(February
7, 2008) PCM's Kristyn spent some time speaking with
true Renaissance woman Samantha Lockwood. Read on to learn
about her passion for yoga, art, and tropical fish! Also
be sure to look into getting yourself a pair of Fluerings,
a invention by Miss. Lockwood that allows you to wear live
flowers as earring. They are stunning!
Kristyn: Hi Samantha, how are you? This
is Kristyn.
Samantha Lockwood: Hi! I'm good, thank you. How are you?
K: Not bad.
SL: That's all?
K: Yeah. *laughs* It's getting cold up here again,
so.
SL: Oh, yeah, that's why I live in LA.
K: Yeah. Lucky you!
SL: I can't handle cold weather. It gets to be Winter here
and it means like there's a tiny little like chill in the
air and I get so cold. I shiver, I feel crazy. I can't handle
cold weather.
K: Does everybody freak out there when it's just a little
bit cold?
SL: Yes! They really do.
K: Yeah, I heard that. You guys can come have fun in
the snow. We're in Delaware.
SL: Oh yeah, it gets cold there.
K: It sure does..
K: Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?
What are some of your interests and hobbies?
SL: Well, acting, painting and yoga; those are my interests,
hobbies and professions. Fortunately I've turned my interests
and hobbies into my professions.
K: That's always good!
SL: I have one other, which no one really knows about -
I keep tropical fish, that has been a hobby for me ever
since I was very young. I got my first fish tank when I
was about 10 years old. In High School I had about 8 fish
tanks salt and freshwater. I even bred fish
K: Wow! I think I read an article where you were talking
with somebody about helping sick fish?
SL: Yeah! My friend Mary Brenneke was asking for my advice.
She's the fish editor for bella online.
K: I was like, "oh, wow! She knows about all that!"
I didn't know you had to keep a health tank and all that
kind of stuff!
SL: Yeah, I know a lot about fish and marine biology, it's
one thing I really know about… it's where my inner
geek flourishes.
K: It's like a little hospital for fish! You definitely
seem to be quite the renaissance woman, with arts and film
and marine biology and posing for Maxim on top of all of
this!
SL: Yes, that's true. I was hesitant to pose for Mazim
at first. I hadn't ever posed like that and I never really
wanted to create an image for myself that was overly sexed.
But I'm happy I did, I think it was still a good move, a
lot of people saw it, and I had a couple of good meetings
from it, and in all honestly I loved the pictures, so that
was good. But I was still hesitant to do it. My father has
always told me, "you don't have to get all sexy all
the time" and I agree. I kind of have this feeling
that sometimes more clothing makes you even sexier. Don't
get me wrong I like hot photos too.. but I'm not really
one of those girls who's eager to take it all off so to
speak. So, shooting for Maxim, that was definitely a weird
experience because I had my dad's voice in the back of my
head, I thought any minute, "I'm out of here"
but it ended up being pretty tame – the photos and
the shoot - And actually the photographer, Dominick Guillemot,
knew me when I was a kid
K: Was that awkward at all?
SL: Naw…It was really cool. We didn't know we knew
each other until he asked me "You're Samantha Lockwood,
Gary and Denise's daughter right? …and you do yoga….
Is your mom Denise DuBarry who started Malibu Yoga?"
and I said "Yes," and he's like "Your mother
used to teach me yoga…Bikram yoga many many years ago
and I remember you when you were like 5 years old!"
K: Wow.
SL: Yeah. From that point I told him "I don't like
doing these kind of photos and I want to keep them somewhat
tame" Immediately he made me feel more comfortable.
--You know you have to trust the photographer, they can
shoot your photographs and who knows? … So that was
a very good experience to shoot with someone who knew me
at least.
K: Yeah, you can never tell when some of the pictures
come out. How did you come about this shoot? Were you approached
by the magazine or?
SL: They called my manager and said "We want Samantha
to come in and we want to shoot Samantha."
K: Oh, okay!
SL: Yeah, so I guess somebody must have said "Who's
the hot girl on set?" I don't know. I mean, I really
have no idea how they found out. Maybe someone recommended
me for it. I don't know?
K: Was that around the time you were in "Lords
of Dogtown"?
SL: Yeah, exactly… it was largely publicity for "Lords
of Dogtown".
K: So, getting back to the yoga thing it seems that
you've studied for many years, and I read that you were
one of the youngest people to be certified as a teacher?
How did you become interested in yoga?
SL: Well, I'm kind of a second generation yogini, from
my mom. I did my training during the summer between 11th
and 12th grade, in 99'. I trained with Bikram Choudhury
like both of my parents did. My mom actually did Bikram
yoga to stay in shape as an actress.
