{"id":1600581,"date":"2020-08-02T09:19:04","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T13:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/?p=1600581"},"modified":"2020-08-02T09:27:08","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T13:27:08","slug":"womeninspiringwomen-ana-golja-actress-producer-singer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/womeninspiringwomen-ana-golja-actress-producer-singer\/","title":{"rendered":"#WomenInspiringWomen: Ana Golja &#8211; Actress, Producer, Singer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"pk-dropcap pk-dropcap-borders\">At 24 years old, Ana Golja has accomplished a lot and don\u2019t think she isn\u2019t grateful.\u00a0 She acted and was a producer on the award-winning movie, \u201cThe Cuban\u201d.\u00a0 She just won the \u201cBest Actress\u201d award at ICFF Canada\u2019s Lavazza Film Festival.\u00a0 She\u2019s been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for 2015\u2019s Full Out: The Ariana Berlin Movie.\u00a0 She is a Degrassi alum appearing in both \u201cDegrassi: The Next Generation\u201d and \u201cDesgrassi: Next Class.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Golja has two more movies that are set to release in 2020.\u00a0 Teen musical \u201cDrama Drama\u201d and \u201cI Do or Die\u201d.\u00a0 Did we mention that she is also developing and producing another feature about a young basketball prodigy dealing with his grief after mother and little brother in a tragic car accident?\u00a0 Add working on her sophomore EP into the mix, and Golja is one busy woman.<\/p>\n<p>Ana Golja is smart, an artist on the rise and our latest <a href=\"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/womeninspiringwomen-lauren-ash-actress-and-advocate\/\">#WomenInspiringWome<\/a>n.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You have enjoyed success in the USA, something that often eludes many Canadian actors.\u00a0 Why do you think that you have been able to find this cross-border success?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I would credit most of that success to Degrassi.\u00a0 We were on Nickelodeon and MTV.\u00a0 From there, we went to Netflix and I think that switchover is really what took me to the US and international markets.\u00a0 I also appeared on Full Out: The Ariana Berlin Movie \u00a0which was another Netflix film that I did about a gymnast that was born and raised in San Diego.\u00a0 They are what really catapulted me into the US Market.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You not only starred in \u201cThe Cuban\u201d, you also produced the movie.\u00a0 A lot of people don\u2019t know what a producer does on a movie.\u00a0 Tell us about your role as the producer and why it was so important to you to produce this particular project? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As far as the role of a producer goes, they do everything!\u00a0 I have a newfound respect for producers.\u00a0 They do everything from raising the money and applying for the tax credits to getting the cast and crew together to negotiating contracts.\u00a0 And of course, being a Canadian Indie, we occasionally did transport and craft services; whatever we had to do to get to the end of the day.\u00a0 That\u2019s pretty much everything that I did as a producer, and still continue to do because the work isn\u2019t quite done yet.<\/p>\n<p>It was important to me to do this particular film because it was coming from a very personal and honest place.\u00a0 The inspiration for me came from my great-grandmother who has Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia.\u00a0\u00a0 I saw, first hand, the effects of music on her social engagement and how her cognitive skills were improved because of music.\u00a0 That was the core of why I wanted to make this movie.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t have dreamed of a better project for my first credit as a producer than \u201cThe Cuban.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"cs-embed cs-embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Cuban | Official Trailer\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iRJ12zvC5sM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>What life lessons do you hope that people take away from \u201cThe Cuban\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At the core of it, I really do think it\u2019s about trusting our elders, valuing them and listening to their stories.\u00a0 They were young once too and sometimes we forget about that.\u00a0 They lived these incredible lives that the younger generation can learn a lot from.\u00a0 I think, ultimately, we can value the fact that we have them here with us.\u00a0 We\u2019re all not going to be here forever, so we need to enjoy every moment that we get with them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You have had the opportunity to work with Oscar winner Louis Gossett, Jr., Oscar nominee, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Oscar Nominee John Travolta.\u00a0 What did you learn about your own craft from working with these actors and why was the role of Luis written with Gossett, Jr. in mind?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What I learned about my own craft from these actors is that you have to do the prep work when you are among actors of this caliber.