Aliandra Calabrese
Aliandra Calabrese is an actress, whose new movie, Killer Whale, is out now.
She joined me via Zoom to discuss it.
To watch the interview with Aliandra Calabrese, click the play button below (or click here to open the video player in a new tab/window).
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To listen to the interview, click the play button below (or click here to open the audio player in a new tab/window).
Aliandra Calabrese appears as Chelsea, the orca trainer, in the movie Killer Whale, which is currently available to purchase or rent.
Aliandra Calabrese is a supporter of Orca Conservancy.
If you'd like to donate, you can do so here, via their website.
Please note that interviewees select their own charity. Any charities mentioned or linked are neither vetted, nor endorsed, by the author or this site.
Mike Reflects
There are some interviews I do where, at the end of the interview, I thank my guest for their time, we say our goodbyes, and we go our separate ways. There may be a little bit of chit-chat, but generally nothing of substance.
In fact, I'd say that's probably most of the interviews I do. And, to be clear, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that; it's polite and cordial.
But, every so often, for one reason or another, I have a guest where we keep talking after the recording ends. I spoke a bit about that when I interviewed Barry Kemp last year.
Aliandra is one of those people.
When we first sat down upon the release of Peacock's Joe vs. Carole, for whatever reason, I didn't plug in my laptop, which I used for interviews at the time.
It had more than enough battery for the Zoom interview we had scheduled, and I figured that'd be fine.
What I didn't anticipate was that we'd sit and talk for an extra hour or so on top of that.
My laptop actually died in the middle of that conversation, and I had to email her agent to extend my apologies for abruptly leaving.
So when she had a new movie that, again, was targeted (to some degree) at American audiences, I was thrilled for the opportunity to have her back.
And, once again, we sat for about an hour or so after the interview ended.
During that conversation, she remembered what she'd wanted to say on the topic of The Dish, and I promised I'd share it with all of you here.
After watching the movie, she got the opportunity to fill in for a few auxiliary roles at a table read for the Sam Neill mini-series Apples Never Fall.
Though she didn't get a chance to talk to him, she did notice, looking around the room of Americans and younger actors, she was probably the only one in that room who knew him for his work on The Dish.
The Dish is among my favorite movies, and I recommend it highly every chance I get.
Though I've yet to watch Aliandra's recommendation of Muriel's Wedding, a friend of mine who has seen it told me that it was (and I'm quoting) "very Australian".
Every country seems to have its own voice that goes into its homegrown movies and TV shows.
While my experience with Australian entertainment is more limited than that of the US and UK, what of it I've seen has left positive impressions. (Another shout out to Colin from Accounts, the award-winning TV series that hit Paramount+ in the US during/after the strikes.)
And one of my absolute favorite things about Aliandra (though that's a bit of a long list) is her willingness, if not sheer joy, in discussing those projects beyond the ones that she's personally worked on.