First, she was taking some sort of a aerobics class and
she saw this older lady in the locker room after class one
day who had the most incredible body and so she asked "Oh,
my god. What do you do to stay in shape?" The lady
said, "Well, I do this thing called yoga. I go to this
guy Bikram in Beverly Hills." At the time Bikram had
a real small class of like 20 people and there were a lot
of actors like Raquel Welch, and then some professional
sports people, like Kareem Abdul Jabar. The rest were older
men and women. Mom went in thinking "this is going
to be the easiest thing ever, piece of cake" because
everybody else in the class was older so she thought "this
has got to be so easy, if grandma over there can do these
stretches and if I can do hard core high impact aeriobics."
She went to class and barely lasted and ended up absolutely
dying -- and from that point on she went every day. She
fell in love with the exercise. So she drove from Malibu
into Beverly Hills every day and even got my dad into it.
So my mom and dad were both into Bikram Yogis.
Bikram once told me that when I was a toddler he'd watch
me and worry I was running around near the traffic while
he was teaching so he'd have me come in class and watch
my parents and sit on the floor near Bikram, sometimes in
his lap he said. But, he talks a big talk so I don't know
about that! (laughs) I somehow can't see Bikram holding
a baby while he's teaching! (laughing harder) Now
there are well over 400 studios world wide thousands upon
thousands of teachers who teach for him and he's the most
successful yoga teacher. His guru is Bisnu Gosh, and I think
it was his brother or something like that wrote the book
"Autobiography of a Yogi".
K: Not a clue, but you are enlightening me.
SL: His name is Parmahansa Yogananda, that's Bikram's same
lineage. He's very famous for being one of the first yogis
to bring the concept of yoga to the United States and when
he died he left his body. He didn't die like a normal person
he willfully left his body and they documented the whole
thing, so he was very known for that.
K: So, do you feel that studying yoga kind of almost
centers you from life's daily chaos or is it more of a form
of fitness and exercise, that kind of thing?
SL: It does both, the body is very connected, interconnected
with the mind, sort of like the playground of the mind and
so when you learn how to sway your body and get it to concentrate
on, with mind and body at the same time on exactly one point
your fitness improves. Your physical fitness improves 10
fold but your mental fitness also improves. You're a lot
more clear-headed. You're a lot more conscientious with
others. You have a lot more patients within your body. Everything
feels better. I mean it's interesting there are a lot more,
like you have a peace within all the time that you otherwise
wouldn't have thought about. It's interesting. Life just
becomes more pleasant overall when you practice yoga.
K: Would you say it differs from meditation or does
it tie in together?
SL: It is meditation! It is absolutely. It is meditation.
Hatha yoga means physical meditation -- you have to concentrate
on one point, bring the mind into the body. It's physical
meditation. So technically when I do the hour and a half
class I'm meditating for an hour and a half for the entire
class.
K: It sounds fascinating actually!
SL: Yeah. I really strongly believe that everybody should
try it at some point. It's a fabulous series, a beginner's
series so everybody can do it. It's just amazing. It gives
you like 16 days of energy after you do just one class!
For like 10 to 16 days you're on fire, you feel so good!
K: You can sign me up now, I'm ready! I could use that.
So, how did you become interested in the arts? Did you always
have an interest from a young age?
SL: Yes. I was always a drawer and a water color painter
when I was a kid all my life. Then my dad and I are always,
from the time I was a kid, my dad spent a lot of time with
me. I'm such a daddy's girl. He really wanted to have me
on his side. He drove me to school to every day, he'd pick
me up every day; he'd make my lunch; he was a very hands-on
parent. He and I had a really great relationship and I think
that relationship sort of inspired me into waiting to become
an actor because he would do funny voices with me and goof
around and tell jokes. He was like the life of the party.
And my dad and I would always do funny voices together like
German Scuba Divers or pretend we were Cheech and Chong,
riding in the car smoking blunts, and I was 15, 16, making
jokes like "Hey man, I'm so high," and he's like
"Yes, I know man." Like "How much longer
is the drive?" We would always just goof around and
be silly and stuff.
When I told him I wanted to be an actor he said he remembered
the very day. I was in the car and I told him and he said
we were in a McDonald's parking lot and he grabbed the newspaper
and had me read a few lines. He's like "Okay, read
this with a French accent! Now read it with an Australian
accent!" Now, half the time I'd have no idea what that
sounds like and he's like "At least you tried, and
you kind of pulled it off." Everything an actor has
to do is just basically try to pull it off behavior and
physicality they are not used to and have enough charisma
and confidence to be entertaining about it.
K: Right.