\u00a0 Be there and be present in the moment with whoever you have across from you.\u00a0 Obviously, I was incredibly nervous working alongside John Travolta, Lou [Gossett Jr.] and Shohreh [Aghdashloo].\u00a0 I think that what got me through it was that I knew that I had done the work.\u00a0 I put in the hours and I did everything possible to be as prepared as I could be.\u00a0 Once I was there, it wasn\u2019t about \u201cOh, what\u2019s my next line, \u201c it was more me genuinely reacting and being in that moment with them.<\/p>\n<p>Our director, Sergio Navarretta, had grown up watching Lou, as we all did, in \u201cAn Officer and a Gentleman\u201d and \u201cRoots\u201d.\u00a0 With the role of Luis in \u201cThe Cuban\u201d, we had a very specific set of requirements and boxes that needed to be ticked.\u00a0 We needed somebody that could pass as Cuban and had a background in music.\u00a0 Being a Canadian indie, we needed somebody that had that weight in the industry, who could help us break through all of the noise in the film industry, both in Canada and internationally.\u00a0 Lou was the end all and be all.\u00a0 He literally ticked off every box. He\u2019s absolutely incredible and an icon.\u00a0 There aren\u2019t that many actors of that generation left.\u00a0 Once my director decided that\u2019s who he wanted, we did anything and everything to get him on board.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In addition to acting and producing, you are also working on your sophomore EP and you love dance.\u00a0 How did the arts become so important to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I grew up in a very artistic household.\u00a0 The arts were really encouraged and supported.\u00a0 I grew watching a lot of watching everything that ended up playing on TCM [Turner Classic Movies].\u00a0 It was in my blood.\u00a0 I would go to bed with music playing, otherwise I couldn\u2019t fall asleep.\u00a0 It was everywhere in my life and shaped my childhood and how I saw the world.\u00a0 I got into dance when I was five years old, but it was just the tip of the iceberg.\u00a0 I got into acting when I was nine and then into music when I was sixteen.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t imagine my life without the arts and without being a creative person.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2020 has brought a lot of challenges and awareness to people around the world.\u00a0 How has 2020 changed you?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I realize how lucky I am to be in the country that I\u2019m in, surrounded by an incredibly supportive and loving family.\u00a0 The fact that I have an amazing healthcare system is something I appreciate. I\u2019ve become a lot more aware and a lot more grateful for the things that I perhaps would have not have been as aware of before COVID-19.\u00a0 That would be my takeaway and what has changed the most in me for 2020.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Luis is inspirational to Mina in \u2018The Cuban\u2019.\u00a0 Who inspires you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My mom inspires me.\u00a0 She\u2019s an immigrant.\u00a0 She came to Canada in 1991.\u00a0 She was pregnant with no money, without knowing the language or having an education.\u00a0 She\u2019s now in a very senior position in one of the top banks here in Canada.\u00a0 She\u2019s an incredible leader with a zest for life, an incredible cook and an incredible mother.\u00a0 She\u2019s everything that I aspire to be.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thecubanmovie.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cThe Cuban\u201d<\/a> is now open at select theatres and drive-in movie theatres across North America.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"post-excerpt\">At 24 years old, Ana Golja has accomplished a lot and don\u2019t think she isn\u2019t grateful.\u00a0 She acted and was a producer on the award-winning movie, \u201cThe Cuban\u201d.\u00a0 She just&hellip;<\/div>\n<div class=\"post-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/womeninspiringwomen-ana-golja-actress-producer-singer\/\" class=\"button button-primary button-effect\"><span>View Post<\/span><span><i class=\"cs-icon cs-icon-arrow-right\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1600582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[7436,7447,5112,7440,7441,7442,7443,7444,7439,7438,7446,7437,7445,1158],"powerkit_post_featured":[3],"class_list":{"0":"post-1600581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-living","8":"tag-ana-golja","9":"tag-best-movies-2020","10":"tag-canadian-actresses","11":"tag-canadian-movies","12":"tag-degrassi","13":"tag-degrassi-actress","14":"tag-degrassi-next-class","15":"tag-degrassi-the-next-generation","16":"tag-jr","17":"tag-louis-gossett","18":"tag-movies-releases","19":"tag-the-cuban","20":"tag-the-cuban-movie","21":"tag-women-inspiring-women"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1600581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1600582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1600581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1600581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1600581"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=1600581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}