How award-winning actress Laura Przybilla stays busy during the pandemic
It has been almost a year since the first lockdown was put into place and many, especially people employed in the entertainment industry, have been struggling to find continuous work. Covid-19 has been a difficult challenge for artists, but truly creative people always find a way to adapt and make the most out of every situation. Today I interviewed Austrian actress Laura Przybilla about her work, covid-related challenges and the way she made her career work despite the pandemic.
First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Sure! I was born and raised in Austria and lived there until I was 20. In 2015 I got accepted into one of the best acting schools in the world, The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York. That changed everything. After years of training I had the opportunity to stay in NYC and work. I got an agent pretty much right away, and found myself working alongside actors like Bill Hader in my first year. The ball really started rolling when I won the award for Best Actress at the Strasberg Film Festival in 2018, which got me a talk show interview and tons of other media attention, especially in my home state in Austria.
The pandemic must’ve somewhat put your success on pause temporarily, how did you deal with the situation?
It was difficult at first. It seemed selfish to still focus on my career when the world was in so much trouble, but I realized I wasn’t helping anybody by sitting at home and doing nothing. If you truly want something, there’ll always be a way to make it work, there’ll always be a way to keep going. I founded an online theatre company, and it gave me the unique opportunity to put on plays and connect with actors from all around the world. Accio Theatre has been a passion project but I hope it continues to grow. Besides online theatre, we’ve figured out a way to shoot movies safely by using Zoom. It is incredible what is possible! It gives you a real challenge to write a story that is intriguing enough to be shot over a video conferencing platform.
Can you tell us what you’re currently working on?
Yes, I was recently cast in a horror film and we’re currently filming. It’s called “Hazell and the Empty Cradle” and it should come out sometime in the spring or summer of 2021. I’ve never acted in a horror film before but it’s so much fun and I play one of the main characters so I feel really grateful to have this opportunity.
Any advice you want to give to fellow artists?
It’s easy to get caught up with what’s going on in the world, and as artists we cannot ignore that, we have to be sensitive to everything that happens around us. But, and this might sound like a cliché, I do think you can make the best out of every situation. What else is there to do? We cannot change what is currently happening so we might as well turn it into something better.
You can find Laura Przybilla on the internet at www.lauraprzybilla.com
or on Instagram @lauraprzybilla and @acciotheatre
