Tania Raymonde – Chasing 3000

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  I am leaving to go to Hawaii to shoot another episode of “Lost” and I recently finished a movie called Elsewhere.  I play a small town girl who gets into trouble by flirting with men on the Internet.  I also have a movie in post production that’s coming out soon called Chasing 3000 where I play a runaway who has been traveling around the country.  She meets up with these two brothers played by Rory Culkin and Trevor Morgan who are really good, young actors.  I have a few things going on, that’s what’s going on at the moment.

Q.  You’ve been appearing on the show “Lost,” what will we get to see with the development of your character?

A.  Well, as you probably know the writers don’t reveal too much in advance about the characters on “Lost,” even to the actors playing the characters.  What I do know about Alex is she seems to be the daughter of Danielle Rousseau who is sort of the strange French woman wandering on the island that everyone is wary of.  I know that Alex is one of The Others but so far she seems sort of sympathetic to the crash survivors.  But, she is still pretty mysterious and I am really eager to find out more about her. 

Q.  What made you want to be a part of the film Chasing 3000?

A.  It was a really good story, it was written by a man named Bill Mikita and it is actually based on his life story.  It’s about him and his brother growing up in the 70s and his brother has multiple sclerosis and couldn’t walk.  He and his brother were infatuated with The Pirates, they were big baseball fans.  They wanted to travel to Pittsburgh to see Roberto Clemente who was their big baseball hero.  So, they steal their parents beloved car and go and try to see Roberto Clemente get his three thousandth hit.  I play a runaway who they meet on a train and I become their friend.  I encounter their mother later on and I help their mother to find the two boys.  It was a great story and really heart-warming.  I think the director really wanted to put it out there because it’s based on a life experience.  It’s a very good family film and it’s full of really good actors, very classic actors like Seymour Cassel and Emmet Walsh.  Lauren Holly plays the mother and Ray Liotta plays the older version of Trevor Morgan’s character.  So, it’s filled with a bunch of really good actors and it was a great experience to meet them and working with people who have worked on hundreds of films, classic movie actors and that was really fun. 

Q.  Was anything about the role challenging for you?

A.  It was an interesting character because she was sort of a lost cause, lost girl, who is traveling on her own and has problems with her parents.  Her father left her when she was very young and her mother sort of abandoned her.  I think she doesn’t have any friends and when she meets these two boys she’s standoffish at first.  She’s a street-smart, savvy kind of girl who really takes care of herself and is really on her own.  She wants to be a friend to the boys but she really is reluctant and it was interesting to mix all of those elements into the character.  She really was kind of a lost girl and we shot at a train station in downtown LA.  There were a lot of young, homeless girls hanging out on the street.  I remember I was shooting one of the scenes and I had my costume on and I was kind of dressed in rags and I had dreadlocks in my hair.  I remember going to one of the cafes in the station and trying to order a drink.  I remember I had a credit card but I didn’t have my ID on me and the people at the cafe wouldn’t give me a drink.  They really believed that I was a girl on the street and that I stole someone’s credit card.  I thought it was great, I thought at that moment that I had really captured the character because people had really believed that I was a girl living on the street like those other kids. 

Q.  How was getting to work with the director, Gregory Lanesey, on the film?

A.  It was great, the story meant a lot to him, he was very close to the writer.  He wanted to get the story out there and he put all of his heart into it, he really wanted to make a good family film.  I feel like he accomplished exactly what he wanted to do and I think with a really good cast, I think it’s going to turn out to be a really good little movie.  I feel like when there are some personal involvement in the story; it makes it much more real.  I feel like the more involved the director or the writer is, and the truer they are to what happened in real life, it makes it a much better film.  I think that people will really enjoy it.

Q.  You’ve done directing, writing and acting.  Is there anything else you’d like to try your hand at?

A.  In my free time I directed a short called Cell Division which is playing in a few festivals around the country right now.  It’s another thing that I like to do in my spare time.  It keeps me busy and like I said, it’s one of my hobbies I guess.  I really like all aspects of filmmaking so if I am not acting then I like to be behind the camera and try to go through the writing and editing process.  It’s a fun thing for me and I like to keep myself busy in my spare time.

Q.  What else do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A.  I like to read and I love drawing.  I like being outdoors, it’s kind of why I enjoy working on “Lost” so much.  We’re always shooting some where off in the middle of the jungle and it’s always a really fun experience being out in the wild.  I like to bike ride on the beach and skateboard, I feel like I am pretty adventures.  Unlike Alex, I don’t walk around knocking people unconscious with rifles or saving kidnapped babies from people.  But, I am a rather adventurous person.

Q.  What do you think it is about the show “Lost” that continues to draw viewers in?

A.  I had heard of “Lost,” to tell you the truth, before working on it I wasn’t really familiar with it.  Now that I have started watching it, I’ve become hooked like so many other fans.  I think people are just so anxious to find out what’s going to happen next that they really want to watch every week.  It’s really great TV and a great TV show and people enjoy being surprised.  They like to continually ask questions and the show is very mysterious.  People have become hooked on it and they want to know what’s going to happen next.  You’re always finding out new things about the characters, the flashbacks of some of the characters always show new things.  You think you know one character very well and you’ll see a flashback and then they’ll show a different aspect of that person.  I think people like to slowly and progressively find out little clues the people that make up the character.  It is what makes the show so exciting and interesting and it looks really cool.

Q.  Do you have a latest obsession?  Are you into any particular music group, book, sport or activity?

A.  When I did Cell Division I started listening to one music group that I used for the movie and the soundtrack.  I used a song from this band called Monsters Are Waiting, which is a local LA band.  I’ve listened to them a lot and I felt like listening to them helped me with writing the movie and creating a certain feel for it.  I’ve been spending a lot of time at the beach.  Coming back and forth from Hawaii I’ve really enjoyed being outdoors.  So, once I’m back here I like to bike ride and I feel like I’ve been spending more time outdoors then I usually do.  It’s a good thing!

Q.  What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A.  I hope that they keep watching “Lost,” I think we might be finding some really cool things out about Alex.  I really appreciate their support and I hope that they continue watching the show.  Keep trying to figure out what’s going to happen next just like we all are!