The School of Greatness - 599 Nina Dobrev: The Balance of Acting, Advocacy, and Using Your Voice

Episode Date: February 8, 2018

Other people won't make me happy, it has to be from within me. - Nina Dobrev One of the things that even I struggle with is being complacent. It's easy for all of us to feel comfortable where we are in life and settle for what we have. In fact, it can be scary to try to push things even further. Breaking out of that comfort zone and continuing to grow is the difference between being average and being great. Anytime you feel comfortable, that means you're not challenging yourself and it's time to make a shift. Maybe you need a new job or just to find ways to push yourself further. On this episode of The School of Greatness, we are joined by an inspirational and amazing actress, Nina Dobrev. She's spent her whole life pushing the boundaries and keeps challenging herself any chance she can. You probably know Nina from the hit show The Vampire Diaries. Nina was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. She moved to Canada at the age of two and has lived in Toronto, Ontario ever since. From a very young age, she showed great enthusiasm and talent for the arts: Dance, Gymnastics, Theatre, Music, Visual arts, and Acting! Modeling jobs led to commercials, which then turned into film auditions. Shortly after, she booked roles in the feature films Fugitive Pieces, Away from Her and the popular television series, Degrassi: The Next Generation. We've become good friends over the past couple of years, and I'm constantly impressed by how Nina decides to push herself. Through all of her work, acting is her passion, and she sees it as an adventure that has just begun; she believes that the journey and the characters we create along the way will help us understand ourselves. Discover all of that and much more, on Episode 590. Some Questions I Ask: Why did you get behind the #TimesUp movement? (8:20) What can people do to stop the abuse? (12:48) Did you have a hunger to work hard at an early age? (22:40) Do you feel like you were good to everyone on your way up? (26:55) What is the biggest insecurity you've overcome in your ‘20s? (28:10) Did you see yourself being a star? (30:57) When Vampire Diaries happened did you expect it to be a success? (33:21) Did you see yourself doing things bigger than the show, or were you focused on the role? (36:20) Did you struggle to find new characters to audition for? (40:20) What do you enjoy more, being a character telling the stories or directing the stories? (44:38) What's a story you want to tell that hasn't been told? (46:40) What do you think is holding you back from being the woman you want to be? (47:35) What's the thing you are most proud of that most people don't know about you? (52:30) In This Episode You Will Learn: About the abuse happening in Hollywood (10:55) What it was like moving from Bulgaria to Canada (16:10) The most important lesson her parents taught her (23:51) Insecurities she had growing up (27:15) Who taught her the most about abundance in her life (29:30) Why she loves creating characters (32:45) How she felt when Vampire Diaries took off (34:30) What it was like choosing to leave a hit show (38:20) What she's been writing (42:00) What she wants to do next (46:15) What it is about Audrey Hepburn that people love (47:10) The greatest piece of advice she ever received (50:04) A question she wishes more people would ask (55:44)

This is episode number 599 with Nina Dobrev. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. John Wooden once said that talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful.

And conceit is self-given. Be careful. I'm so excited that you joined us today on this podcast. If you're new to the show, then welcome, as every week we bring you inspiring individuals, ideas, topics, and tools to help you improve your life and take your dreams to another level, and you matter, and so do your dreams matter. So welcome to this episode. We've got Nina on, who is so inspiring, what she's done in her career. And the topics we cover today are why it's so important to celebrate the little successes along the way, even when you're dreaming big. Also, how to change careers when you've already been successful in a specific role or industry. And when someone might have you pigeonholed with a specific identity, how to transform that the next career.

Also, how to deal with fame when it hits you all at once. What it was like for Nina's family to leave communist Bulgaria when she was a toddler and how they overcame that. And also, what the Time's Up movement is all about and what you can do to support it. Super pumped about this. Before we dive in, got to give a shout out to the fan of the week. Again, every week we give a shout out to someone who leaves a review over on iTunes. So if you want to get shouted out on the podcast, just leave us a review. You can do it on your podcast app as well on your iPhone or over on iTunes and just search the School

of Greatness. This is from Vena B who says, my husband turned me on to Lewis's podcast just a few weeks ago. And to say we are both a bit addicted to it would be an understatement. Not only has it made our morning commutes so much richer, but we have also incorporated some of the daily rituals into our routines. And it has made such a huge difference in our productivity. I love, love, loved the interview with Brene Brown, Melissa Hartwig, and Danica Patrick. Keep up the good

work, Louis. So Veena B, thank you so much to you and your husband for listening and incorporating some of this. And I hope you enjoyed this special interview with Nina as well. And if you guys want a chance to be shouted out as a fan of the week, all you got to do is leave a review and our producer picks one every single week to be announced on the podcast. So check it out on iTunes and leave us a review right there. In this episode, I'm pumped. I'm super excited, guys. Nina is someone I've been working on, haven't come on for a while, so we finally made it happen. So without further ado, let me introduce to you the one, the only Nina Dobrev. Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness podcast. We have the inspiring Nina Dobrev in the house.

Hi. Good to see you. Good to see you too. We brought you cupcakes because today is your 21st birthday. I wish it was. I really do wish it was. Although I kind of don't wish it was. Yeah.

Well, I don't really have a choice. It is what it is. You've probably grown a lot over the last, you know, in your 20s. You're 29. Am I allowed to say that? Well, you just did. And yeah, no, I'm proud of my age. The person I am now is because of all the years that brought me to this moment.

