Today we’d like to introduce you to Olga Korsak.
Hi Olga, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was first introduced to the world of acting 14 years ago. I just came to Toronto, Canada, without knowing anyone or any English. I spent a year going to ESL classes learning English and working all kinds of cash jobs I could find like washing dishes and cleaning floors. I was really into music when I came, I was writing songs and dreaming about big stage. Acting was not on my list but my friend at the time asked me if I would like to try her friend just opened an acting agency and was looking for actors to sign. I laughed because I had never acted before and I just started to learn English, it was still very basic. My friend told me to go anyway because singing and acting is so close to each other. I went for a meeting with her friend and he end up signing me, not sure why or how. I went for my first audition and end up booking the part, it was non-speaking role but it was my first introduction to the world of cinematography. And I fell in love! with the people, with the process, with the crew, with the this magical world of movie-making. After that experience, I would really focus on learning English because now I had a goal. I started taking acting classes and working on my craft.
Three years later, my first agent closed the agency and moved on to something else. I then end up signing with my current agency Hines Management. I continue working hard but would not go further then one or two liners and lots of student films. Then one evening, I got an invitation to audition for my dream role, the lead role of a figure skater who despite her life obstacles would come back to competitive skating and follow her dream of qualifying for world championship. I’m a former Olympic figure skater who skated at the world championships representing Latvia until my back injury forced me to quit the professional sport at age of 17. So this was the perfect role for me. At least that what I thought, my dad supposed to be played by an Oscar nominee actor Alexey Serebryakov who was one of my favorite actors when I was going up in Latvia where I’m from. Despite putting so much effort for my audition the director in the room told me that I’m not talented and should never act again. I left the room so upset and defeated.
I worked so hard, I was 26 at the time and have been taking classes and practicing for five years since my first audition. It was very hard but despite so wanting to quit I continued my hard work and tried to forget that failed audition. I quit once in my sports career as a figure skater so I couldn’t quit again in the acting world, I guess that athlete discipline took over. I continue the work even though in the next couple of years I was very close twice to be thrown out from my agency because I couldn’t book anything solid. and then I get invited for an audition and I felt a dezhavuu, I felt like I auditioned for this already. Guess what? Five YEARS passed and that failed audition I did for trying to book a figure skater role is back. The same director was casting again for the same role because they never end up actually shooting the movie. I was nervous, I was scared and almost decided not going there again to repeat the same scenario. But some invisible force pushed me to go. I went, I did my audition and they told me thank you and I left.
All the way home I was wondering, did the director remembers me from five years ago when she stormed me out of the room because I’m not talented enough? The same day I got a call from my agent that the role is mine. I couldn’t believe it…. that role later would start my acting career, earn me 11 nominations and 8 wins for the best lead role including best actress at New York Oniros Award, best Canadian Cinematography Award, American Golden Picture international film festival and many more. I also wrote a soundtrack for the movie which earned me the best soundtrack at best track awards and Venice Film Award. The movie got into many notable festivals but unfortunately, all of them were online or canceled due to the first way of covid. Later I would appear in the Amazon series American Gods, the feature Artificial Selection and Stealing the Sky. My upcoming movies include I Do and Midnight Sun to be scheduled for release in 2023.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Of course, the struggles to book anything and pay the rent. Throughout my 13 years old acting career, I still maintain a part-time job to ease the worries about my rent. I prefer not to have any stress so I can fully focus on my auditions
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a Latvian-born professional figure skater who moved to Canada in 2009 to pursue my dreams for music and as turns out to be for acting. I’m known for my music career under the stage name Livva and my professional acting career under my real name Olga Korsak. I’m proud of my determination and persistence, I would not give up even when all of the people around me would scream to give up. I worked hard and continued to dream big. My next big goal is to move to Los Angeles in 2024.
How do you think about happiness?
Nature makes me very happy. I dream to live in the farm or close to the ocean in the near future. It calms me down the sounds of nature and the quite time. My song makes me super happy, I’m a single mom to a two-year-old boy EVAN. He is my biggest inspiration, he is the one I want to show to go after your dreams and to work hard to get there. Also getting together with inspirational and like-minded people makes me very very happy and inspired. I still hope to meet my soul mate one day 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: www.olgakorsak.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livvamusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livvamusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@livvamusic
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/livvamusic
