the planet towards destruction —
hurricanes change course, winds go instantly from hot to cold, torrential
rains bring regions to a standstill, and buildings crumble into ruins under
explosive lightning storms.
Speaking about the movie's themes, Thomas says: "Our human nature is to push
thing's to the brink... to push to make thing's better. However, that raises
the question of morality? Does the ends justify the means?"
An accomplished model in real-life, Thomas has appeared in ads for Estee
Lauder, L’Oreal, Dodge, GAP and Tiffany & Co. and graced the pages and
covers of such top tier fashion magazines as Greek Marie Claire, Elle,
Glamour, Vogue and Mademoiselle.
The surprisingly witty Thomas says that she "never set out to be a
supermodel." In fact, it was just pure luck that she ended up working as a
model.
Ella Thomas. Photo by Michael Tamaro."Most of us just kind of fall into
things," she recalls. "I was tall so people would tell me I should play
basketball or run track, both of which I did. But the other thing was to be
a model."
As luck would have it, a friend on the high school track team eventually
helped her enter into the world of modeling.
Born in the little town of Kindsbach, Germany, Thomas says she moved with
her family to the United States when she was fifteen. Her mother worked four
jobs so that she could attend a private school.
But as Thomas puts it, her modeling work was a way to repay her mother's
support and help put her sister through private school.
"Modeling was a means to an end," says Thomas, who speaks German, as well as
several other foreign languages picked up during her travels.
She also says that working as a model helped to build her confidence and
develop the fortitude needed to work in film and television.
"You learn to do the work without compromising yourself or your ideals," she
says. "It's such a subjective business... you can't take it personally.... I
find going into an audition now is a cake walk compared to modeling. You're
either going to be right or your not."
Thomas added that in many ways modeling and acting are similar in that it
isn't just about "being the best" because it's about "so many thing's other
than just talent."
She points out that sometimes it's something as seemingly random as having
the right eye color, hairstyle, height, or just the person's energy and
overall look.
"It's just something you can't learn in class or prepare for," Thomas says.
"In athletics there are specific measurements for success. But [with
modeling or acting] there's no real measurement of success other than that
you're as good as your last booking. For me a good measure is to ask
myself: 'Are you happy with what you're doing?' and 'Did you do your
best?'"
Ella Thomas. Photo by Michael Tamaro.A firm believer in living life with a
positive attitude of gratitude, Thomas admits her friends sometimes call her
a "Pollyanna" because of her rose-colored glasses perspective.
According to Thomas, her rosy outlook developed from watching her mother,
who worked hard to take care of her family, never smoked or drank, but was
taken by cancer.
"My baseline is that if everyone around me is healthy and no one is sick or
dying then it's a good day," she says. "[Working in Hollywood] is a bonus.
It's a remarkable bonus."
Thomas scored her first big break in show business when she met Brenda
Hampton, creator of the TV series "7th Heaven," while volunteering at Child
Help, a charity helping meet the physical, emotional, educational and
spiritual needs of abused, neglected and at-risk children.
As it turned out, Hampton was not only amazed by Thomas’ stunning looks but
also her heart.
Thomas soon found herself being cast on “7th Heaven” as an angel who comes
back to earth to thank a family for adopting her young children after she
had died.
However, the one person Thomas says she wishes she could share her success
with is her mother.
"She taught us to be fearless," Thomas recalls. "She raised us to hold our
heads high. No one can dictate what we can or can't do."
With that fearless mindset, Thomas believes that we are all responsible for
setting our own benchmarks for success.
"Every time I book something I've already beat the odds," she says. "My
first hurdle is just to try."
Ultimately, Thomas felt that "commitment" to the process is one of the
biggest keys to her success.
And while most Hollywood stars might feel a sense of entitlement once
they've reached a certain status, Thomas likes to point out that it's that
"sense of entitlement in any form" that sometimes can be detrimental to the
process.
"Surrogates" opens Sept. 25"It's like when you are trying to get from
point A to Z without understanding its A-B-C-D..." she says. "We have to all
follow that path of growth."
A "Sci-Fi geek," Thomas says she grew up watching "Friday Night Creature
Feature" movies in Germany and would stay up late watching movies like
"Alien" and director John Carpenter's Sci-Fi / Horror classic "The Thing"
starring Kurt Russell.
"I love horror movies," she says. "I even watched 'Tentacles' with the
subtitles."
Although most stars would never admit to some of their early movie roles,
Thomas proudly proclaims she did in fact work on a horror movie, in which
she portrays a "prostitute alien that dies."
Of course, when the opportunity to work with a mega-star like Willis and
acclaimed director Mostow on the big-budgeted "Surrogates" came up, she
couldn't resist.
"I was so excited," she recalls. "It was my first feature. I found myself
thinking, 'You want me? You're going to pick me up and fly me? Thanks!"
Thomas also says that working on both "Surrogates" and "The Storm" was a bit
"intimidating" because of all the massive sets and rows of star wagons,
makeup trailers and equipment trucks.
"It's not that I was 'intimidated' in the sense that I couldn't do the
work," she says, "But rather, the sheer enormity [of the two movie
projects]."
In fact, Thomas gleefully laughs and mentions being happy just to be part of
it all when asked about her experience on the set.
"It was my first big movie and here I was working with all these people I
had admired and watched," she says. "It's like that feeling of just wanting
to pinch yourself... and thinking 'I get to be a part of this?!'"
As for meeting Willis for the first-time, Thomas says: "There's a reason
he's a star. There's just this [charisma] about him.... he's so gracious...
he took time to greet everybody... and he didn't even use a double or
stand-in...."
In the movie, Thomas plays Lisa, a friend of Willis' character's wife. Or
as she puts it: "I'm a 'bad' little surrogate with purple eyes."
According to the filmmakers, "Surrogates" takes place in the year 2017, when
humans live in isolation and interact only via robotic bodies that serve as
their surrogates."
"Crime doesn't exist, but after several humans are killed when their
surrogates are destroyed, a cop, played by Willis, investigates the crimes
through his own surrogate. After a near fatal encounter, his surrogate is
destroyed, which forces him to bring his human form out of isolation and
unravel a conspiracy behind the crimes."
Thomas says the movie explores "the idea of playing god and the backlash
from that."
She points out that although recent films like "I, Robot" and the
"Terminator" franchise have dealt with the cyber-organism themes,
"Surrogates" takes moviegoers to "the next step beyond that."
"[The surrogates] are not separate from the humans that control them," she
says. "They carry the emotions, thoughts and will of their operators.
Whatever they do, they are an extension of the person."
Thomas felt the movie will leave audiences asking, "Where do we have the
potential to go with [technology] and do we want to go there?"
So would Thomas like having a surrogate of her own?
"It's cheating," she says. "It would be cheating."
As for having the power to create whatever she wanted in the future, Thomas
says, "I think of all those films that have dealt with cloning... and you
see the consequences of that... I think too much power can be dangerous in
the wrong hands... but then who decides who should get to have the power?"
Audiences can decide for themselves when "Surrogates" opens in theaters on
September 25.
For more info go to: www.chooseyoursurrogate.com
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