And thank you for this. It looks weird right now because it fell apart, but. We brought you sprinkles, cupcakes. So yummy. Sugar-free, gluten-free options, you know, all the Hollywood things. Which doesn't even make sense to me. I don't know how something can be sugar-free, but regardless. Thank you.

You're welcome, yes. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to you. We were just talking before we started that it's raining outside in L.A., and it rains like once every three years. And it's happened to be raining on your birthday, and you were kind of making remarks how you're not sure how you feel about it, but we were saying, listen, look at the opportunity.

This is a cleansing day, right? It's cleaning out the negativity, the things in your life that maybe aren't working and the things in L.A. that aren't working to hopefully purify everything. So I think it's a perfect time. I love that. I didn't see it that way when I first walked in. I thought rain. I woke up and it was rainy and gross and nuts.

I was like, really? On this day it has to rain? But then when you put it like that, it puts things into perspective. And yeah, it does feel like clearing of old energy and bad energy. And hopefully tomorrow will be a sunny day and it'll start the next chapter. It will. Absolutely. And there's a lot been happening lately in Hollywood, right?

With the whole Time's Up movement, with the Me Too movement, which I think there's this cleansing that is happening. So it's almost perfect timing with the weather and the purifying of the air. Absolutely. And I know you're involved in the Time's Up campaign and movement, correct? Yeah. Why did you get behind this? What's it about? And what do you want people to know about it?

I was invited to one of the meetings in the early days before, maybe a month and a half ago. And I didn't really know what was happening. It was like a secret society sort of meeting thing. And it was very vague. And when we got there, all women, all women are concerned. We didn't want to alienate men, but at the beginning, we just wanted to figure out what we were and what we wanted to stand for and what message we wanted to put out and what our goals were. And so I walked into this room and it was Natalie Portman and Reese Witherspoon and Brie Larson and America Ferrer and all these, Chandra Rimes, all these incredible powerhouse women. And what we took from it was that something needs to change immediately. It has changed.

You can see the difference. Something needs to change immediately. It has changed. You can see the difference. You can see with what happened with Harvey Weinstein and what's going on with Trump right now. And that's a whole separate other issue that I'll talk about later. But it's not okay. And women are not being treated equally.

And women are not getting the same fair wages that men are getting. And it's not an anti-men movement. It's a let's rise up together and treat everyone the same. Right. And not abuse. Yes, equality movement and not abuse power. What I realized and what I learned in these meetings is that of the top, I think, 200 Fortune 500 companies, there's no women on any of their boards. Or if there is, it's one woman on each board of every company. And so, of course, if there's any kind of harassment

or abuse, it's hard to go up to your bosses if none of them are women and none of them understand your position. It's all, it's just not fair. So our goal is to get more women on the boards of companies that have influence to trickle down into the other industries because it's not just our industry. Our industry gets the most press and the most notoriety, and you hear our voices the most. But there's women in agriculture. There's women in finance. There's women, housekeepers, and all kinds of different women that don't really have the power or didn't feel like they had the voice. But now we're all kind of coming together

and speaking up for the little guys, the medium guys, the big guys. It's just, I was incredibly inspired by it, and it's been an awakening, and I'm really excited to move forward into this new year. And I've already seen so much change, and I want there to be so much more. Yeah.

What have you seen in terms of the Hollywood scene with all actor friends and actress friends? Have you experienced a lot of this unfair abuse, either emotional or any type of sexual turn-ons that have been abused as your career over the last decade in this? Or your friends? Yeah, I've seen it with friends a lot. I've heard a lot of stories. It's not my position to tell their stories, of course. But is it as prevalent as people are talking about it? Absolutely.

In the news? Do you see it like every time you're on set, you see some type of verbal harassment? There's always a little bit. A lot of my friends have had personal experiences, and even just in terms of on a sort of superficial level, in terms of pay, women just don't get paid as much. Not making as much, huh? No, never.

On all movies, and even if it's the star, the female role. Even if it's the star of the movie. Really? The star of a TV show. She doesn't get paid as much as a guy does, and that's a smaller issue. I mean, the sexual harassment is a much more important issue. But then again, it's not. Why is there a discrepancy? Why does that happen?

Yeah. Why aren't we viewed the same? It's confusing to me. But time's up. The clock has been ticking for a very long time, and now is the time to do something about it and change it. What can people do who are watching all these actors and actresses and are just women of influence who are promoting this?

What can women do? Is it just post on a hashtag on social media? What's the action steps that you guys are calling for? You can't do anything unless you know about something. So this phase has been all about education. Awareness. Educating people that this is happening and we need to do something about it. Now that we know about it, now that it's become such a big movement, Oprah Winfrey did.

Amazing. The most incredible speech. Unbelievable. Yeah. I heard she kind of winged it. I heard she wrote that speech in the car is what I heard, but there's no way. I would love to think that. No way.

That would be great. She's amazing. I think she should be the next president. But now that we have that awareness, I mean, Time's Up isn't just about the awareness. If you go on the website, there's so many things that people can do. There's so many things that people can do. There's a fund that we've started on a legal side so that we can have a bunch of lawyers, basically, like in-house lawyers that are already paid

so that women in the agriculture industry or in any industry across the board have someone they can go to that's already paid for. So it's not about... A lot of people can't afford a lawyer. So if something happens, if the company has a lot more money and power, they won't want to press charges because they feel small.