SL: He's always been the best acting teacher I've ever
had because he gave me philosophy to go with my career --
which is so important. An acting career and life is based
on your attitude towards it, otherwise you can become a
very unhappy person. I'm happy and my dad is happy and that's
what is most important. Creating a philosophy about your
chosen career that keeps you happy.
K: That's great. What was it like to grow up in Hollywood?
Was it the dream life we all imagine, or was it, you know,
something you were accustomed to?
SL: To a degree… yes. Let's see. When I was about
5 or 6 years my parents were still together, and I remember
that they had a lot of parties at our house with all sorts
of famous people coming, but I didn't know who they were,
half the time I just I wanted to go play with my animals.
I don't think it was any different for me than from any
kid to be honest. You pee in your diapers, then you get
older and go to dance class, and finally high school etc…
and your just another kid. It's no different now.
K: Yeah!
SL: Life wasn't any different. We didn't travel the world
any differently. I know people would stop my dad and ask
him about things like his movie or this or that, but I thought
it was like any business. You know, your dad or mom gets
stopped if he or she is a lawyer or an assistant it doesn't
matter. It wasn't any big deal. And I lived in Malibu so
it was very relaxed more so than it is now even. We lived
in the mountains and till I was about 6 my parents made
me wear clothes but half the time I would take the off and
run about nekkid…I was a tomboy, a Jane of the jungle.
K: So it wasn't really being right in the center of
everything. *Laughs*
SL: Yeah, so, I don't really remember it being any different
from anybody else's life. Then, as I got older and I'd go
with my dad to autograph signing shows, and that's when
you really see it. You see how people really perceive your
parents and it's kind of shocking. Like, "Wow, dad,
you really have a lot of fans, it's impressive!" When
I was 16, Tom Hanks took my dad and I to lunch, and thanked
my dad. He wrote a whole AFI letter saying "Thanks
to Gary Lockwood… I was so inspired by his performance
in 2001… and that movie inspired me as an actor."
So he thanked my dad for inspiring him. Jane has officially
left the jungle, when you get letters in the mail like that
… that's when I realized how cool my dad was outside
of being my dad.
K: That had to be interesting, definitely!
SL: Yeah, that's an interesting story for you. That was
one of the cooler stories. I don't remember everything about
our lunch with Mr. Hanks it was a long time ago, I just
remember him being a real nice man, real sweet, and every
time I've seen him since, like twice, once at the Gap of
all places, I say hi to Tom and he's very, you know, down
to Earth, and asks "How's your dad?" That is always
nice to have someone, anyone ask about your parents. I'm
so proud of both of mine. My mom taught yoga when I was
a kid. She actually taught to someone who later I sort of
worked for…Pierce Brosnan. I worked for his company
Irish Dreamtime, I had an internship there when I came back
from UC Santa Cruz. I had a special internship 'cause I
was an actor, so I could leave for auditions and such. Beau
St. Claire, his producer - again knew me when I was a kid
- so she gave me a special internship. I wanted to learn
a little bit of the production side of the business I felt
it was important as an actor to be familiar with all aspects
of moviemaking.
K: That's always important.
SL: Yeah! So, I read scripts and learned what makes them
good or bad, and then how the whole production side works…how
to make coffee etc. (laughs) When I finally got my first
job as an actor I knew how that all goes together. I had
more appreciation for how production side works. When I
finally became an actor I knew how that all goes together.
So, I enjoyed that as well. I never really saw him in the
office or anything, but there are certain little things
like that that I had the fortune of being a part of and
seeing from the sidelines; at a different angle than most
actors.
K: Yeah! It's great to get in the production side of
things. That's what I went to school for, and it's not as
easy as it looks, certainly! There's a lot that goes into
a production.
SL:Tell me about it! --- I have even worked as a PA a couple
times -- forced to work on my mom's infomercials, admittedly
I also did on-camera work for her. She started a big informercial
company and she became very successful with that. I worked
at a TA there a couple times with my mom and I also did
on-camera work for her she started a big informercial company
and she became very successful with that.
K: Is that the play the piano overnight?
SL: Yeah. She first started a company with my dad originally
called "Xebec" and their first project was "Play
the Piano Overnight". They divorced and settled things
such that she could take the company "Xebec" and
he would take a script they started, which he still has.
Mom and my stepdad Bill Hay then started "Thane Marketing
International" which was the biggest informercial marketing
company in the world at one point. I moved to the desert,
La Quinta, to be with my mother when she had to move her
company out there to expand. It was easier to build a company
out there since the cost of living was much less and they
were just getting going.
K: That was Palm Valley School, right?
SL: Yeah. The Palm Valley School, I loved that school,
and that's where my little sister goes now. My best friends
are still my friends from that school. We only had 17 people
in my graduating class, but I absolutely loved it…
most of us were hot girls actually only a few guys there.
