Conversations with Nadine Kostine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nadine Kostine.

Hi Nadine, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Hi everyone! My name is Nadine Kostine, I’m 24 years old, I’m 5’8 and I’m based in Los Angeles.

Every single audition I record starts with this slate.

My journey to Hollywood film lots goes back to when I was a little child with big dreams growing up in Russia. From the second I fell for the art to the moment I got my first gig on an Apple TV project, lays a long path with numerous obstacles, hundreds of flights back and forth across the planet, homesickness, struggles of being an international student, and an immigrant, language and cultural barriers, war and many other twists and turns that I am going to embrace in this interview.

I was born in Moscow, Russia. Although I chose art as my career, my journey started with tennis and chess.

At the age of seven, my parents took me to see the “Phantom of the Opera” which had a tremendous effect on me. Little did they know I would turn into a mini Phantom later that week and would be acting out scenes, lines, and songs after seeing that show. That’s when everyone realized there is an Actor in our family so tennis and chess have lost their priority.

Later on, when I turned 12 I became a part of the Musical Theater of Young Actor’s troupe of Moscow where we would do professional shows every weekend to entertain families and kids our age. We performed with celebrities and did shows at major venues with original musical repertoire. We were not treated like kids but like adults. It was my first professional job and the place I faced the realities of this career, adulthood, politics, and rejection. (The competition and training were harsh and usually unfair. No one truly knew how the lead roles were assigned as there was no auditioning process whatsoever.)

Besides theater, I started working in the fashion industry when I got scouted by a modeling agency at the age of 14. I got my first gig for a TV commercial after which print works like Cosmopolitan magazine (Russia), Katta catalog, and others followed. I was in love with the shooting process and the camera was my best friend.

My world turned upside-down when I flew to Los Angeles for the first time in my life for a summer acting training camp. I was absolutely fascinated and charmed by the studios, landscapes, and movie-themed amusement parks like Universal and Disney. Everywhere I went, I saw scenes from movies flashing in my head. My parents said I was poisoned by the American air full of freedom and opportunities. It was a moment I found my dream – probably the most outrageous and craziest- to be an actress in Hollywood!

When I got back home, I started applying to the top American art high schools while training intensively in English, acting, and singing classes. My auditions and efforts were noticed, and I got into Walnut Hill School for the Arts (MA, USA) as a theater major.

While my parents always supported my artistic passion, their decision to let their only child study on a different continent without any relatives or friends around was difficult. I was 16 years old when I moved to the US all by myself. At Walnut, there were very few international students in the theater major. Besides problems with my dialect that wouldn’t get me cast in musicals, I also struggled with language and cultural shock. I realized I had to work twice as hard as my fellow Americans to be equal. I locked myself in practice rooms on weekends, had dialect lessons in my free time blocks after school, and practiced reciting lines and songs from musicals. Everything seemed foreign, tense Russia-US relations didn’t help either but my passion for acting was leading me forward and I didn’t want to fall behind. (In my senior year at Walnut, I was cast as Cassandra in the play Vanya, Sonya, Masha, and Spike and Chicago the musical.)

When the time to choose a college came, I already had 18 applications and 11 live auditions around the country (7 of which I successfully passed) under my belt. I was accepted to 9 universities and one of them was the #4 film and acting school in the US, Chapman University (Dodge College of Film and Media Arts) in California (BFA Screen Acting), in which I originally thought I would never get in as the acceptance rate to this program was only 4%.

And here I have my long-awaited comeback to the entertainment land! At Chapman, I was absolutely fascinated with the faculty, talented students, and high-end film equipment. I immersed myself in all of the acting and film industry classes right away. In my first year, I filmed in 4 (award-nominated) short films, went to NBC Universal, CAA, and Lionsgate events and master classes, and tried to create my own minor focused on international media and production. While my spirit was ready to conquer the world, my body was not… I faced total (physical and mental) burnout. Next semester I spent at home recovering from exhaustion and wasn’t sure I had the energy to come back at it again. It was one of the hardest times in my life when I didn’t know if I’d be able to live my life as before. Back then, I wasn’t sure I had the resources to pursue my dream or to even act before.

With the great support and help of my family, I was able to revive and came back to the US (even though my parents were very much against it but didn’t want to crush my dream). The film “Sonora”, which I shot for earlier was nominated for the best picture at multiple festivals and won an award at the International San Diego Festival’19.

I got back into acting classes, successfully graduated Chapman with BFA in Screen Acting in 2022, and worked on even more films and creative projects, latest of which is an Apple TV show. Now I have a manager and an agent and continue pursuing my American dream.

I am extremely grateful for the loved ones, mentors, and friends that supported me throughout my artistic and life journey.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t been the smoothest and easiest road. When I moved from Russia to the US at the age of 16 to pursue arts (acting), I didn’t have any family or relatives nearby. I experienced difficulties with language, homesickness and culture shock. Due to my dialect, I wasn’t cast in musicals and other productions and had to work very hard to smooth it out.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I was fortunate to work on a short film “Sonora” that received many nominations and awards at such film festivals as the Beverly Hills Film Festival, Hollywood Just 4 Shorts and San Diego International Film Festival.

I also shot for music videos “Desert Flower Interlude with Fleece Kawasaki ” that’s been featured on Universal City Walk and “Movie” with Blake Rose.

Recently, I shot for an Apple TV project in a featured role (the project is still in pre-production).

I’m proud of graduating Chapman University (Dodge College of Film and Media Arts) with a BFA in Screen Acting.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
I remember watching “Phantom of the Opera” when I was 7. I was absolutely mesmerized by the show and fell in love with acting and music. When I got home, I’ve started impersonating Phantom (surprisingly not Christine) acting out scenes and singing songs in front of my parents and relatives. That’s when everyone realized they have an Actor in the family.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nadinekostine.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nadine_kostine/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nadya.kostina.1
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10391507/