But in this case, this fund will pay for these lawyers so that everyone has representation across the board in every industry. That's great. And then there's more things that are going to be rolling out in the next couple of months that we're doing. That's awesome. What's the website for it? TimesUp.com or TimesUpNow.com.

We'll figure it out and make it up. Yeah, let's make sure so I don't say the wrong thing. You can just Google Times Up and I'm sure you'll find it. Yeah. That's great. And so how involved are you? Are you part of like the founding members or? I think that Chandra and Natalie and Jessica Chastain and Brie and America and a few others started it initially.

And then they started doing more meetings and that's when we came in. I think I came in a month or two into it. That's amazing. Awesome. Well, thanks for being a supporter of that and helping create more equality. It's what we need. It's awesome. I'm curious to know about, you know, the more I've been researching it.

I think we met about a year and a half ago, maybe two years ago, through Julianne, who's been on the show in Brooks. And I just noticed that she's right behind you. You know, she's out there. Yeah, yeah. I had her staring at you. Yes. I love it. It makes me feel more comfortable.

There you go. We're best friends in the room. You're at home, yeah. Yeah. They're incredible people. When I met you, I just knew that you would be incredible as well if you're connecting with her just because she's got a big heart. I feel like good people or like-minded people find each other. Of course.

And they attract each other. And the moment that I met Julianne, we were best friends. And you're right, she's positive and happy, and that's infectious. When you're around her, you want to be a better person. You want to be happy. You want to smile with her. And so it's hard to not be around her yeah and we got to spend some time together more time together at their wedding and did some macro

yoga with my girlfriend and kind of teach someone that so we have some cool photos we'll have to link up to show people i didn't know that i could do i mean i used to do gymnastics and i dance a lot so i just didn't know that we could do all that cool stuff. And you lifted me into positions and places that I didn't know my body could. It was great. You're amazing. Thank you.

You're a natural. Thank you for teaching me that. Of course, of course, yeah. I'm curious to know this because you moved from Bulgaria when you were two to Canada. What part of Canada was that? Toronto. Toronto.

Yeah, so funny. I'm from there and I said Toronto and you're like, yeah, Toronto. Toronto. Which is the's so funny. I'm from there, and I said Toronto, and you're like, yeah, Toronto. Toronto. Toronto's how you say it, right? Which is the more Torontonian way to say it, but yeah. Well, I was just up there, so that's what they said to me. But when you guys moved to Toronto, you weren't really well off early on, right?

You were kind of like scrapping around, trying to figure things out. Immigrant, you know, mentality, right? My parents left Bulgaria right around when the wall fell. It was a communist-occupied country, and people weren't allowed to leave the country until that happened. In fact, when my parents got married, it's a crazy story, they wanted to go on a honeymoon and go travel somewhere else, but you were only allowed to visit other communist countries.

So if you went somewhere else, you had to give something to the government as insurance that you would come back. Wow. So they gave my brother to them. No way. Yeah, they went away for two weeks, gave my brother as insurance that they would come back when they came back. He had to go to like a home or something?

I don't remember the exact details. I'd have to ask my mom, but something like that. Yeah, you have to like give up your child so that. Or say if you don't come back, your child's to ask my mom. But something like that, yeah. You have to, like, give up your child so that. Or say if you don't come back, your child's going to, like, the military or something. Yeah. Holy cow. Yeah. And even my dad, I think, like, you had to go to the military.

And if you didn't, it was either military or jail. So my dad ended up going to jail for a little while. No way. To avoid having to join the military. Yeah. Crazy stuff like that. And it's so nuts to me because that's not the world that I grew up in.

I was fortunate enough to not have to experience that because I was born right when the wall fell. I think my dad went, like I said, you had to visit other communist countries, so he booked a ticket to Cuba, which is also communist. And then the flight from Bulgaria to Cuba is so long that the plane had to refuel in Toronto or Ottawa or somewhere.

And he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, trying to look like he was on vacation because he was afraid that they'd find out that he wasn't actually going to Cuba. And when the plane stopped to refuel, he just never got back on it. So underneath the Hawaiian shirt, he was wearing layers upon layers of warm clothing

because it was winter in Canada. And that's how he got into Canada. No way. Yeah. So how did you guys come over then? So then we, my mom, my brother, and I applied. I mean, my mom applied for my brother and I for a visa to visit our family in Michigan, I believe.

And so we flew to Michigan for a week. It was supposed to be. And then from there, they drove us to the Canadian-American border where my mom, with one suitcase, a six-year-old, and a two-year-old in her arms, walked across the Niagara Falls border. Shut up. And that's how we got in.

Walked across. Walked across. There's a bridge that you walk across from Canada to America. Was there like a customs checkpoint or was it more of like a sneak across? No, I'm pretty sure it was a sneak across. Really? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was. Wow.

Don't quote me on that. Right, right, sure. Because I have to. You have to ask your mom. Yeah, I was little. Yeah, of course. I personally don't remember any of these things. Wow, that's amazing.

So did you guys have, did your parents have savings or did they have a place to stay when they got to Canada or was it more? I think there was, we shared an apartment with another family or two other families. Bulgarian family or? Yeah. And until we figured out what we were going to do. I mean, all I did was just say gaga and doo-doo. Right. I wasn't doing much, so I can't take credit, but my dad worked as a pizza delivery guy.

He worked at a gas station as a pumper. They took odd jobs like that at the beginning. They had nothing. They didn't speak the language. And then as time went on, they started to learn and started to get better jobs. And my mom was a painter, but my dad learned to become a computer specialist. Wow. And, yeah, it's crazy.

