Leslie Susana Campbell is an established actress born in The Bahamas, currently living in Los Angeles. After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2023, she has worked in multiple award-winning film projects.
In an exclusive interview, London Daily Post sat down with Leslie Susana Campbell for a conversation on her path to stardom and her lead role in ‘Guns and Gold at High Noon’.
Welcome Leslie, what got you into acting and made you realize that it was your chosen path?
Acting was nowhere on my radar as something I could actually pursue. I was an Athlete for The Bahamas National Swim Team. I was expected to pursue Medicine. These two areas were my only focus. On top of that, I had no knowledge of any acting or performing related classes near me. The most that I knew about were dance studios, and music classes. When I was a child, I had wanted to be a ballerina, but was told that I was going to grow to be too tall in order to be one, so my parents put me in swimming instead.
I had always known that I was an artist of some kind, but I had yet to have any interaction, or run in with performing until my senior year of high school. That year I had given a senior speech, and my speech was a spoken word piece that I had written. I received a standing ovation for it, and that moment had changed my internal world. I knew I was meant to be on the stage. Initially, I thought it was as a spoken word performer. After graduating, I went to Arizona State University, where I began as a Cellular& Genetic Development major. I quickly realized this was not the path for me. After being miserable my entire first semester at college, I called my parents and let them know that I had to change my major because something was not right. On an impulse one evening, classes for the second semester of my sophomore year opened up. I added an acting class to my list of classes. In that class, I met my first ever acting teacher and she was instrumental in placing faith in my ability as an actor. She gave me a lead role in her MFA thesis project. From there, my love for acting was solidified.
As an actor in the heart of Hollywood, how would you describe the projects that you typically prefer?
I absolutely prefer projects where there is some form of personal attachment. The projects that I’ve been in so far have been driven by my colleagues, and fellow storytellers’ desire to reveal how said attachment has impacted their life. The end result has always been a beautiful working relationship, and an even more beautiful project, I prefer projects that have a deeper history to the creator. I prefer projects that impact our understanding of the set status-quo or cultural hegemony, if you will. I have an utmost preference for projects that reveal some sort of undiscovered truth about the human condition.
You recently worked on the western project ‘Guns and Gold at High Noon.’ Can you tell us about the movie and the role you played?
For the movie ‘Guns and Gold at High Noon’ I play Eve Carver, the oldest of the Carver Twins. It is a lead role in the movie of which I was able to incorporate my stage combat and martial arts background. The twins are regarded as the best knife wielders in the West!
The movie follows the young protagonist Rick Walters, aka ‘Drift Wood’, a spontaneous, laughable, young, and irrational, but highly skilled drifter. Drift Wood is on the run with several enemies hot on his trail. They’re after the bag he’s in possession of, and the hefty 750,000 bounty placed on his head. Between the Carver sisters: sisters who aren’t blood but spent their lives training to be tougher than any man, more cunning, have drawn more blood from enemies than Butchers from Beef, thus their nickname “Carvers”; Solomon Red: a popular, high tempered, blood hungry Mercenary & leader of the Reds; Falcon: a sharpshooter that lives for the thrill of the kill, and many others; Drift Wood has his work cut out for him. Will he make it?
What is your character Eve Carver like?
As I mentioned, the twins are regarded as the best knife wielders in the West. Their reputation precedes them wherever they go. I think I share many similarities with Eve. Eve Carver moves with focus. She is serious and calculating. She knows her strengths and moves calmly to execute. She is a total perfectionist. Even more so with her knife in hand.
Every actor goes through a process, what is your creative process when preparing for a movie?
When preparing for a role, I rely heavily on the tools I have acquired throughout all of my years of training. Where I begin depends on the nature of the project, the genre of the project, my character’s dramatic function, the plot, and who I have pieced together my character to be based on having read the script several times. I research everything I have no understanding of. Even the things I do understand, I research to refresh my memory or expand my understanding. I then look for any personal hang ups, reservations, fears, worries that arise from me when I am piecing together how to best bring a character to life. I don’t attack them head on because I don’t believe in pushing myself to ‘get over’ these themes. I believe in working with them to understand the truth of how my personal emotional experience is being affected by the characters’ emotional life. Our reservations, and our hang ups are always connected to the truth of the inner lives of our characters. What we are afraid of is exactly what the character is asking us to bring to the forefront.
I also very much believe in having extensive talks with the writer and the Director about their understanding and their vision of the project because at the end of the day, my job is to fulfill their vision, while simultaneously being a champion for my character. Another tool that is extremely crucial to my process is music. I always make a playlist, and it truly depends on what I feel I need, but regardless, the music serves to tap into my character’s inner world.
Has there been one particular moment in your career that you’re most proud of?
Most recently, the project I was a part of, ‘It’s Just Hair’, actually, was one of the hardest projects for me to be a part of. I have just recently lost my grandmother, and this experience has cracked me open. I am still grieving and recovering from her loss. The film itself is based on my Director and close friend, Paola Ramones’, grandparents as well. The story navigates the motifs of fear, illness, death, and goodbyes. I am very proud of myself for the performance I gave while under this kind of emotional dress, it was an exceptional challenge, and I am very proud to say I wrote to the occasion. It was an important lesson for me and learning how to take what one considers a serious blow, and in turn, transmute that pain into a beautiful message.
We cannot wait to see more of you on screen. Meanwhile, how can people find and follow your journey?
Thank you, my work can be found on my IMDb and my Instagram for everything else.