K: How old is your sister?
SL: She's 10 years old.
K: Okay.
SL: She's my half-sister, Whitney, my babygirl. She'll
be a supermodel if she wants. She looks like me, especially
in our photos, but she's got big green eyes and she's going
to be a lot taller. She's about 5'4" with a size 9
shoe already!!! She's skipped grades cuz she's so tall.
K: Wow, already?
SL: Yeah. She's 10 years old and her shoes are my size,
she can wear my shoes, and my feet aren't small!!! I'm tall
but she'll be taller for sure. -- She's so tall.
K: That's good that you can see some success. Does she
show any interest in the field of modeling or acting yet?
SL: She already did a modeling job.. a little catwalk for
her school or something! It was so cute. She wants to do
what I do. She wants to be an actress and a painter. She
told my mom "I don't know I kind of want to be an actress
or a painter or both." My mom's like " Well you're
going to be way too tall to be an actress. People are going
to want you to model." I looked at my mom and said
"Don't ever tell her what she can do and what she can't
do because she can do anything she wants." I told her
"If you want to be a painter, you can be a painter.
If you want to be an actor, you can do whatever you want."
I might be harder because she's tall but every actor has
their issue so what? Work harder if you really want it…
K: These days you can do it all!
SL: Yeah, I mean, why not? It's what my dad always said
to me. It's what I do.
K: Of course! What would you say, you know, being a
young star and someone who attended the school with the
likes of Paris Hilton, how do you feel with young Hollywood
these days?
SL: I'm not impressed.
K: (laughing)
SL: Well, I don't know her, she went to my school before
I even got there.... But, let's say there's a big part of
young Hollywood I am totally impressed with and a big part
that I'm not impressed with. It's because I think if you
become famous that you have even more of an obligation to
be a good example. --Then it's not just the young people
around you in your life, it's those around the country and
even around the world who see you. I mean every time I turn
around, even now, I see some new stunt on the news and it's
just lame.
K: Yeah, I saw that.
SL: What I will say is that money is not God, if that's
all you can talk about well it get's old. Paris Hilton is
still only one of many spoiled rich kids in the world ---
there's a ton of people, me too now… But, who cares if a
family has money or not. It doesn't make you a better person,
it doesn't make your breath sweeter. My life and my family
has had periods with literally nothing too. And honestl
there's a lot of greatness is having nothing. Those times
were some of the best in my life. Watching my mom teach
yoga in our living room where she started Malibu Yoga. I
miss those days still, though seeing her succeed has really
made me happy for her. She's always wanted that success
and she deserves it… I'm so proud of my mother. Believe
it or not, I'm sort of proud of Paris Hilton, she could
have done a lot worse, she's pulled through but there's
still a long road ahead. As I was saying…you can't build
your whole reputation on something so fleeting and fragile
and crappy as money… because there's so much more to life.
You have to dig deep. Do you do what you love with passion
and persistence? I give anyone credit for doing the best
they can, but to make a really good impression on people,
you have to try a lot harder than you think. People are
not stupid. You have to suffer openly and try honestly for
anyone to give a damn. You have to dedicate your life to
something better than being in the news. Tha goes for anyone
who wants to be taken seriously, anyone at all, no pointing
fingers.
K: Well, she's certainly made a name for herself these
days. (laughs) In her blossoming acting career. You really
seem to have your head on straight, comparatively. Why do
you feel that girls like Britney and Paris are running so
out of control?
SL: We're all different, thanks for the compliment, but
here's what I think we've all been dealt different cards
in life. Those two people why are they out of control you
ask? -- I can't say … It's not for me
to say. Ya know…I don't know. I really don't know how to
answer that since like I said… it's hard to say what goes
on in somebody else's head. A long time ago I had this conversation
with my mother. I told
her "I think I could be a good friend for Britney Spears."
I thought, "I could be a good, stable, good influence
and friend and she needs people like that." Maybe we
have all felt like that for her, like we could 'help' her.
My mom said "Honey don't you think she has people like
that? Don't you think she has other people in her life that
are probably there to help her and nothing else and only
want the best for her?" She said, "She won't listen.
She's made her mind up not to listen to anybody else."
That was my mom's motherly advice, and I
think she's right. Britney's been given a lot of good things
in life. I went through that myself with my mom, the 'not
listening'. I know what it's like to rebel and power trip
and one day you realize you made an idiot of yourself with
the people who love you. I think Britney just needs to see
all the good around her in her life, and she needs to be
the first person to let go of what it means to "be
Britney". That's what will save her life. It's sort
of a complicated concept at first, but then very simple
once you get it. That's my two cents for what it's worth…
I don't like talking about this anymore…What good can ya
do by it?