It's crazy to think that they had to go through so much to get here to give us the life that we had. Yeah. And as a child, I remember feeling ungrateful, too. Really? Yeah, because I didn't know. So we were... You didn't know what they had to give up

or what they had to sacrifice. To get me to where I was. And I went to a good public school, and all my friends had all these things. They had beautiful new clothes and these big houses. And I always felt like we also weren't allowed to speak English at home. We had to speak Bulgarian at home and English at school so that we could preserve our mother tongue. And I hated that. I thought that was so annoying and I would rebel against it.

And I was like, why can't I have new clothes like my friends do? Why do we have to go to Salvation Army to buy our clothes? I hated it. But now that I am where I am, I'm so grateful for that. I'm so grateful that I speak multiple languages. Right, you speak three, right? Three languages, yeah. Well, four'm so grateful for that. I'm so grateful that I speak multiple languages. Right. You speak three, right? Three languages. Yeah. Well, four if you count Pig Latin. Pig Latin. French as well, right?

French, English, Bulgarian, and Pig Latin. Amazing. And Maverick, your dog. Yes, my dog. My baby girl. Yeah, exactly. Literally, having a puppy is like having a child. I know. That's why I don't have one because I don't think I would get anything done in my life. I want one. When I'm around yours, I'm like, I could be with this dog all day long, but then I would do nothing else with my life. I'm surprised you didn't bring her here. I figured you'd bring her. I would have,

except she's sick right now. Okay, it's probably better. So I didn't want her to be outside in the rain and risk getting a cold. Of course. Now I'm curious, now your parents, they went through a lot to get you here. Your brother. I didn't get a chance to say that. When I was younger, I hated it and that was difficult. But if I didn't have that experience of wanting things and not having things that I wanted, it made me work extra hard to achieve and get what I wanted to have in my life.

Yeah. You know, and I feel like a lot of people don't understand that now. We have so many things at our disposal. Running water is so easy to just get. And we take that for granted. And like, I went to Kenya to build a school for build a school and a well and that's when I learned that lesson I was like wow I can't believe that we have such so many things around us and so many people don't and so many people can get in their cars and go from A to B and we have so much and

everyone's so lucky that's a great thing but it's also also sometimes can be a disadvantage for some people, in my opinion. Of course. The struggle is what makes you thrive for success, in my opinion. So did you have this hunger to work hard at an early age then because you wanted nicer clothes? I had to get a job to buy myself clothes. I had to buy my first car, and I'm definitely going to make my kids do the same thing. Even though I have the ability to provide that for them, I think it's important for them to work for it. And I had to do chores growing up.

I had to, my parents couldn't afford to put me in a lot of like dance classes and things like that. But they would throw me into like the community ones and it created this. The free ones, yeah. The free ones, yeah. And then eventually when i started acting or it started with modeling and then i turned into acting they didn't approve of it they didn't have the money to support it so with my jobs i would pay for the headshots and i would go take classes

and take four different buses and a subway to get downtown from the suburbs in Toronto where I lived to get to the club. I wanted it. And if I didn't actually put in the work for it, I wouldn't have gotten to where I am. And it really had to be from within. What was the greatest lesson you think both your mom and dad taught you then? My dad was very strict growing up. Again, all the things that I didn't appreciate at the time that I hated, now I appreciate. They made me read a book every single week.

And I had to put, like, outside of school, I would have to read a book for them and write a report for them. And then if I had done that, I was allowed to go on auditions the following week. If I hadn't finished doing that, then I wasn't allowed to go. They basically didn't think that the acting thing was real and serious, and they didn't want me to stop studying and trying to become, have another, a backup, basically. So they wanted to see how bad you wanted it. Exactly. And you were willing to do that then.

Exactly. They made me work for it. And same thing with college. I had to go to college. If I didn't go to college, I couldn't continue acting. And you were on a hit show during college, right? I was under Grassi. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was a hit show in Canada. So you're acting, I mean, you're a working actor at that point.

But towards the end. Got it. So I did have like a, I had a full childhood before. I was working in the last two years, but nothing, it didn't come out until after I was. Got it. So you're mostly doing like smaller jobs or just auditioning during that time? Yes, exactly. Got it. Okay. Wow. Did you go to school in Toronto then?

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. University of Toronto or? No, I went to Ryerson University. Okay. I didn't finish. After a while, like I ended up getting so much work and my studying started to suffer

and then my acting started to suffer. I couldn't really do both but at that point i'd proven that i was serious about it and that it was going well and it was i was able to provide for myself yeah i think that's what they were worried about the most is once the checks started coming in they're like okay like okay go do this at first i deferred and i was like i'll go back next semester and then I kept working and I was like hey next year and the next year and it's been 10 now so I don't I don't know if that I'll go back or if I do maybe down the line but yeah for fun yeah what about your mom what's the greatest lesson she taught you mom's greatest lesson love I mean she is such a loving, caring person, and she's always been there for me.

My dad wasn't as supportive. My mom was more supportive, but in the whole work acting thing. But I think it's so important to be surrounded by love as a child and have that feeling. I thought that was normal. And then as I grew up, I saw other friends and people around me that didn't have that feeling. I thought that was normal. And then as I grew up, I saw other friends and people around me that didn't have that support system. And she taught me how to be the person I am and hopefully continue to inspire that love and kindness to other people. In fact, my favorite, I don't know if it's her quote or somebody, she heard it from someone else but she told me this quote that was be nice to all the people on your way up because you'll be seeing them on your way down

so if that shows you what kind of person my mom is she's like tough but real and she's like be good to everyone because everyone around you they help you get to that next phase of your life yeah do you feel like you were good to everyone on your way up to where you are? I tried. Yeah. I definitely have tried. I mean, I'm human. I'm sure I've made a lot of mistakes over my life and my career.

