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

Eleanna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

One of my heroes is Frida Kahlo.
I always admired her strength, the power of her mind, the liberation of her spirit and the drive she had.
Last but not least her modern attitude toward sexuality has impacted LGBTQIA+ community.
Her openness around female sexuality, her free spirit and character has made her an icon for me since my early years.

Another one is Jack Kerouac,
who I admire for his liberal and spontaneous mind.
The book “One the road” is my personal bible and is one of the reasons why I had the drive to move to America.
It is my dream to be able to live like that so wildly and free either “on the road” or not.

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

I got into theatre since my early years.
As far as I remember myself I would gather children from the village I grew up in Greece, I would write down a story and give away the lines to each and every one.
Then the next day I would go over, knock on the neighbors door and ask if their children had learnt their lines by heart and were ready to rehearse.
A had a pure and wild drive since then.
I was committed to rehearsals and work.
It wasn’t very later that I left home to study Mathematics in Athens that I abandoned it to keep on my studies on theatre and music.
I remember myself being all day at drama school then heading to dance and voice class.
Right after drama school I booked my first big production and haven’t stopped working since then.
I’m so happy and fulfilled every time I go back to rehearsal that feels like I’m going back home.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Hm,
Well definitely my story of how I resisted the unfortunate events during pandemic days in New York.

I remember the first days that I moved in New York back in November 2019 that were filled with enthusiasm and expectations.
Meanwhile I had already booked two shows one of which was an Off Broadway production about the life of Anne Frank (cast as Edith Frank).
I still remember my enthusiasm seeing for the first time my name on a playbill!
Within the next months pandemic appeared and not only every single person of the cast got sick, we all had to live the cruel moment of not being able to do our premiere that was the day that all the theaters shut down back on 13th March of 2020.
My mind couldn’t cope with the reality of not being able to go to the theatre, to not being able to do the show, to not live the life I had abandoned everything back in Athens to be here and live.
It was a harsh process with definitely many obstacles ahead that I had to overcome.
My mind was also
my worst enemy,
playing tricks that end up causing me depression. I didn’t want to leave the house for months.
Most of my fellow friends abandoned the city, went back to their families and never came back.
Most of my family were encouraging me to go back to Greece but I was so resilient to stay and overcome all the difficulties that I think that has transformed me as a person completely.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

There is this film “The Elephant Man”
by David Lynch that has made a big impact on me and my perspective to the society.

How significant it is to realize how humanity reacts to whatever they consider different from whatever they have learned to relate with and regard it as acceptable.
And this is a deep root where many unresolved issues start to grow. Being open to love and hug all the differences among human creatures and learn how to be with them and create right now in the moment, is what will make the world a better place.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.eleannafin.com/
• Instagram: @eleannafin
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eleanna.finos
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanna-finos-a1593469/
• Twitter: @eleannafin
• Youtube: @eleannafin