We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bianca Foscht a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Bianca, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I believe the creative industry is all about risk taking, because it is an industry that is in so many ways unpredictable. There is really not a right or wrong way to go about it, and that’s the beauty about this industry. Something that might have worked for someone else might not work for you and even though it can be daunting sometimes to not have one proven path that works for all, it also give the individual creative freedom to explore. I’m a huge believer in “fortune favors the brave” and I think as an actor specifically one has to climb out of their comfort zone and be vulnerable and brave.

Most of my greatest breakthroughs and learning experiences were gained by me taking risks. I remember reaching out to one of my great role models in the industry without prior connection. An cold email that I thought would never be read. Out of surprise, the person I reached out to replied and started mentoring me not long time later.
I’m very grateful for that and I’m glad I listened to my gut feelings and took a risk.

That’s one of many examples but I think the guideline for the creative industry is to listen to your gut feelings. It never lies.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m an Austrian actress and filmmaker born in Graz, Austria, as the second of five children and I have Slovenian and Italian ancestry. Growing up in the suburban Austrian area I was convinced to become an actress and filmmaker at the age of 12. Starting out with filming little movies in my backyard with my father’s video camera, lovingly forcing my siblings and neighbors to star in my movie, I decided to make this my career.

From an early age on I was inspired by the arts, studying ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary and acrobatic dance and competed at national and international dance championships. In my last year of high school I was spotted by a theatre director and was offered a leading role in a modern theatre production in Austria. At the same time I submitted an audition to the Austrian “Dieselkino” cinemas for the first ever Movieoke Awards. My twin sister and I were the only actresses auditioning in English and we won the film- and cinema award for our outstanding performances.
To proof our point that filmmaking is an outstanding creative process, and can be done with no money, my sisters and I shot our first ever short film in a hot air balloon, 2000 meters up in the air.

After high school graduation I moved with my twin sister Dilara Foscht, who is an aspiring actress and filmmaker herself, to Germany to learn more about the European theater and film industry. After a year of work in theatre and film in Passau, Munich and Konstanz I decided to move to Vancouver to expand my knowledge and career in an English speaking country.

As an actress I trained with acclaimed teachers like Larry Moss, Harry Shifman, David Lee Strasberg, John Homa, Bob Corff, Bruce Eckstut, Alexander Techworks and the Nancy Banks Studio name a few.

I am fluent in German, English and speaks basic Italian and in addition to filmmaking, acting and dancing, I love trying new kinds of sports (martial arts is on my to-do list), learning new accents, riding my horse and basically doing anything which demands a high level of energy.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Oh absolutely! I believe this creative journey is not just a career but a life choice. Once you fall in love with cinema, it’s impossible to keep you mind from it. It’s always been my dream to work as an actress and I’m very grateful to work in this industry were I get to perform every day.

As a filmmaker, coming from Europe, I’m intrigued and fascinated by colors, shapes and the change in time that shapes cinema. I believe storytelling, as an actress or as a writer, is all about truthful connections and relationship.
It’s been always my goal to fuse the American approach of filmmaking with the European fashion of storytelling. With my film work I love to reach deep into my toolbox of things I’ve learned growing up in my home country Austria and the things I’ve learned in America.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The creative journey is a lifelong learning curve but I think the thing I learned in this industry and that I had to “unlearn” from my preconceived knowledge was the lesson: “take up space” and “saying no”. Those two “lessons” / advices really resonate with me because I think it’s so easy to become very quiet in a world and an industry where there is so much noise. Especially in this fast paced world where social media dictates the pace of time, I believe taking your time to listen to your guts and taking up the space that is needed to create art in an judgment free way is important.

Saying no is a biggie and it’s still something I tackle every day. One of my mentors once said; “when you say no a door might close but a window might open”, and I very much agree on that. Sometimes it’s just more comfortable to say yes to everything, even if it doesn’t feel right. Once I learned to say only yes to the things that really resonate with me, and say no to the rest, I found myself open for more opportunities for my actual goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11516255/?ref_=nmbio_ov
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biancafoscht/?hl=de
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bianca.foscht.1
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bianca-foscht-16a202196/

Image Credits

Photographer: Anna Wochinz