And there's probably people that I've hurt, but never intentionally. Yeah. Never with malice. Hopefully not. Yeah. But yeah. I'm sure you've been great. Did you ever have any big insecurities growing up?

Yeah, of course. I mean, I'm human. I'm a girl. Right. I have probably a million insecurities. I have weird feet. At one point, I cut my hair really short, like your length, essentially. Really?

Yeah. Because my mom told me that she did it when she was younger, and suddenly she realized who her real friends were because a bunch of people thought she didn't look the same and thought she was weird. And then her true friends, the ones that stuck with her at that point, stayed with her for life. And I thought that was really cool, so I did it.

And it was very true. People called me a boy. They said I was ugly. I had to wear dresses so that people would think. You're not a boy. So that they would know that I was a girl. And it was tough, but it was also, it hardened me in a good way. And it made me realize that.

What would you say is the biggest insecurity you've overcome over the last decade in your 20s? Maybe that you were holding on to as a teen going in your 20s, and now you've realized it's not necessary to hold on to anymore. Caring, kind of, but not in the way that you probably think. I mean, I care a lot, but I also care about the right things. confidence that every single person when they're in their teens in their early 20s they they care so much about other people and how they're perceived and what impression they make and I wanted to be perfect I wanted to be good at everything and be a good student and be prettier and skinnier and successful and all these things. And I cared about what people said about me and how they felt about me.

And as I get older, I just realize that other people won't make me happy. It has to be from within me. And I need to keep doing whatever makes me happy. And whoever responds to that, great. Whoever doesn't respond to that, it's fine too. But the less I care about other people's opinions, the better I feel about myself. And the more I do things that make me happy.

Amen to that. I like that one. Yeah. I think I read somewhere that you have watched the movie The Secret. Is that right? No, I read the book. Read the book. Yes.

You read the book. Yes. Who or what has taught you the most about living an abundant life? Was it that book or has it been something else that you've learned along the way about abundance in your life? That book definitely inspired me when I read it. I was in high school when I read it, and it's true. I mean, if you put your mind to something, it's such a powerful thing

that you can really achieve anything you want. And if you put that energy out there whatever energy you put out there it usually comes back to you so i believe so much in energy work and just being around people that are positive and sort of like cutting out people that are not positive in your life and once i decided i i read the book and realized that i'd sort of been living like that anyway like that whole that fiery yeah that I'd sort of been living like that anyway. Like that whole, that fiery. Affirmed it, yeah. Yeah, that fiery determined sort of like, I don't have this, so how do I get it?

By doing X, Y, and Z. Right. So why not just do X, Y, and Z? Yeah. And I just already had that mentality. But once I saw it in writing and read the book, I was like, wow, this is what I do. And it's working. So just keep doing it.

Just figure it out and keep following your dreams and keep not taking no for an answer i really am kind of people in my my closest friends and my mom and my closest confidence always say that i'm very determined and very stubborn and pushy and that it could be a good thing and it can be a bad thing like it definitely gets me what i want what i want and need and I'm very vocal about things and blunt, but you sort of have to be that way. You have to be your own,

your own agent, your own advocate, and your own, you have to go for what you want in life. Absolutely. Did you always see yourself being a star in shows

and movies and things like that when you were a teenager, or what was the dream for you? No, not at all. I mean, I wasn't one of those kids that knew I wanted

to be an actor. I don't think. I just sort of wanted to keep doing things that made me, like, that were fun, basically. Yeah, yeah. Anything that was fun. And like I said earlier, my parents would just throw me, probably because I had too much energy. And they didn't know what to do with me. They would just throw me in all these community classes.

They tried me out with ballet and tap and jazz and all these things. And I knew that I loved to perform and loved to dance and do things with my body. And I was a gymnast for a while. I don't think it was until I went to a performing arts high school where I did theater and dance more seriously. That's when I really fell in love with acting. But even before that, actually, no, even before that, my mom tells me this story about when we were in some train in Europe or something, and she'd fallen asleep on the train, I think.

And when she woke up, I wasn't next to her anymore. So she walked down to the other side of the train and saw me, and I was talking to a stranger. And when she got to him, she realized that I'd told him a different name I was I had an English accent and I was I'd made up this whole backstory and and I was lying to him basically and I loved doing that I loved going places and talking to strangers and making up fake stories and just sort of seeing if they'll believe me and how far I could take it before they realized that it wasn't true and so I guess that's subconsciously before I even knew that I wanted to be an actor,

that I wanted to be an actor. I was creating characters. Why do you love that, creating characters? I love being other people and trying to figure out their mindset and what makes them tick and why they do things and their backstory. Just creating a backstory and becoming a different person is so interesting to me. That's why, even though, like I told you that I had to go to college, that was one of the requirements for my parents.

That's why I took psychology and sociology, because I wanted to understand people and how they tick better. Wow. When the show happened, Vampire Diaries, when that happened, was that something that you were expecting? Or was it more like, wow, this unexpectedly happened and I'm really shocked and surprised? The success of it? Yeah, I think getting the role.

