Fernanda Andrade: From Sexy To Spirited

Photo by Stephen Buskin

Fernanda Andrade picked up a good deal of fans this year from her role on ABC’s mini-series, Fallen, where she plays “Vilma Rodriguez.” She’s also landed some of the acting world’s most coveted TV cameos, including Law & Order and CSI. She also played the “sexy nanny” on Sons of Anarchy this season. Her big film breakthrough is set for this January, when you’ll see her in the leading role of Paramount Pictures’ The Devil Inside, which frankly makes Paranormal Activity look like a kid’s movie. In this interview, we hope to learn more about this up-and-coming actress.

Fan Quarterly: It looks like you’ve been all over 2011’s hottest TV shows this year – Sons of Anarchy, The Glades, CSI New York, CSI Miami, Law & Order LA,  Fallen – what has been most memorable for you?

Fernanda Andrade: I was excited to be a part of all of them and everyone in those shows were welcoming and lovely. Doing The Glades brought me back to Florida, where my parents still live, and that was really wonderful, to be able to go to work and then come home to my family, mom’s food, and have a chat with Dad. I hadn’t done that since I was a kid.

FQ: How did you get involved as associate producer of VH1’s Confessions of a Teen Idol?

FA: I went to school for TV and film production and I’d worked in production before.   One my best friends, April Smith, is a producer and someone she’d worked with was looking for an AP. I wasn’t working at the time, so I went for it.

FQ: I imagine at times it must have been very eye-opening to see how stars like Jeremy Jackson, Eric Nies and David Chokachi ascended to fame and then fell to the wayside. What lessons did you learn from their lives?

FA: It was definitely an interesting experiment. I can’t say that what I perceived was even really what was happening in their lives, though. The show is such a bizarre environment to put people in, that anything I say will be incomplete.  But if anything, I took away that, mostly, it’s never about gaining anything, but about remembering why you started.

FQ: We’re anxiously awaiting the January 6^th release of  Paramount’s The Devil Inside, where you play the lead role of a woman whose mother is possessed by spirits. I’ll be frank with you, it looks super creepy! What was most challenging about this particular role for you? Also, what was most rewarding?

FA: I think the answer to both those questions might be the same. The challenging factors are a part of what made it rewarding. I was born and raised in a heavily Catholic country where terms like ‘demon’ and ‘devil’ were familiar words, but  as I started reading about it, I quickly realized that  my ‘familiarity’ did not mean I truly understood any of it.  I was going to have to look at everything again from a different place.

Fernanda Andrade with Simon Quarterman, "The Devil Inside"

FQ: I’ve always found it completely amazing how acting transforms from what you experience on set versus what viewers end up seeing on TV or in theaters. What project have you worked on that turned out most different from your expectations?

FA: Oh man, I’d have to say The Devil Inside… But not in the way that it’s different from the script I read or the story, but just in that we made this in such an incredibly intimate environment, as a small independent film, in a very dark and cold little corner of the world. And now it’s a film that will be in the theaters.  That is what dreams are made of, you know?

FQ: I’ll be honest with you – I’m married and there are still times that I honestly have to “schedule a date” with my husband because we are so unbelievably busy! How difficult is it to maintain a personal relationship with the hustle and bustle of an acting career?

FA: Right now I’m lucky and it’s easy. I just try to take it day by day and pay attention.

FQ: If one were to peruse your Twitter, they’d see locations from LA and Florida to Bucharest and Romania. Tell us about a few of your favorite places to travel and what you love about them.

FA: I love going home to Brazil. Last Christmas I got to spend it with my family and then took off to Bahia with some friends. We stayed in a little town called Morere, completely remote, no roads, just sand and it was paradise. I promised I’d go back and discover some more spots like that with them. My friends are really good at it.

FQ: What three songs, artists or CDs are you hooked on at the moment?

FA: I can’t stop listening to the Drive soundrack. A friend introduced me to Warpaint and I’ve been listening to them. Oh and I’ve got a little crush on Raphael Saadiq’s stuff too.

FQ: I always love to hear what people are up to for the holidays. Do you have any special family traditions that you’re really looking forward to?

FA: I’m going back to Florida to spend it with my parents, my little sister, my brother and his wife.  My parents are flirting with moving back to Brazil, so it’ll probably be our last Christmas in that house, which is kind of especially beautiful. I can’t wait.

For more information, you can follow Fernanda on Twitter.