Conversations with Eliya Or

Hi Eliya, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I want to say that I’ve always known I wanted to become an actress; however, this was not the case with me. It didn’t start from when I was a toddler as I was never one of those children that felt a strong urge to perform in front of their parents. It was at age eight when I started feeling the inclination to become an actress.

My family moved a lot throughout my childhood. By the time I was age nine, I had already lived in three countries and spoke three languages. After settling back in Israel, it became really tough because all of a sudden from having the ability to adapt anywhere, for the first time I felt like I didn’t belong.

I was a misfit in school, it was from that point on when I started watching movies and imagined myself as the characters. It gave me a gateway as I began to develop my imagination. Through these visions, I didn’t feel alone anymore because I had a purpose. I was certain that I was going to become an actress.

At the beginning, my parents thought it was a phase that will pass; however, I was very obstinate about it. Within 6 months of convincing, my dad took me to my first agency and I started auditioning and auditioning. I didn’t book anything in the first year. Afterwords came the first audition that I booked. The day of the audition I remember we had a family event that my mom insisted I attend and hence miss an audition that I probably won’t even get. However, I had this strong inner voice telling me to go and that I won’t regret it. I went there and booked the job. At ten years old I booked my first commercial acting job but more importantly, it was a confirmation that I am in my right path and the universe supports me.

In the years that followed I went on to play in two significant Films and TV shows in multiple countries due to my family moving around; high school I did in three countries (Israel, USA and Bulgaria).

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think a smooth road and acting are like oil and water, they don’t go together. Naturally in acting, you have a lot of instability; mainly due to the fact that you depend on others to give you the job. Once you treat auditions like something you have to do without expectations, it becomes easier to handle.

A couple of months ago, I did an audition from my agent in the UK for a small part in a movie and I booked it, going on cloud nine for three weeks. I knew that the shootings would take place in Tunisia, but a week before I was supposed to fly I still hadn’t received the contract which was odd. Thereafter, I got an email from the casting director that the production decided to cut off my part due to the fact that it was very minor and didn’t contribute to the plot; however, they liked me very much and want to work with me in the future. Of course, it was a very disheartening because It was more than an audition that you do and forget, you actually got the phone call that it was within your grasp and now it wasn’t.

After that my dad asked me what I would have preferred – to not get the audition at all or this, knowing you were well within reach of the role. But it ends up not happening I knew straight away that I would still stick with the second option in view of the fact that now a new set of people have their eyes out on me for the next opportunity that comes along.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am known for Jolt, an action movie.

It was moderately unique on how I got to play in it. I was living in Bulgaria and attended an American high school. For those who don’t know, Bulgaria is known for being very inexpensive therefore drawing many American productions go there for film projects. The amount of times people see Morgan Freeman or other well-known actors and thought that the film was shot in LA…well sorry to break it to you but nope, Bulgaria has major studios.

Back to Jolt, they had already wrapped up the shootings in 2019 in the UK and Bulgaria; however, due to Covid, everything was on hold for two years. When they finally started on editing, they came up with the idea to add flashbacks to the main character (Kate Beckinsale). At that time I knew the casting director and she asked me if I wanted to audition for this film so of course, I agreed. I auditioned and after two weeks, I got the part. When I stop to think about it, It blows my mind how many things had to have happened and be in place for me to have received this opportunity.

Following the release of Jolt, a UK-based agent who represented another actress in the cast saw my performance, consequently, I flew to London to sign with her. I started auditioning for international productions and understood that at this stage the next chapter of my acting career would be in LA. Just recently, I wrapped up two projects one of them is called The road to Freedom and It’s about human trafficking ,I am very proud of it.

I don’t think there is something specific that sets me apart from others because at the end of the day, we are all the main characters in our own stories. However, it is important to be impervious to rejection and naysayers. Once you are certain in yourself and your abilities, all the other things will come at the right time. We must not forget that we are in the business of storytelling and the best stories are the ones that with the struggle at the beginning.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I am really happy that I get to be a female actress after the MeToo movement.

Of course, this industry is still filled with predators that are immersed with young, pretty women, and they will take advantage of it. But at the very least, we now have more awareness and strong women that are taking over.

I am starting to see more complicated and dark characters that are being portrayed by women which is good but still not nearly enough . I do believe that in the next 5-10 years will see more of that though. As a girl growing up in this society, you are so used to the main character being a man so you naturally think that men may be more interesting. In fact, the majority of the time you can’t even compare a male protagonist to a female one because they are non-existent. I think that the first time I saw strong women taking over in a series it was in Ozark and it was so fascinating but all the more it just emphasized that the problem is that women are not being given the stage to showcase their abilities and to be interesting unrelated to men.