INT: Kristanna Loken

Last Updated on July 28, 2021

JoBlo.com/AITH Interview Kristanna Loken

Got a chance to chat with BLOODRAYNE star Kristanna Loken the other day and learned a few things very quickly. One is that she’s a relaxed chica who is right at the top of my would be fun to have a beer with list. The fact that she’s ridiculously hot is just a bonus. Second, don’t make the mistake of calling her a model turned actress. She’ll correct you on that right quick, as you’ll see in the interview.

Mostly what I learned is that she’s either one helluva saleswoman, or else BLOODRAYNE is really going to kick major ass. I know fans feel like they’ve been burned by Uwe Boll in the past, but the more she talked about the flick, the more it rose in my estimation. So here’s the skinny from the gorgeous lips of Kristanna “Yes I can kick Arnie’s ass” Loken.

What initially drew you to the role?

Well it was offered to me, and I’ve always been a fan of vampire films. Just the taboo quality of needing blood to sustain yourself. So when I read the script I loved the fact that the character was half-vampire and half-human. It was a little more interesting than the classic vampire role.

She’s a bit more like a vampire with heart, so I felt like I could play up the more human aspects and really help to bring this character to life.

Did you have any concerns about surface similarities to the concept behind BLADE?

You know it didn’t even cross my mind. It’s such a different film. It’s set in 1700’s Romania from a female perspective and has a very epic feel.

Loken on the BloodRayne set!

With your background in modeling, was it a conscious choice to go against the grain and push for these kind of strong, kick-ass female action roles, or was that simply fate and/or fortune?

I have to correct you a bit there. As much as people like to say I started in modeling, I actually started acting in a soap opera when I was 13. I had a very short modeling career, and that was only to boost up my money. Acting is what I’ve pursued since I was a child.

But I think when I was younger people didn’t quite know how to cast me. I’ve always been tall and physically fit. I’m an equestrian and very outdoors-y. So when TERMINATOR 3 came along, I thought I could transcend all the things that had maybe been physically detrimental and turn them into attributes.

I also have a background in dance which makes it easier for me to learn fight choreography. I think the marriage of those aspects gave me the overall body
conscious awareness of how to work in the action world.

Unlike much of the fight choreography that we’ve seen before, there’s a lot of biting and chewing that’s organic to BloodRayne’s fighting style. Was it a challenge to make that work?

We really just wanted to make it very primal. In the moments of her blood rage or blood lust it’s
subconscious because she doesn’t rationally want to kill to sustain herself. It’s very animalistic and very raw. That’s one of the reasons I really loved working with Uwe [Boll, director]. He really likes to go to those places.

It’s not a polished film in that sense where everybody looks great and it’s all wrapped up in a nice happy ending. It’s dirty, it’s messy, it’s raw and it’s dark and very disturbing. I remember watching it the first time and a lot of the sequences really freaked me out.

With this role as well as your part in T3 you’ve taken on some projects that have a large pre-existing fan base. Do you pay any attention to the web chatter that goes on?

To be honest I’ve just started working a computer for the first time like half a year ago. I’m a bit of a technophobe. Overall you can’t put too much stock into what other people think of what you do or it’ll drive you crazy.

Ready for action!

You’re working with Uwe again on DUNGEON SIEGE. Can you talk a little about that project?

It’s a huge, epic movie, and I play a wood nymph who lives in the forest with her band of women and protect the trees. It was a very different kind of role for me because the physical work was wire based which I hadn’t done before. I got to work with Tony Ching who did HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS. I also worked with some of the people from Cirque de Soleil for some of my rope work.

I definitely had bruises which were colors I didn’t even know my skin could turn. Plus there were so many different languages being spoken on set that communication was a challenge, but overall it was great.

Do you have any other projects coming up that you’re particularly excited about?

Yeah, I produced my first film this year called LIME SALTED LOVE. It’s about a love triangle in L.A., and young people dealing with their past and how it affects their sexuality in adulthood. That will hopefully find a home on the indie circuit.

I also have a mini-series coming out in March. I think they’re calling it DARK KINGDOM in the US. It’ll be on the SciFi Network and that’s another medieval epic based on a German saga. It’s a really tragic love story with some great fight choreography as well.

So just to wrap up, what excites you about BLOODRAYNE that you think will separate it from the other video game adaptations that are hitting the big screen?

I think because of it’s overall rawness. It’s not Hollywood in that sense. We went for it and that will ultimately set it apart. Plus we have a real story behind it. I think a lot of the video game adaptations lack that, but we’ve got a great eclectic group of actors who had a lot to work with. I truly believe the audience will invest in these people’s lives.

Well I certainly appreciate you taking the time to chat today.

Thanks. Be well.

And just like that she was gone. I’d try to put some kind of clever wrap up on this whole thing, but I’m afraid I simply can’t stop from taking up all my cognitive capacity.