And then the success of it. I've actually never watched it, but I remember hearing it. What? How dare you? I'm leaving right now. This is unacceptable. You're not exactly demographic. I remember hearing about everyone raving about

this big show. When you landed it, did you know it was going to be this big hit? At the time, it was the pilot to get. Twilight had just come out. We probably wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for Twilight. It was a massive success.

At the same time, we also didn't know if it would really take off. Because when you have something like Twilight, you're like, wait, is it oversaturated? True Blood was out on the air as well. And that was a big hit too, right? That was a huge hit. So we were the third one, I think, in line. So I was like, well, is there too much vampire stuff? Is it going to bomb?

We didn't want it to. We obviously wanted it to do well, but we didn't know. And so it was a gamble in many ways. And when it started to take off, what was it like for you, getting all the recognition and the acknowledgments and opportunities? Did you feel like you were ready for that? It was a blessing in disguise, I think, because we filmed in Atlanta. We weren't.

You weren't in L.A. or? Weren't in L.A. We'd get invited to all these big award shows and parties and things. We weren't. You weren't in L.A. or? Weren't in L.A. We'd get out, we'd be invited to all these big award shows and parties and things. Couldn't go. And we were filming,

we were working. We were in another state and I remember being bummed that I couldn't go to this or that or whatever it might be. But I think it was best that I didn't

because I got to keep being a professional and keep working and not be distracted by parties and events and things like that. It was all about the work. And I didn't have the opportunity, not that I want it, I definitely don't want it, but I wasn't going out to clubs

and doing that whole thing that young actors on successful TV shows do. Right. That end up sort of spiraling them into a bad direction or in a bad crowd. When I did come to L.A., I would meet people like Julianne, or I would meet the good eggs and the bad eggs, but then I could recognize that. Sure.

And then whenever the bad eggs would text me to hang out, I'd be like, oh, I'm sorry, I'm in Atlanta, I can't. Maybe next time. And then eventually they'd go away. So I'll know next time I text you if you respond to me or not no if I say I'm in Atlanta

then you know that I'm avoiding you exactly that's not true I really was in Atlanta for six years so even some good people that I did want to hang out

with I couldn't but yeah exactly now when you had I feel like the sun is coming out look at this it's getting brighter

and brighter it's getting brighter and brighter the rain is going away the cleansing I love this transition. Transformation is unfolding in front of our eyes. When you were in the success of the show, six seasons, is that right? I left after six seasons, but the show continued on for eight.

Went on for eight. It wasn't fulfilling your creativity anymore. It was great. It was just that I'd been doing it for six years. If you do anything for six years, you just want to be challenged in different ways. And like I told you earlier, I was creating different characters as a kid and wanting to be different people all the time. So that's what this is for me. Yeah, you were bored with one person. I actually played four characters on the show.

So to be in that situation, I was very lucky, and I loved the characters that I played. I loved the people I worked with. But I wanted to play more characters, and I wanted to tell more stories. And I have ambitions to produce and write and basically take over the world. So I knew I had to move on eventually. And it was just about... Moving on. Yeah. So this was a couple years ago, right? Right before 27 or at 27? I think it was right, yeah. Yeah. So this was a couple years ago, right? Yes. Right before 27 or at 27? I think it was right before 27, yeah.

Now, when you left the show, did you imagine that all these big movie opportunities and other TV shows were going to open up to you? Or what was your expectation leaving? And what actually happened based on your expectation? My hope was to do more movies and tell stories and keep doing that. And luckily, it's been going really well.

The hard work has been paying off. And I've been working a lot, and it's been great. But of course, there was that period after I left, when you're used to working every day, all day, for six years. And I took a couple months off to myself to travel and sort of press the reset button and refresh button. But then I got antsy really quick.

I was like, I've got to do this. And the weird part was, I remember reading this horrible article where they were like, Nina Dobrev, where is she now? I was like, what do you mean? It's been like four months. Or no, maybe it was a year later. Yeah, it was a year later. And I'd shot three movies. I'd done Triple X. I think Triple X, Flatliners, and like something else. Maybe an indie movie. Yeah, Crash Pad, an indie movie. And then the article came out and they were like, Minidobu, where

is she now? And then I realized that, yeah, it's true. Like for two years, essentially, nobody had seen me on camera when they were used to seeing me. Yeah, I was making the movies, but they hadn't come out yet. So they basically thought that I'd died. And then now things have started to come out and I'm still shooting stuff. But, yeah, it is weird to think that. So the opportunities are coming. It's not like a lack of opportunities for things you want to do.

No, but it is hard. It is hard when people see you as one character and you're known for something. It's hard to change that perception. Yeah. I don't know if you know Jenna Ushkowitz. Yeah. She was on Glee. I love Jenna, yeah.

And she came on about a year and a half or two years after the show was over. And it sounds similar story. It was like a huge hit. She's working every single day. It was one of the biggest shows on TV at the time. Huge, yeah. Huge. And then she was talking about the struggle,

having this identity and this character and then being challenging to get into rooms and to get auditions. It's like... Yeah. And she kind of struggled a lot to get opportunities. But you haven't found that to be the case? No, I mean, it's...

No, that's not true. To say that I didn't struggle is absolutely, I'd be lying to myself and to everyone around me. If I told you how many vampire movies and werewolf movies I'd been offered after, there wasn't a lack of opportunity, but it wasn't the opportunities that I wanted. It wasn't the path that I wanted to go in.

