Karina Banno – V.C. Andrews’ All That Glitters

By starrymag | March 27, 2021

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How does your role as Giselle fit into the plot of All That Glitters?

 

A) Gisselle comes to visit Ruby (Raechelle Banno) in the Bayou now that Pearl, her niece, has been born. She makes quite the entrance (as per usual for Gisselle) and delivers news from back home in New Orleans about Daphne (their stepmother) and Beau (Ruby’s ex-boyfriend/father to Pearl) while making it known that she’ll be having news of her own pretty soon… And Ruby isn’t going to be happy about it.

 

Q) Ruby and Giselle have been sent away to boarding school. How do the twins feel about this departure?

 

A) Well, Ruby seems to be quite thrilled; a new opportunity to start over after her time in New Orleans wasn’t really off to a flying start (with thanks to Gisselle). Whereas Gisselle is horrified that she has to leave everything in her life behind and enter into a new world. Being forced into a wheelchair after a horrible car accident isn’t exactly helping her enthusiasm, but it doesn’t take long for her to cement her place at Greenwood as Queen Bee.

 

Q) Were you familiar with the V.C. Andrews book that the movie is based on?

 

A) I was familiar with the author, V.C. Andrews, but I hadn’t specifically heard of the Ruby Landry series! It was quite exciting to have an entire world already developed with such beloved characters by all the V.C. Andrews fans.

 

Q) Talk about sharing the screen with your real life twin Raechelle Banno.

 

A) Working with Raechelle was amazing; I love to watch her work and I learn so much from her strength as a leader on set. We have a strong instinctual way of working together and we have such supportive, fun time together.

As an actor, starting a new project can feel pretty intimidating having to establish yourself to a whole new group of people each and every time and it’s hard sometimes experiencing the day to day of filming on your own. So, getting to play opposite Raechelle and share this incredible experience together was truly a dream.

 

Q) Often in Lifetime films the setting can play a role in itself. In what ways does it project itself in this movie?

 

A) The setting of Louisiana played a big part in establishing the two dividing worlds between Ruby’s life in the bayou and her new family in New Orleans. The cultural differences and sense of community vary so much when Ruby ventures from one to the other, so it helps ground Ruby’s character in her foundation as a person, but also establish a sense of distinction and entitlement for Gisselle.

 

Q) What were some of your favorite moments from filming?

 

A) Some highlights would be:

 

– Filming Raechelle and my two audition scenes. We knew them so well and it felt surreal to finally be on set doing them for real after all the time since our initial self-tape audition in 2019.

 

– Throughout production, our crew started a tradition of honoring a particular crew member each day with what they called “the beads of appreciation,” which were essentially green Christmas beads in the form of a necklace. The anointed crew member would wear the beads all day and then pick the next recipient the following day. It was a beautiful way to start each day acknowledging everyone’s hard work and appreciation.

 

– In the last two films, we would often play pranks on one another and it was so fun having the entire crew get involved. Some of them got pretty creative; on my last day the producers got our writers to come up with a fake scene that I was informed was a “last minute addition.” I learned the scene and when we rehearsed “for camera” Ty Wood ended up reading out a message from the production celebrating my wrap. It was so beautiful, and Ty was a legend, staying back on set for hours to execute this prank. So grateful we all got to play and enjoy ourselves until the very last shot!

 

Q) With such intense scenes to film, how did you shake off a long day of shooting?

 

A) At the time of filming, I was deep into a Jason Bateman appreciation phase and re-watching “Arrested Development” to unwind before going to sleep. But together, Raechelle and I, would usually come home from a day of filming and make dinner, sit down and chat together over our meal, watch an episode of “Search Party,” have baths and chat to our family back home in Australia to wind down.

 

Q) What did you personally take away from working on these multiple Lifetime films all at one time?

 

A) With so much content in these films, there isn’t always time to spend “finding a scene.” So, working on this series taught me a lot about letting go of the final product. You have to move on so quickly between scenes that it’s wasted energy worrying about whether a line you said worked or if that moment in the scene hit the mark. You trust in your directors, fellow actors and your instinct, learning to accept what was and appreciate what’s coming next.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback you’ll receive to the movie?

 

A) Honestly, I wouldn’t consider myself too social media savvy, but getting to live tweet with V.C. Andrew’s fans watching along on Lifetime was really fun. Getting to see people’s reactions to moments they’ve pictured in their minds while reading the books over the years come to life on their screens was pretty incredible.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who are fans and supporters of you and the work you do?

 

A) I hope you enjoy watching Gisselle as much as I did playing her!