K: Well, yeah. Well I said to myself, I said sometimes
you look at the headlines you say, "Okay I think I
just want to give her a hug." You know? I just want
to sit down and give her a hug. Either that or I think she
just needs to go to, I don't know, the Mid-West somewhere
and just sit, you know?
SL: You mean get back to her roots! (laughs) That's
always good. The Midwest is a good place to sit I'm sure.
My family could show her some nice spots to sit…they are
from Louisiana on mom's side, like Brit's
family. (laughs) I think when momentum comes in a person's
career, you can't just let it come you have to be discerning
and you have to continue to struggle even harder. Struggling
is good. I know that it's coming from my point of view because
I have struggled for a long time, and I've seen the pattern
in careers that work. I've struggled somewhat on purpose,
meaning I've been very cautious about the things I've done.
I tried not to take just any job where I'm asked to compromise
myself in any way. It takes time to build a reputation that
is good so you can get the right work with the right people.
You know what I'm saying?
K: Right.
SL: I'm saying that when you get offered a job you want
to take it, that's your first instinct, you have to pay
the bills, you want to make money, you want your career,
but I've turned down movies that had sex scenes that I'm
not okay with. (laughs) Men too!
Once I actually agreed to be in a movie, and when the producers
sent me the "working" draft of the script and
I called them immediately, so infuriatied and said "No,
I won't be in the movie, I won't do it" because they
sneaked in a couple of racy scenes last second. Who does
that!!! – Changes stuff right before you are supposed
to shoot!
K: Wow, I give you mad props for being able stand up
for yourself like that when so many of the girls are just
willing to kind of let it hang out and sell it all, you
know?
SL: Yeah, but I've also had the fortune of having a really
good dad to tell me things like "It's all about your
attitude and philosophy," things I know already but
need to hear again for reassurance. When young girls and
lots of women started getting boob jobs he called me one
day and said "Don't worry about your tits, never get
a tit job. Just keep your ass in shape and stay healthy
okay kid." I laughed at that one…but it's little
tid-bits like that… about being a strong woman and
a confident person, knowing it's okay to say no to offers.
You don't owe anyone anything. He says, "Sometimes
the best career move is nothing at all. Don't do anything.
Don't take the job."
Sometimes it's the best thing you can do if you want the
right job to come along. A great career is built on the
right jobs. Besides I just hate crap scripts! (laughs) Look
at Ellen Page, "Juno" is an awesome movie and
a great start for that girl. So, I think in Hollywood especially
when girls don't have a close mentor and discipline or background
and parents to guide them and say "this is how it's
done and this is how you should do it," I think they
just take anything. It's like they're free. They're out
in Hollywood at the whim of the masses and the money and
sometimes they'll do whatever.
K: Definitely. I see that you and I were born in the
same year, and you're definitely quite accomplished for
25 years old, so how do you keep it all together?
SL: Well, I guess I don't know. Sometimes I don't think
of myself as being quite accomplished. I feel like sometimes
"I should have done this or that. I should have done
more." But then I think, like I just said, I've passed
on a lot of things and I give myself credit for still trying
to get the right jobs, and I think of all, I think of all
the things that I HAVE done, and I'm okay, and I just do
the best that I can. That's all I can do. Just do the best
I can, and then a little bit more..haha.
K: Right. I see you have an invention. Fleurings
is it?
SL: Yeah, that's it!
K: They are stunning! Those earrings are gorgeous, the
white ones that you're wearing in one of the pictures!
SL: Thank you!
K: I couldn't figure out whether they were crafted.
Those are real flowers, right?
SL: They're real flowers.
K: Wow. What kind of flower was that because I said
"I have to ask her where she got those?"
SL: That's called a Dendrobium Orchid. They come on a stem
with like 10 or so and you just pick one off, then put water
in my earring and then I just wear them like any earrings.
K: So how does it work? It's just like a little vial?
SL: Exactly, it's a little vase-shaped thing. Now what
you see on the internet is like a little tube and that's
not what it looks like. I just got my last prototype. It's
been 5 years for me from the beginning to have what I have
now, with patenting it and designing it just right. They're
very pretty, they're made with gold and precious metals.
They're very classy looking so you can wear them with or
without the flowers. You should wear them with the flowers;
that's kind of the whole point. You just put water in them,
a few drops, enough for one flower, and then put the flower
in and it'll keep your flower alive for 5, 6 hours, long
enough to wear, and Ta Da you're wearing flowers.
I invented them because I my grandmother told me I should
wear a flower in my hair if I wanted to make better tips
at my job. I got a job as a waitress – it lasted about
2 months. Not even 2 months, like a month. I'm like "okay
grandma, sure whatever." I thought is was Louisianna
swamp talk as they call it, " Sam, it's true, if you
wear a flower your hair you'll make better tips honey."