For the huge movies and the Christopher Nolans of the world and Steven Spielbergs, those are the rooms I want to get into. And those are the rooms that are hard to get into because people know me as Elena Gilbert. Right now, if I were to go on the street and try to make up a fake story, no, when I was a kid, nobody knew who I was. So I could tell a stranger that my name was Gertrude and that I was English and from the countryside and make up this big story. But it's harder for me to do that now when people know who you are.

Right. They see you as one thing. Yeah. It's hard for them to see you as anything else. Yeah. Even if you play the other characters well. Yeah. And so it's been a struggle in that way, but it's been an uphill battle. Yeah. characters well yeah and so so it's been a struggle in that way but it's been an uphill battle yeah and bit by bit the more work i do and the more i diversify that go into auditions and fight for it and it's been working but it's it took a while to get to this point yeah of course and a lot of

things are born from frustration in my opinion so that sort of time's up like time exactly like time's up and that feeling of not being able to get into a room because somebody thought i was just the girl from that show frustrated me and that's why i started producing and writing my own stuff and creating the characters that i want to play If somebody else can't see me as that or won't give me that chance to prove that I can be this person, I'm just going to make it myself. I'll show you that I can make it. So you're making a lot of more short films or mini-series? I went into Funny or Die and I pitched them an idea I had for a sketch

because I was so frustrated with Trump and the political climate and came up with this idea about a wife coach. How does his wife stand next to him and do that interview that she did and defend him when he's seen on camera and heard on camera saying these things? How do you defend that? But somehow she does.

So I was like, there's got to be a person behind the scenes that's coaching her through how to not break and how to support him. So I was like, what if I became this, like, Russian wife coach that coaches all the wives to men who need their wives to stay in line? And so. I watched it this morning. It's really funny. It's very funny. Yeah.

But, yeah, so, like, I made that. And I want to do more comedy, for example. And for the longest time, people were like, oh, no, she was on a serious, like, vampire show. She can't. She's really funny. Yeah, it's very funny. Yeah, but yeah, so like I made that and I want to do more comedy, for example. And for the longest time people were like, oh no, she was on a serious vampire show. She can't, she's not funny. I was like, okay, well, let me show you. Let's create these new characters and step outside the box and be seen in a different light and as a different character and put a wig on me, age me, make me ugly, wear no makeup, I'll do whatever it takes. This is what I love and I want to follow it through.

So are you writing the whole thing? It's your ideas? Do you bring a partner in and help writing? In that case, I didn't write it, no. A team of female writers on the Funnier Dice staff wrote that sketch. I was part of the approval. I picked JJ, who's also a female director, to direct it. And I've been creatively involved in, like from the pitch to every phase of the process,

including the editing process. And now it's out. Now it's out. It came out yesterday, today? Yeah, this morning. It came out this morning. But it also, that's just one thing. I mean, I have a couple of other,

I'm producing a couple of films. It hasn't been announced yet. Sure, sure. That's great but you're constantly working on things you want to do if you're not getting in the rooms or getting the opportunities

that you want I mean now I'm getting in the room but it took a while yeah and I wrote my first movie the whole thing yep complete

120 pages yeah that you would star in essentially it's like a movie for you or more producing initially I wrote it as a vehicle for myself yes

but I might want to I might want to direct it I might want to wow we'll see what happens Like a movie for you or more producing? Initially, I wrote it as a vehicle for myself, yes. But I might want to direct it. I might want to. We'll see what happens. But I'm very proud of it. So would you say that you enjoy more being the character telling the story or directing the stories and just having stories out there? I think just the story is the most important thing. I mean, you can't.

It doesn't matter how. For example, that's how I choose my roles. Like I don't, if you have a great director but you have a bad story, it's not going to work. If your character is amazing in a movie that has an okay story and a great director, it's also not going to work. Like it always comes down, you have to have like the trifecta of the story director and the role. And to be honest with you, I always knew that I wanted to produce and direct and enter that phase of my career. But it wasn't until the last few years when, A, I had more time on my hands. When you're shooting 22 episodes a year for an hour long for 10 months, it's like all you want to do is go to bed at the end of the night. You don't have time to like put your head in. Get some pizza and ice cream and sleep.

Yeah, exactly. So now that I have more time to do that, I didn't realize how fulfilling it is and how fun it is to be part of the behind-the-scenes process. Also maybe because it's new. Maybe because it's something that I haven't done until now. It just feels like the world's my oyster and I can create anything with anyone.

And it is a different kind of joy that I get. Different type of creativity too. Different muscle that I get to exercise. You said this, I think it was the Harper's Bazaar article, you said, the things I want to do aren't necessarily the things that are expected of me. I don't know if you remember saying that. I do remember saying that. Okay.

What is the thing you want to do next? I think in that regard, we were talking about the movies and the roles. Like the things that come to me aren't necessarily the things that I want to do. Like I don't, more often than not, I turn down movies and have to go into the room and fight for the ones that I really, really want. But what do I want to do next? I want to direct next. Yeah. I want to continue producing and continue traveling. What's the story that hasn't been told that you want to tell? Oh my gosh, there's so many. There's so many stories that haven't been told that

need to be told. I mean, I think we could make a movie about Time's Up. Yeah. This movement that's happening right now. Yeah. I want to do an Audrey Hepburn biopic. I've always wanted to do that. Has she always said that you look like her or what?

