Glass interviews upcoming actor Luna Blaise

DAUGHTER of music video director Paul Boyd and Angelyna Martinez, 19-year-old Luna Blaise is following her own path in television and film. Blaise has played substantial roles in ABC’s sitcom, Fresh Off the Boat and NBC’s Manifest which is currently on its third season. Manifest, a supernatural drama, tells the story of the passengers of a commercial flight who reappear five years after it was assumed that they were dead.

 Since starting work at the age of 11, Blaise talks to Glass about the importance of developing a strong work ethic at that age and how she continues to be inspired by the talent with whom she works and also tells us she “remembers seeing all the cameras and the lights and just wanted to be right in the center of everything.”

You have been acting from a very young age, can you tell us more about what got you interested in acting?
Both of my parents are in the industry, so I’ve always grown up on sets, just being around industry folk and everything like that.

I was kind of just brought up into it and this was not something that [my parents] had planned for me [for my] future. But it kind of just happened and I’m super grateful and glad that it happened. But it’s definitely something that happened naturally, nothing forced at all.

Luna Blaise. Photograph: Ssam Kim

You worked on Memoria and then Fresh Off the Boat from the of age 11 to 17 and then you booked Manifest. What did you learn from working with the cast members on those projects and what do you know now that you wish you had known at eleven?
Memoria was an awesome experience, and everyone was young at that time, so just seeing everyone [especially Lakeith Stanfield and Thomas Mann] blossom into amazing actors and actresses was really cool. But for Fresh Off the Boat, being able to work with Randall Park and Constance Wu, just a powerhouse, especially Randall Park, and seeing him shine is really exciting.

Manifest has been one of the best opportunities [for me] and I’m grateful that we have made it this far and season three is out.

Being able to work with Josh Dallas, Athena Karkanis and Melissa Roxburgh and everyone in the cast, their talents really shine through. Especially with Josh, I’ve watched him on Once Upon A Time and seeing someone who is so gifted and talented and someone who really takes the job seriously, it’s really inspiring to see.

Luna Blaise. Photograph: Ssam Kim

In your last season on Fresh Off the Boat, your character came out as part of the LGBTQ+ community and the show is notable for featuring an Asian-American cast. How important was it for you to be a part of that project that highlighted the necessity for representation?
I’m incredibly blessed to have been on that show for five seasons and it was groundbreaking in so many ways. The fact that it was practically an all Asian-American cast and for me being fourteen at the time, I was scared with what was going to happen on social media and how people were going to take the character coming out as lesbian. But right when the episode came out, I remember seeing just an immense amount of love.

I still get messages to this day being like, your character from Fresh Off the Boat helped me come out to my parents and my relatives. That’s what I want to do with my work. To be a part of other people’s lives and [the fact] that I got to play a character that was motivational for some people, it was super cool.

Luna Blaise. Photograph: Ssam Kim

You said in an interview that Olive Stone is forming into her own in season three. What was your favourite part of filming that character this season?
There was a drastic change between season two and season three, where in season two she was very rebellious and breaking all the rules. In season three it was a one-hundred-percent change and she is more about family; she wants to help. She’s also getting older and is becoming more of the woman she aspires to be, especially [seeing the powerful woman] her mom Grace is. She’s handling situations and the mystery of Manifest a lot more maturely.

Luna Blaise. Photograph: Ssam Kim

When you first started Manifest, a supernatural drama, how did you prepare for your role as Olive Stone, after appearing in a comedy show?
It was something I had never been able to do before, especially something that’s supernatural, and I’m so glad that I am able to be a part of it. Being on Fresh Off the Boat, I was able to take a lot of the comedic timing.

I think being on a show like Manifest that’s so dramatic, I was able to use the skills that I was using on Fresh Off the Boat, broke them down, and still used some of those skills in Manifest. It was cool that I kind of got to use both.

Luna Blaise. Photograph: Ssam Kim

What has been the highpoint of your career so far?
I’m still so young and I’m so giddy and am still waiting for that highest point in the teenage years of my career. But just being able to have that opportunity to be on two hit television shows for the past seven years of my life is a blessing. This is what I love, and I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else.

Luna Blaise. Photograph: Ssam Kim

What advice do you have for aspiring actors or what piece of advice have you received that you’re grateful for?
It’s not all fun and games. I find it funny when people say that your life is so glamorous, [when in reality] I’m up at four a.m. and working twelve-hour days. If you want to do it and you have the mind, body and spirit, especially for this industry, it’s hardcore, just go for it. [But] if you want to get somewhere then you have to put in that time and that energy to really work on your craft.

by Chandana Kamaraj

Photographer: Ssam Kim

Talent: Luna Blaise 

Stylist: Laura Sophie Cox

Hair: Scott King

Make-up artist: Katrina Klein

Fashion Assistant: Joseph Bishop

 

LOOK 1

Pechuga Vintage gold chain
AZLEE chain link necklaces x2
Zilver white tank
Marc Jacobs shorts
Swedish Stockings socks
1990s Alaia leather jacket from Aralda Vintage

 

LOOK 2

John Hardy dragon necklace
MISHO silver ring
90’s Alaia leather bomber jacket from Aralda Vintage
Araks black bra
Zilver black pants
Nicholas Kirkwood heels

LOOK 3

MISHO earring
Nancy Newberg earring
MISHO gold rings
Pechuga Vintage gold chain
AZLEE chain link necklaces x2
Zilver white tank
Marc Jacobs shorts
Swedish Stockings socks
Rupert Sanderson heels

LOOK 4

Vivienne Westwood Dog bone necklace from Aralda Vintage
Jean Paul Gaultier glove sleeved turtleneck from Aralda Vintage
YSL tuxedo pants from Aralda Vintage
Rupert Sanderson heels

LOOK 5

John Hardy earrings
Eriness rings
Zilver shirt
TOD’S black belt
Mon Vintage pants
What Goes Around Comes Around – Manolo Blahnik heels

LOOK 6

KATKIM gold ear cuff + earring
MISHO gold rings
Galvan London teal ribbed top and pants
What Goes Around Comes Around – Manolo Blahnik heels