VISITING SANDRA GULDBERG KAMPP

STELLA NOVA

IN HER PRIVATE HOME, COPENHAGEN N
23 år
ACTOR
@SANDRAKAMPP

Trine: HI SANDRA.. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO YOUR WORK? I KNOW YOU ARE AN ACTRESS AND SO IN THAT REGARD I WOULD ASSUME IT'S IMPORTANT TO HAVE A HEALTHY AND RELAXED RELATIONSHIP TO THE FREELANCE WAY OF WORKING... MEANING NOT ALWAYS KNOWING WHAT THE FUTURE OF YOUR JOB-SITUATION IS GONNA BE... WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?

Sandra: It’s a really good question… I have actually spent a lot of energy trying to navigate it and find a sense of balance. It actually got to the point last year, where I gave myself an ultimatum - meaning, I had to actively do something about it to not break my neck on it.

Trine: WHAT TO YOU MEAN BY 'AN ULTIMATUM'?

Sandra: I felt like I needed to destile it down to force myself to find a way to live with it. Because if I didn’t do it, then the alternative would be to stop completely. So for me, the year of 2023 is kind of like the test-run for this little experiment.

Trine: DOES THAT MEAN YOU ARE CONSIDERING STOPPING WORKING AS AN ACTRESS COMPLETELY?

Sandra: No, but yes. Only because I have to be a bit hard on myself. So as a way to relate to it, I am giving myself the ultimate consequence. It’s important to emphasise that it has NEVER been my intention to stop acting… I love my work, so in that way the notion of stopping would never be an actual possibility. Hence the ultimate consequence, because I knew it would motivate me to find a better balance and not let the uncertainty and the freelance-life get me down each time.

Trine: BUT THAT COULD BE A REAL CONSEQUENCE YOU WOULD HAVE TO FACE?

Sandra: Yes, but I luckily feel that things have improved… And in reality that’s what needed to happen. Meaning, I focused on it and articulated it clearly to myself…. And that has resulted in a better sense of balance for me.

Trine: SO YOU DESTILED IT IN ORDER TO FIND PEACE?

Sandra: Yes, I have definitely arrived at a place of some form of acceptance, that my life when it comes to my work will always be unstable… And that will most likely never change.

Trine: BUT IN A WAY THAT IS ALSO THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR THERE NEVER TO BE ANY STAGNATION AND TRIVIALITY.

Sandra: Yes, and that is probably also part of what I love about it. How anything can happen, things go from zero to a hundred and everything moving etc. but you have to be able to live in it of course.

Trine: IT'S A DOUBLE EDGED SWORD, AND THOSE ARE THE TWO SIDES.

Sandra: Yes, those are very opposite poles. When it’s good, then it’s really good and I get to experience the most incredible things. On the other hand, I have to be able to live with the sense that I am not good enough, or I have been quite specifically rejected, in the periods where I don’t have any work. One day I am completely irreplaceable, being part of a team on a massive project, and then the following week I’m home alone staring at the wall and I feel no one needs me. You have no function anymore, and that can be really hard… But again, it is a luxury problem… Just the fact alone that this is my actual job is a huge privilege.

Trine: YES, THOSE ARE SOME PRETTY STARK CONTRASTS. SO TO BE CONCRET, YOU HAVE GIVEN YOURSELF AN ULTIMATUM ABOUT LEARNING TO LIVE WITH THOSE PREMISSES... AND HOW HAVE YOU ARTICULATED THIS PRECISELY?

Sandra: Firstly, I have given myself permission to feel shit about it. Secondly, I have accepted that it’s a fact, which will not change… it’s a premise and now I am not working against it anymore. Luckily, I have good friends in the same business who deal with the exact same things… So that helps a lot too.
And lastly, it comes with the territory in a lot of creative industries, so I am not alone in feeling this in.

Trine: YES, I KNOW THAT ALL TOO WELL. GENERALLY WHEN YOU ARE WORKING WITHIN A FIELD WHERE THERE ISN'T NECESSARILY A CHECKLIST, AND YOU ARE CONSTANTLY HAVING TO CREATE SOMETHING NEW, AND SO YOU HAVE TO TRY AND EXCEED YOURSELF EACH TIME.

Sandra: Yes, at the end of the day that is probably a very normal reaction when you have come to the end of a long creative project.

Trine: YES, IT IS ALMOST LIKE SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO MOURN; THE TRANSITION WHEN GOING FROM A MAJOR PRODUCTION AND THEN SUDDENLY IT'S ALL OVER.

Sandra: Yes, it’s really quite desturbing… often you spend a lot of time together during such a long project and then ‘bang’ - suddenly you don’t see these people anymore and everyone is off in different directions getting on with life. It’s very strange and yes, it can almost feel as if you are grieving. However weird it may sound.

Trine: WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS PROFESSION YOU LOVE?

Sandra: The intensity and the feeling of intimacy and presence when working so closely with other people. Furthermore, I just love film as a medium and the act of storytelling. As well as collaborating with other creative people from all these different fields. Now I am getting ready to do this tv-show, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Trine: IS IT FAIR TO IMAGINE THAT YOU, ALREADY AHEAD OF STARTING A NEW PRODUCTION, ARE PREPARING YOURSELF TO "DETACH", SO THAT ONCE IT ALL COMES TO AN END, THEN THAT TOO IS PART OF THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE?

Sandra: Yes, because that is exactly what is needed… For me to view it all as a necessary part of the bigger picture and be happy about how rewarding my craft is and how awesome I think it is.

Trine: IT IS TEMPTING TO SAY; A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR HELPS THE MEDICINE TO DOWN... ALTHOUGH IT DOES SOUND RATHER OLDSCHOOL.

Sandra: Exactly… And you do actually need both elements when it comes down to it.

Trine: PRECISELY, - AND THAT'S THE UPSIDE OF IT ALL.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME SANDRA. LOTS OF LUCK TO YOU WITH ALL OF YOUR PROJECTS, AMONG THEM THIS NEW DANISH TV-SHOW, WHICH I AM EXCITED TO WATCH.