Episode 56 - Helene Kvale - On Directing, West End/National Theatre, Ian McKellen in London, Documentaries & More

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Helene Kvale Imdb

Upcoming documentary: The Loom

Helene Kvale was born in Norway, grew up in San Francisco until she was eleven and then lived in London. She received a BSc Econ Honors. from the London School of Economics, reading Anthropology and then gained her post graduate actor training diploma at The Drama Studio, London.

As an actor, Helene performed on the West End stage in Burning Blue (winner of 2 Olivier Awards), Life During Wartime, and To Kill A Mockingbird. She also starred in numerous regional and touring productions including The Secret Rapture, Roman and Marys, Diary of Anne Frank, Getting Out, Brand, Canadian Gothic, Sexual Perversity in Chicago.

Helene was part of the National Theatre Company playing Lady Anne opposite Ian McKellen in Richard III and in King Lear (Brian Cox) as well as Napoli Milionaria. At the NT Studio she played opposite Ray Winstone in Shift and in Gitta's Atonement, directed by Brian Cox. Helene has appeared in over twenty television dramas including Prime Suspect 4, Soldier Soldier, Daddy's Girl, London Bridge, This Life, Deceit, Lovejoy, The Bill. Film work includes Tomorrow La Scala! (British Academy Award Nomination and Juried at the Cannes Film Festival), Talk and 5:45 (Winner Berlin Short Film Festival).

In 2003, she returned to the USA to join the faculty in the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut as Assistant Professor in Residence.

Helene is also a director and writer. She is the founding Artistic Director of Bated Breath Theatre Company where she produced, conceived and directed Hunger, The Parkville Project and her translation of A Doll's House at the Gene Frankel Theater in New York. Helene regularly directs for The Connecticut Repertory Theatre including If We Were Birds, Eurydice, Big Love, Pride and Prejudice, Too Much Memory, The Skin of Our Teeth and Gut Girls. She also directed Marat/Sade for the Studio D Series. Helene is an alumna of The Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab.

As a screenwriter, Helene co-wrote the independent films Burning Blue (national release July 2014) and When You're Not Looking. She is currently writing a TV pilot called Indivisible.

She currently is working on a documentary near and dear to her heart slated for release in 2023.

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Some Questions I Ask:

When did your interest for the arts begin? (3:35)

About the day she decided to start taking action towards building career as artist? (5:06)

On transition from the US to Europe (6:45)

What was the London Arts scene like and how was your journey to success there (10:18)

On working opposite Ian McKellen & Brian Cox at National Theatre (13:52)

What was it like building your Lady Anne? (19:32)

On television career (21:05)

What prompted shift from TV career to teaching? (24:22)

What biggest foundation lesson do you want actors to walk away from the things you teach? (26:30)