Yelena Deyneko: What roles suit you best?

Cleopatra Coleman: I’m definitely a linear thinker. So any character that I can really get behind and figure out is probably going to be a role that suits me… But it’s hard to say. Just as long as I can make sense of their motivations. Get behind them. Fight for them.

YD: Do your roles on-set ever bridge over to your real life? What exactly happens? How do you become aware of it? If so, how do you shake it off?

CC: Not in any way other than just feeling the residual energy from whatever subject matter my character is dealing with, but never an issue of not knowing the difference between me or them at home…. I think….. But I can learn from a role for sure. Like you can learn from anyone’s life story whether it really happened or not. Meditation, prahna breath and yoga help me shake off pretty much anything the world throws at me. Oh and never underestimate the power of a good snooze.

YD: How do you prepare for a role?

CC: Study the scenes, research. Think about it. Eat about it. Talk about it. Walk about it. It helps sometimes to write a biography for them. I express myself better through writing than speaking when it comes to my own thoughts about things, generally.

YD: What are some of the most important qualities to be a great actor?

CC: The ability to listen and to not be afraid to feel.

YD: What does success mean for you?

CC: Complete self-awareness. Financial and spiritual abundance and the ability to look after yourself and the ones you love.

YD: Who do you consider successful?

CC: Anyone that is achieving the above.

YD: How do you handle your roles, success and survival in Hollywood?

CC: One day at a time.

YD: What do you struggle with the most in the entertainment/Hollywood industry?

CC: It can be hard to find real people, you know. There’s a lot of delusion in this town. A lot of strange behavior and mixed up motivations. I’m lucky though I have good people around me and I still have my childhood friends from Australia whom I love so very much.

YD: What do you have to overcome and what do you have to compromise to survive and succeed?

CC: You gotta love yourself and love people, man. You gotta be able to see beauty and enjoy hearing stories as much as you enjoy telling them. Compromise? Nah.

YD: What does a regular day look like for you? What are some routines that you do no matter what?

CC: Wake up, put water on my face, that’s number one. Because it wakes me up. Next, strong coffee in my French press. Also to wake me up. Then a shower. For obvious reasons. If I’m working, it’s probably 5am or something which means moisturizer, throw on some clothes, and go. If it’s a day off then I might catch up on Jimmy Fallon from the night before and then head to hot yoga. Come home, make food then read, write, chill by the pool or run around town running errands or having animated coffee dates.

YD: If not acting, what else? What do you do outside of acting?

CC: Writing. That’s my other thing. It’s what I’ve always done. My dad is a writer, his father, his mother. My mother got into it too.
And DJing. For fun and creative expression. I had an endorsement deal with Stanton when I first moved to LA. I cooled off on it but I’m about to jump in again! Watch out!

YD: If you were to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

CC: Young. Old. Alive.

YD: What are some of your strongest emotions?

CC: They’re all pretty strong for me. I’m a deep, tortured person, are you not getting that? Haha.

YD: What is your personal mantra?

CC: “Doubt the doubt.” And “Just Eat It.” Weird Al Yankovic is also an inspiration, I should have mentioned that earlier.

YD: Did you ever have a moment that you realized something profound about life or yourself that changed the way you look at things?

CC: I have these moments almost daily. But something that I think about a lot is the overview effect. It’s a phenomenon that astronauts experience when they go to space and first witness the earth just vulnerably floating in darkness and realize that we are all one and all we have is each other.  And that every single part of our existence has taken place in such a short space of time. Down here it’s been millions of years. Up there the gases are still cooling. You know, Carl Sagan Pale Blue Dot stuff.

YD: What did you learn the most from your parents?

CC: Oh man…. Creativity, the importance of inner beauty and of truly knowing yourself and being honest with yourself about who you are. Also not taking shit.

YD: What does your name mean to you? Why did your parents name you that?

CC: My mother gave me that name and I tell her that giving me that name was like placing a flag on top of a steep hill and I have been running towards it my whole life! It’s a name you have to earn. I am named after an incredibly powerful woman / idea. And I feel that energy. My friends call me Cleo. Actually most people call me Cleo. But I have recently embraced Cleopatra.

YD: Who inspires you the most? What is it that you love about Anna Karina, Brigitte Bardot, Lauren Bacall, Angelina Jolie, Lisa Bonet and Dorothy Dandridge to name a few? How do you relate to them?

CC: Actually I’m just inspired by those women’s style and film choices. Their grace and how they carry themselves. The women who inspire me the most are actually both of my Grandmothers Esmeranda and Prim. Funny and strong women of all shapes and colors inspire me. Women who change the world. I was reading about Mae C Jemison the other day, the first black American female astronaut. She’s an inspiration. There are incredible women all around us. Holding it down. And men.

YD: What kind of person do you tend to fall in love with? What are some of the most important qualities? What qualities do you appreciate most in other people? In those you fall in love with?

CC: Intelligence is key. Humor is super important too. You gotta be quick witted if you want to fit in with my family. Open mindedness. Purity. Strength. Appreciation of art and creativity. Handsomeness is also appreciated.

YD: Where do you get your fashion inspiration?

CC: All over the place, but mostly from the past. I like classic lines.

YD: How did you learn to wear heels?

CC: Probably trying on my mother’s as a little kid. *

YD: When was the last time you had an embarrassing fashion or beauty moment? What happened?

CC: Oh, these happen to me constantly. I have some tattoos that we cover for the show, and so sometimes when I come into work of a morning, makeup wants to know what I’m wearing to see if they can get started covering my tats. Well the other morning I was in the trailer EARLY. I mean it was still dark, it was like 5am and makeup asks me what I’m wearing under my sweater. So I decide to lift it up and show her, accidentally lifting my top up as well as my sweater. I stood there in the trailer for around 30 seconds topless, no bra without realizing. “Well good morning” she said. I had no idea.

YD: How and when did you first become aware that you were beautiful?

CC: Actually that has been a weird thing for me. Looking back, I didn’t feel that way as the odd one out. I grew up in Byron Bay in Australia where at the time, everyone I knew was like blonde and fair. I didn’t fit that mold. Plus all the TV shows I watched and all the magazines I saw didn’t really support my look, so my sense of reality was warped.

YD: What about loved? Special?

CC: My parents always made me feel loved. That’s always been number one so I have always felt a great deal of love from my home base. And with parents like mine, all it takes is to get to know them to realize they are very special people so you figure you must have received some of that as their kid. All they want is for me to do well.

YD: What do you consider the sexiest and most beautiful part of your body? Why?

CC: Probably my natural lips. Hilarious that I had to say natural by the way. I’m kind of into my natural butt too. Haha again.

YD: What would you like to change about yourself?

CC: I would love to have the ability to never doubt myself.

YD: Did you ever doubt yourself and your choices? Did you ever want to be someone else?

CC: I am lucky to have had a strong head on my shoulders. I was disciplined and super into dance and art as a kid so there wasn’t much room to make huge mistakes. Growing up all I wanted was to be ‘normal’. Have a normal name and normal parents and normal dreams. Whatever that is. But you grow out of that, now I love embracing how unusual my life has been and will no doubt continue to be. It’s a wild ride.