I was like "Okay, grandma, you're crazy." I walked
on my way to work the next day and of course I see this
big red Hibiscus smiling at me so I pick it and I'm like,
"Aw, well, I'll wear it in my hair. I'll just wear
it, here's to you grannie" --And I put it in my hair,
from the moment I stepped into work everybody makes a comment!
Even the slightly cranky boss! Everyone said something complimentary
like "oh, how nice;" "Oh, how pretty;"
"isn't that nice;" "oh you look so good today."
K: See, grandma knew!
SL: Right! Grandma was right! The end of the day I turned
in my tips. I swear, not a joke, I nearly doubled my tips
that day! And I thought, "Wow, everybody thought that
I really liked my job." I think everybody thought I
had pride and I was happy to be there and they naturally
tipped me very better. I just didn't like waiting tables
because I need to be creative in my work, that's when I
ended up getting the internship. But alas, Fleurings came
from that experience. That's the main story behind those
earrings. After that I thought "it'd be great to have
something that I can wear with a flower in it" so that
it's not getting sticky and caught in my hair and it's not
wilting all the time because you always needed a new flower.
So I created the earring so that you could wear a flower,
it would have water, it would stay alive and it wouldn't
get all caught up in your hair since it was free-hanging.
And that's how I came up with those, Fleurings.
K: Wow. They are gorgeous. I was like, "Wow!"
Are you going to mass market with them, or is it going to
be something through your site?
SL: Well, I want to have them in boutiques and sell them
all over the world! Mom and I are working on them together.
She will help me with all of the marketing and production
since this is her specialty. I will probably end up having
two lines, a high end line for boutiques around $500- 700
dollars, made from gold and something far less expensive
too under $50 dollars… really not sure just yet. There
are so many details to work out when you go into manufacturing.
All I know is it has to look good, sexy, not cheap. I hate
stuff that looks cheapy, but I want to make it affordable
for girls who are in their teens. I think it's great for
prom, and for people getting married, I can see it on bridesmaids
and brides. I can see people wearing them on cruises too.
That was actually my stepdad's two cents, to sell them on
cruise ships. I want to sell them in hotels especially –
a couple of places in Vegas want them for their staff.
K: That's awesome. I'll definitely be on the lookout
for those!
SL: Yeah!
K: And your artwork is really big. I was looking at
this site with a lot of your pieces. What are some of your
inspirations behind your artwork, your paintings and things?
SL: I guess the inspiration are the different pieces they
all a different story. There's one of a bald girl with a
snake.
K: Yeah, I saw that one.
SL: That one – a couple different things inspired that
piece. My filmmaker buddy Esh brought me a documentary on
Picasso, where he paints about twenty pieces start to finish.
Watching Picasso paint is
the most frustrating thing you've ever seen, let me just
tell you! ---because this man will create a painting that
looks good and normal and pretty and then he'll just screw
it all up. He'll paint over it and he'll screw up the eye
and he'll make it over here next to the foot, and you're
like "Why does he do that!?" It's the most frustrating
experience. So at the end of that documentary I'm like "here's
a man who painted like a moron. He prides himself on having
50 years, saying 'it took me 50 years to learn how to paint
like a kid again.'" I can't appreciate his work that
much because I thought he didn't paint like a kid, he paints
like a crazy person. He paints like an infant. It just was
frustrating to watch, so I thought "Forget that!"
I got so
frustrated… I thought "How is he famous for doing that
and here's my art?" I'm like "My art's so much
better!" – I don't mean to offend anyone I'm just saying
what went on inside my head at the time, sounds
cockier than it is… I still have a lot of respect for Picasso
because if he wanted to he could paint really… certainly
that's just my opinion.
God knows art is one of those things that can raise an
army against you. This is why I like Muramasa Kudo, because
Kudo, the first thing he ever gave me was probably a line
drawing with no more than 10 or 15 lines on the page, and
it was gorgeous. He didn't need to touch it anymore, and
he didn't. He knows when to not overwork things, and I think
that's part of becoming a great artist is knowing how to
make it in a few lines and leave it alone. Same goes with
acting, how can you do a lot in a little time, Zen art philosophy.
That said… I had a fire in my belly when I went to paint
this picture.
I envisioned a girl in this exact stance. You see it in
Buddhist art, and there was a dance with Britney Spears
when she first broke out. She had this flashy outfit on,
glistening and it was in her dance, she's in this stance
in part of her dance. It was provocative and so overtly
sexy. She became a sex symbol then. I painted this around
the time that she shaved her head and around the time my
aunt Diana lost all her hair to chemo therapy. So, here's
two beautiful woman with no hair but I find a new beauty
in that. One of rebirth.
