The skanner., February 26, 2014, Page 7, Image 7

Arts & Entertainment
From the Runway to the Red Carpet!
B
orn in Recife, Brazil, supermodel-
turned-actress Rebecca Da Costa
studied at the Rui Barbosa School
where she pursued her love of theater by
writing, directing and starring in a number
of plays. At the age of 14, Rebecca was dis-
covered during a model search, and she
debuted at Milan Fashion Week a couple of
years later en route to gracing runways all
over the world for Giorgio Armani, Yves
Saint Laurent, Escada and Hugo Boss, to
name a few.
The statuesque beauty also became the
face of campaigns for Chopard, Swarovski,
Nokia and L'Oreal. However, a visit to Los
Angeles prompted a permanent move to the
States, where Rebecca decided to focus on
her true passion, acting.
Her first lead role was in an indie film
titled L.A. I Hate You, and her credits came
C ELEBRITY
I NTERVIEW
by Kam
Williams
Rebecca currently resides in Los Angeles
where, in addition to her modeling and act-
ing career, she devotes her time to such
philanthropic efforts as Kids with Autism
and Common Ground HIV. To relax, she
enjoys dancing, cooking healthy, Brazilian
dishes and regularly practicing transcenden-
tal meditation in order to maintain a healthy
mind and body.
As a planetary citizen who has
lived on several different continents,
Rebecca is fluent in many languages,
with Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and
English among them. Here, the ver-
satile thespian talks about staring as
the femme fatale in the neo-noir
thriller The Bag Man opposite
Robert De Niro and John Cusack.
You couldn’t concentrate if
you let yourself think, ‘That’s
Robert De Niro’
to include a stint on HBO's "Entourage" as
well as starring roles in Free Runner, Mine
Games and 7 Below alongside Val Kilmer
and Ving Rhames. More recently, she
wrapped shooting the horror flick Breaking
at the Edge with Milo Ventimiglia and
Andie MacDowell in which she stars as a
bi-polar, pregnant woman in fear for her
unborn child's life.
Kam Williams: Hi Rebecca, thanks for
the interview.
Rebecca Da Costa: No problem, Kam.
KW: What interested you in The Bag
Man?
RDC: When I went to audition for the
film, they didn’t give me the whole script,
Rebecca Da Costa in ‘The Bag Man’
but I liked my character Rivka’s dry sense
of humor. She seemed so witty in the scenes
I read. It seemed like a big challenge, and
that was one of the first things that caught
my attention.
KW: Were all the big names already
attached to the picture at that point?
RDC: When I first got the phone call that
I’d booked the job, I didn’t know that John
[Cusack] and [Robert] De Niro were
attached. But when they gave me the news,
I was like “Oh my God!” It was too much
for me. And Sticky Fingers, Crispin Glover
and Dominic Purcell later joined the cast.
KW: How was it working opposite
Cusack and a legend like De Niro?
RDC: It was a mind-blowing experience
because I grew up watching those guys. To
act opposite them was surreal. But at the
same time, you naturally forget who they
are after a few days since you’re so focused
on getting each scene right. You couldn’t
concentrate if you let yourself think, “That’s
Robert De Niro.” Still, he was amazing to
watch. It was the best acting class I ever
had.
KW: I know you like writing and direct-
ing. What sort of project might interest you
in that regard?
See DA COSTA on page 11
February 26, 2014 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 7