Silvana Vienne

I'm greatly influenced by music - I grew up in the 80s, so we had the best music in the world, stuff from the 70s and early 90s when I was in my 20s. That's been a huge thing for me. My grandmother was my main influence - she encouraged me from the beginning when I started painting in Brazil, and she took us to see theater shows and exposed me to culture early on. She taught me to stay true to myself and to be honest, to speak how I feel and not pretend. If you keep following your creativity, you can keep going and going, but you gotta keep a balance and make sure you rest, have enough sleep, healthy food, water, and exercise. It's very challenging being in the arts unless you're prepared and realize what you're getting yourself into.

Stay true to myself. My grandmother taught me that - we just speak how we feel, we don't pretend. We say it as it is. We're very honest, though of course we don't be too rude if something is not nice. Authenticity is really important to me.

Keep going and follow your own vision. Don't let anybody stop you, because so many people want to put down artists - I don't know why, but some people are mean and they don't really want to see you succeed. A lot of people just put you down or make it sound very difficult. And it is difficult, but if you're willing to do the work and if you love it, it doesn't feel that difficult, you know what I mean? Because if you're doing exactly what you love, eventually you'll start making money too. But you gotta have some other source of income and not rely on that for your day-to-day needs. You don't want to be a starving artist - that's not gonna make you be very successful if you can't even eat or have a place to sleep or anything like that. You gotta take care of your health first, then do everything else. And definitely keep away from drugs and a lot of alcohol, because that's very damaging. Some people are drinking a lot and doing a lot of drugs, so you gotta be careful and keep away from that. You also gotta realize what you're getting yourself into and be willing to either be really strong and keep your own values, or be willing to not have a lot of values and just do whatever. For me, I don't like doing stuff like that - I'm very conscientious about what I do. You get a lot of guys wanting hookups, and I just walked away from that. I could have had a really easy career and been an A-list actress if I took some of these offers, but it's just not in my bones to do that stuff. So you have to have good integrity to just keep true to yourself.

Challenges are, of course, being a female. You get a lot of guys wanting hookups. I had a lot of that, and I just walked away from it. I could have had a really easy career and been an A-list actress if I took some of these offers, but it's just not in my bones to do that stuff. You get a lot of these agents and managers trying to get you to be a mistress. So you have to have good integrity to just keep true to yourself. You gotta realize what you're getting stuck into and be willing to either be really strong and keep your own values, or be willing to not have a lot of values and just do whatever. For me, I'm very conscientious about what I do. Another challenge, especially in music, is that drinking and drugs are very normalized - some people are drinking a lot and doing a lot of drugs, so you gotta be careful and keep away from that. The opportunities are being able to create in your own vision - making the films and songs and art that you want to make on your own terms.

Authenticity is very important to me - staying true to myself and being honest, speaking how I feel and not pretending. Family is very important too - my grandmother was such a huge influence on me. Design and color matter a lot in my work, just being true to my art. Health of body and health of mind are both important values - I work out at the gym twice a week and go on long walks to keep my balance. I make sure I rest, have enough sleep, healthy food, and water. I'm also very conscientious about my choices and keeping my integrity. I'm a big-time activist in the vegetarian movement, so caring for animals and the planet is central to who I am.