Smoking hot actress Nicole LaLiberte is not only a pretty face but a force to be reckoned with! Her hard work and dedication to her craft are taking her to greater heights with each new role. In her latest outing, she finds herself tackling her most ambitious and spellbinding role to date in Austin Chick’s “Girls Against Boys”. The film centers on Shae (Danielle Panabaker), a naïve college student, is tormented by several men in a matter of days. As she reaches her breaking point, she is drawn into coworker Lu’s (Nicole LaLiberte) twisted plan for revenge. Together, the two embark on a gruesome killing spree, terrorizing and brutally murdering not just their attackers, but any man who gets in their way. However, after a wild weekend of retaliation, the friendship between the girls shifts into a dangerous obsession, and their perverse game becomes a desperate struggle for Shae to maintain control against Lu’s deadly and seductive influence. In addition to Nicole LaLiberte , the solid ensemble cast of ‘Girls Against Boys’ features Danielle Panabaker (The Crazies), Andrew Howard (Limitless), Michael Stahl-David (Cloverfield), and Liam Aiken (Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events) and was written and directed by acclaimed director Austin Chick (XX/XY, August). Jason Price of Icon Vs. Icon recently sat down with Nicole LaLiberte to discuss her career, bringing her character in the film to life and the challenges that presented themselves along the way!
I read you didn’t set out to become an actress initially. What can you tell us about your transition into becoming an actress and what led you to this point?
Oh my! Basically, a friend of mine wrote a play and he wanted me to be in it. I was living in New York City. I said, “Absolutely not! I am not an actor.” That was approximately five years ago. Finally, I relented and said, “Fine!” [laughs] I found it very challenging and it really turns me on to do it. I have also had many people supporting my continuation. It just seemed like an organic choice for me to keep doing it. I had been doing a lot of other things before I started acting. It really just seemed natural! The work started coming pretty smoothly. I was asked to do this film with Paul Morrissey called “News From Nowhere” and right after that I did Gregg Araki’s “Kaboom.” I don’t know. When the work kept coming, it just felt natural to keep on doing it.
You are doing a terrific job and it seems effortless. You are right, it seems only natural to keep it flowing!
Aww, thanks! I appreciate it.
Your latest project is Austin Chick’s “Girls Against Boys.” What can you tell us about your character and how you got involved with the project?
I was given the audition and I was excited because I really loved the script. I was in New York at the time and I had my audition set up and I was going to do a couple of different scenes. I don’t know what it was but I put on this Tom Waits song. I rehearsed for hours to the song because I really felt it helped my performance. I went in and had the audition and it was fantastic. Originally, the role of Lu was written for, I believe, an Asian-American actress but she ended up not being able to do the film. What drew me to the character? Obviously, killing people! [laughs] I think that she has this mysterious, precious, playful, Lolita-like darkness that I could really connect with personally. Not that I wander around with that energy at all, that is actually not me at all. I just understood where she was coming from and I felt I could really connect with her and use some of the experiences from my own life very directly with the character.
The director of “Boys Against Girls” is Austin Chick. What did you learn from your time with him?
He wrote the script, so obviously he brought a lot of insights to me on set. He also brought a lot of faith in my ability. He was very supportive before we started filming. We were really connecting and working together. Once we started filming, he had a lot of other elements to focus on. That really gave me the opportunity to live in my character and be in character on set. I think that was very important for me with this role, that I wasn’t being fiddled with too much, which I like.
What do you consider the biggest challenge on this project?
There were a few days that were tough. However, there was one day in particular that was totally tough! It was a day where I am slicing through Liam Aiken. We had a camera on a dolly and the dolly was rolling down the hill. They wanted to get the timing of the shot, the particular angle and the way he was sort of pre-cut to work. There were a lot of elements going on with this one shot. It just took hours and hours and hours to get the shot they were trying to get. I was swinging the sword over and over again and my thumb was blistering from holding the sword and my back was getting achy. It started to drift into becoming a painful nightmare! [laughs] But by the end of the day, we did finally get the shot that we needed and we were all really happy!
You worked very closely with Danielle Panabaker on this film. What did you learn from her while on set?
There is a scene where Danielle and I are in this hotel room together and she is crying. She is doing her close-up at that point. In between takes, she would go over and put her headphones on and listen to some music that was obviously moving her. Then she would go back into the scene. She was doing what she needed to take care of herself and going to the place she needed to be for the scene. I think that was really cool. I really respected Danielle’s process and how she worked. It was a great inspiration.
How have you evolved as an actress since you started out?
I have evolved a lot actually. I feel a lot more relaxed and confident. I trust my capabilities a lot more now then when I first started out. I think when I first started out, I lacked the confidence which comes from experience. Having been doing this for a while now, I feel I have really grown in regards to confidence. Whatever gets put in front of me, I am excited by and I am excited for whatever is next! I am very hungry to keep working and doing amazing projects like this one.
With that said, where should we look for you next?
Well, I just finished some work on “Dexter” which is really cool. There is also a new film I am getting ready to start called “The Girl and The Gun” which stars Juno Temple. That is what’s next!
Great! We will spread the word and talk to you again very soon!
Thank you so much!