K: Yeah
SL: The girl in the painting is a symbol a spiritual rebirth,
she's very seductive and almost offensively so, but yet,
the flowers suggest maybe she's not human she's divine,
sublime and maybe even virginal. It's more about what's
inside that what's outside in this painting. It's got a
little of this 'Eve in the garden of Eden' theme. It's got
these difficult connotations. When you shave your head it's
like saying you let go of some of your power, that's what
it represents in many cultures. The cell at the bottom of
you hair is supposed to be
like 6 years older than the cells at the top of you hair,
so it's like getting rid of the past 6 years energy. So
anyway, that's why the girl in that painting looks the way
she does. Too much explanation. A lot of my other pieces
are inspired and influenced by yoga, other art, the ocean,
and nature. I like a lot of color
K: Okay. So, I see that you work with charities, that
some proceeds of your artwork go to. What types of charities
are you supporting?
SL: I like to support charities that are from my local
home town and I like to support any kind of charity. It's
just something that I find to be important. I like charities
that help kids, charities that help elderly people, cancer
charities and any that help the ocean reefs and the animals
of our planet. The best charity is your time though, people
who give their time and directly affect another human in
a positive way, I think that's better than money.
K: Okay. Are you still active with marine biology at
all? That was another of your majors in college, correct?
SL: Yeah, it was definitely one of the things I studied,
in college and at home alone! Oh I want to do so much with
it than I am now but it's hard to maintain those things
in life, you know? That interest will always be there for
me.... but being an actress and then also, painting etc...I
mean, how much marine biology can you do?
K: Yeah, exactly. It kind of becomes one or the other.
SL: Yeah. Exactly. So, when I got on vacations I scuba
and I snorkel and I'm like the crazy girl who pops out of
the water and goes "look! An octopus!" I'm that
person, I'm wild with sea creatures -- I like the Animal
Planet. (laughs)
K: Do you travel often?
SL:I do! I've actually be in so many places. I've been
to India. I've been to Germany. I've been all over Europe;
to France and Italy. I've been to South Korea in Seoul with
my friend in high school. I went to India when I was 13
with my best friend Nicole. I went there for three weeks
with her mom to see some guy named Satya Sai Baba… and we
had these tiny mats in a little room that had cement flooring.
We slept on
a mat on a cement floor and it cost us 2 dollars a night
to stay inthis place … and we lived this hard life for three
weeks…
K: Wow.
SL:There was no door from the living quarters to the bathroom.
There was a hole in the floor where you went to the bathroom.
And to flush you'd have to fill this bucket with this yellowy
water from a spicket
coming from out of the wall and pour it in the hole. We
bathed in that same cold yellowish- orange water that came
out of the spiket. Same way you'd fill the bucket to flush
in one hole you'd fill the bucket to bathe over the drain.
The drain was there next to the poo hole…(laughs)
K: Wow.
SL: So, you'd have to bathe in this water from the bucket
that was cold and it was yellow-orange color and we did
that for three weeks.
K: Oh my god, I don't think I would have made it!
SL:It was crazy, crazy crazy. India is changing a lot now
though. It's becoming a much better place for tourism and
for the people who live there. We stayed in a nasty place
more because I think Nicole's
mom really wanted to have that experience and everything
in the area was totally sold out. We stayed near where we
could go to this Ashram, and that was the closest place
still open.
K: I was going to say, my fiancée is from South
Korea, actually.
SL: Really? Well (speaks Korean greeting), then!
K: Yeah, his mother's family is still over there, actually.
I saw pictures of different customs and things that are
over there, and I was fascninated. We actually haven't gotten
to go yet, but I would like to meet his side of the family,
you know, eventually?
SL: Are they going to have a problem with the fact that
you're not Korean? Sometimes… that is an issue…
K: No, he's actually half Korean. His mother left Korea
when she was 17 years old. His father was in the service
and was stationed in South Korea, so that's how they met.
His sister was actually born in South Korea but he was born
over here. So, no problems!
SL: Congratulations on getting married! That's wonderful.
K: Thank you! Wedding planning on top of everything
else right now. (laughing)
SL: I guess it didn't mean anything when I said "hi"
in Korean?
K: (laughing) Yeah, the only time I hear the Korean
language is when she gets angry and yells in it! What you
would say is the most interesting place you've visited?
