Q&A: Alum Sheila Vand talks acting roles, ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’

UCLA alumna Sheila Vand had few qualms when she quit the instruments and sports she played as a child. Ever since she started acting in middle school, however, she said she has never felt like quitting.

Since her graduation from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2006, Vand has acted on various platforms. Her recent work includes a role on NBC espionage series “State of Affairs” and the lead performance in indie film “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” which premiered at the 2014 Sundance NEXT FEST. In the black-and-white Iranian vampire western film directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, Vand plays an unnamed vampire who stalks the streets of Bad City, a fictional Iranian ghost-town, at night. Referred to as “The Girl,” the vampire meets and begins a relationship with Arash (Arash Marandi), a human.

The Daily Bruin’s Eileen Li spoke with Vand about the technique and emotion behind her role in “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” and the projects she has planned for the near future.

Daily Bruin: You’re currently active in both TV and film. When you graduated from UCLA, did you envision that this was where your career was going to take you?

Sheila Vand: I certainly hoped that I would get to this point, but I didn’t know. It’s really scary to pursue acting or any sort of creative art like this. I knew there was a lot I had to learn professionally, but I rolled with the punches and it ended up panning out. I felt like I was walking into a dark tunnel and hoped that whatever was on the other side was beautiful.

DB: How do you feel about your character in the movie, known as “The Girl?”

SV: I love her. I got so close with her in the process of creating her and acting (as) her that I kind of miss her now. She was a really powerful character to play because she was a killer. As a girl, you’re usually the vulnerable one in a situation. It was a lot of fun being able to play the tiger in the room.

DB: What was the most challenging part of portraying your character?

SV: I think the most challenging part was that there’s no dialogue. Well, there is, but very minimal dialogue. I just really had to portray a lot with my eyes and physicality. In the process (of acting), words are like anchors for actors. When all else fails, you can always rely on the text. But I didn’t have any text. I wanted to make sure the moments were coming across. I wanted people to know she was alive inside and did have opinions of her own even though she didn’t say much.

DB: Playing “The Girl,” did you draw inspiration from your own experiences?

SV: Yes. In a way, she seems emotionless, but she’s all emotion because there are no words (in her dialogue) and she’s very lonely and isolated because she’s a vampire. She’s been living for so long that she’s become desensitized to everything. Those are all feelings that I and (others) can connect to. I definitely tapped into some of my own feelings of boredom and isolation and explored those spaces of myself through her. I think about that in general with acting. One of the things I like most about what I do is that I learn more about myself through every part I play.

DB: What kinds of projects do you have planned for the future?

SV: I have a bunch of art projects that I’ve been developing over the years, but I just haven’t put them out yet. When we finish shooting “State of Affairs,” I’m planning to get back to my own work. I’m also going to be acting in (Alexandra McGuiness’) “The Highway is for Gamblers,” about a girl who goes missing at a rodeo, and in a Lifetime mini-series based on the book, “The Red Tent,” that will be coming out Dec. 7.

Compiled by Eileen Li, A&E; contributor.