SL: Canada! No, just kidding! (laughing) I don't
know. I would have to say India. I would really want to
go back there. I liked South Korea a lot too, I loved singing
Kareoke and shopping. Other young school girls would touch
my hair and my friend Soo would always say they were talking
about how tall I was or my hair everywhere we went –
the bus, the mall, a restaurant. It was funny. Overall I
think India was the most interesting, because you'd walk
around and see kids who were begging and hungry and people
who were badly scarred, like this one woman who looked like
her face had been dipped in acid long ago but still and
she smiled a big huge smile at me and everybody every day
I walked by her. She had such good energy. There was so
much poverty yet still people were happy it seemed. It's
like if people in America had any concept of that, they'd
have the best life ever. You could have the best job in
the world and the concept of, like, just being happy just
having a good attitude, just always smiling … you could
have the best life.
K: Oh, I think every place other than America has some
kind of way about doing that. You hear all the time about
in France or England, they have more days off than we do
and just overall the attitude just seems better.
SL: Very true.
K: I mean, here everybody's just angry all the time.
SL: It's a tough society in many ways but in many ways
we have all the best things in the world. We're much better
off than most countries. I mean, everything's air conditioned
and nice bathrooms. By the way that's something that bugs
me: over air-conditioning everything. Hotels, schools, starbucks,
restaurants, movie theaters!!! Enough. Like when you're
in the theater and it's freezing because the air conditioner
is going. It's like, give - it – a - rest! You go anywhere
else in the world and they use air conditioning when it's
really a hot day.
K: Yeah. It's a double-edged sword too, you know? I
mean, we have all this stuff, but then does everyone really
appreciate it?
SL: Yeah, it's true. You can't appreciate it unless you
go without it for a little while.
K: Exactly.
SL: Yeah.
K: So, what do you like to do in your spare time? Do
you frequent any on the club circuit at all?
SL: No, I don't go out to clubs. I go out to eat sushi,
I love to eat sushi. I go to a few places out here. I go
to Nozawa, Katsuya, Matsuhisa, Tokyo Table, Go's and Sushi
Roku, and I spend a lot of my money on sushi!!! Too much
if you ask me. I want to start painting in trade for food!
Lol. I go see movies for fun …all the time I see like
three a week… like this week I just saw There Will
Be Blood, which can I say Daniel Day Lewis is awesome in
that movie.
K: Not a bad habit to have.
SL: Right, and it's sort of like I'm still doing work when
I go see movies so it's, you know.
K: Why is that? Why is it still like work?
SL: Well, more like homework, because I feel many times
like I have got to see this performance or that directing
job to know what's going on in my business. … to see
what actors are doing what movies, what works, what doesn't
, what was good…
K: Oh, okay.
SL: So, it's almost like a little bit of it is doing homework
for me.
K: Right.
SL: That goes back to I've changed my interests and hobbies
into my professions. You know? I tried to make a business
out of the things I love to do because it was so natural
for me to just do it. I love going to movies. So I love
knowing that the business I am in requires seeing movies.
K: Do you have any more film projects coming up?
SL: Let's see. There's this one called, well, I don't know
if I should talk about that yet. I'm trying to figure out
what to talk about as far as those are concerned. I have
a script called Diamond Girl that I am putting together…
and then there's actually a horror short film that I wrote
with my friend Jack Reher. It's quite funny. It's about
a Bridezilla… A girl who's getting married and turns
into a zombie the day of her wedding… It's a spoof
called "27 Dresses Later".
K: (laughing) Don't tell me about that one!
SL: We've got really good actresses to be in it. Girls
who have done a lot of movies who want to participate.
K: Well that's cool.
SL: That'll be a lot of fun.
K: We'll have to do another interview and talk about
that one!
SL: Yeah, it's going to be funny!
K: So, what's on the horizon for you? What should we
be expecting from you in the future?
SL: Well, I mean, probably a lot more acting and art, but
also at some point I want to consider directing something,
go to directing school and I do want to direct something,
but that's way, way down the line. That's not any time soon.
I want to get some great parts with my acting career and
then I'm going to get into directing.
K: Well, we certainly wish you the best with that, and
could you share one interesting tid-bit about yourself that
we may not know already? Like any funny habits or hobbies?
SL: Besides fish-keeping?
K: Yeah, besides fish-keeping..(laughing)
SL: Well, I drive with my left foot out the window a lot.
I haven't told anyone.
K: I there any final message or comment that you would
like to share with our readers?
SL: Message or comment to share with your readers. Hmm.
K: That one always stumps everyone. (laughs)
SL: Yeah. It's like, what do you say to all of those people?
I don't have anything perfect come to mind. Do yoga, stay
in school, keep your wits about you and stay cool!
K: Great! Thanks so much for speaking with us today,
Samantha!
SL: Thank you!
K: Bye
SL: Bye
Online Information:
Samatha Lockwood
Official Site
Samantha
Lockwood Art
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Samantha
Lockwood on MySpace
Fluerings