I mean, I'd be very flattered if somebody said that I look like her. She's my idol. I love her. Yeah. What is it about women? Why do so many women love her? What is it about her that? Because she's the epitome of class, and she's funny, she doesn't take herself seriously,

she's self-deprecating, she's beautiful, she's sophisticated, she's timeless. There's just something about her. She's the woman that I aspire to be. Yeah. Do you feel like you're those things yet? I'm trying every day to become that. What do you think is holding you back from being that or being the woman you want to be? Oh, goodness. I think I've been a girl

for a long time. I think when I became 27, that's when everything started to shift for me. That's when I started to realize, have you heard of this? There's like a thing about 27 that up until 27, you can be the best, the top of your class, and you can be an overachiever. But as soon as you hit 27, nobody really cares anymore. And you're like, just like everybody else. And so you going above and beyond is normal. Like everybody's going above and beyond. There's a reality check in a way.

And time starts to become apparent. And it really became apparent for me. I started to realize that I've achieved a lot, but I've also haven't fulfilled my potential. And there's so many things I want to do. I want to do the things that we discussed, producing and directing and realize my power and realize that I can do that and it took me so long to to realize that I could be in that position I could direct something I could produce something people will take me seriously and then the other phase was family, honestly. I think the only thing stopping me from becoming a woman is being with my family more and making them more of a priority.

I was never a person who wanted to have, I didn't think when I was younger that I wanted to have kids or get married or any of that kind of stuff. And as I get older, I know that that is something that is important to me. I'm not there yet. Yeah, yeah. Before this becomes a thing and people are like, she's getting married and having babies. No.

I used to, the way you felt about Maverick, where you're like, I love playing with her, but I love giving her back to you. I used to feel the same with kids. And now, now I just like, I understand that that's what the next phase is. And that, now I just like, I understand that that's what the next phase is. And that's what it's about. And caring for something now that I have a dog and I care for her more than I care about myself. That feeling feels is so much better than anything else.

Yeah. I think I've been selfish up until this point and now it's time to be selfless going forward into the next chapter. So you think that'll be, that's the thing that's holding you back from getting to the person you want to be is being more selfless or? Yeah. Maybe just being more, yeah, being more selfless and my priorities shifting. And I think they are in the process of shifting right now. Yeah. That's great. Into something that's bigger than I am. Sure. What's the greatest piece of advice you've heard from maybe someone you've looked up to, another actor, another director, or someone in this space, the Hollywood space, who's had a great career?

Doesn't matter, male, female, doesn't matter. But they just gave you a piece of advice or one sentence they said to you, maybe when you were just starting out or yesterday, where you were like, you know what? That is a really good piece of advice about how to sustain your career or how to stay fulfilled through the height of it all because you've had a ton of attention, millions of followers.

Has anyone given you something good, valuable? I read an interview with Meryl Streep where she said her best advice for actors was when in doubt, take Fountain. The actual road? The street. If you're not in doubt, take Fountain. National Road? The street. If you're not in L.A., you wouldn't understand that. You won't know what that means. I've taken Fountain many times.

There's so much traffic in L.A. That is really some great advice. That's a good piece of advice. But no, I... That's funny. I think that stopping to really appreciate everything that you have and not just trying to get to the next thing and planning, like, I've got to do this and this and this and this and this,

and then I'll be happy. Because everybody does that. You think you need to have certain things to achieve greatness, and then you keep going day by day, and then you miss those little things that are actually what the reason we're here yeah and i somebody told me that at the very beginning to sort of celebrate the little successes along the way and i really do think that's important. And I do try to sort of stop and... Breathe.

Breathe and appreciate the many amazing things that I have in my life and the great amazing people that I have in my life and make traveling a priority so that it's not... This world, this industry is amazing, but it's not the only thing I live for. I don't sit at home and just wait for the phone to ring.

I'm usually jumping off of a plane and the phone's ringing in my pocket. And then when I land, I'm like, oh, my agent called. It's so important to have other things going on and be fulfilled in other ways. And that has kept me sane-ish. Yeah, sure. Because we're all kind of crazy.

Exactly. Yeah. What's the thing you're most proud of that you've done that most people don't know about you? You've got a big hit star with all these shows and movies and directing.

You've done all these things, campaigns. You've done with brands. But what's something maybe smaller or maybe something you haven't really shared? Oh, gosh. That you're really proud of that you did or that you do on a consistent basis?

We talked about the, when I went to Africa and built the school, that was a pretty life-changing experience. Yeah. I was really proud of that because I feel like I really, we, it was a group of us, so I didn't do it on my own.

Sure. We hopefully changed some lives and brought clean water to a community that didn't have it. And as much as I feel like we affected their lives, they also affected my life. Seeing those kids who had nothing but smiled bigger than I did, and having everything here in North America, and seeing the little things that made them happy, made me appreciate.

And I did that when I was 17. Wow. So that experience of traveling and experiencing another culture and another part of the world, I can't stress how important it is for kids to get out of their little bubble and see other worlds and other people's lives.

And it really puts things into perspective. Yeah. What's the most meaningful thing in your life right now? The most meaningful thing in my life right now, I mean, I can't not say Maverick. She's... She's a baby. She's my kid.

Yeah, exactly. She's my kid. Yeah. But also my friendships. Yeah. My friendships. You've got some great friends, yeah. Yeah.

I've seen you guys interact, all your friends, so... Yeah. It's fun to watch. Yeah, I mean, you went to the wedding. Yeah, so. Yeah. It's fun to watch. Yeah, I mean, you went to the wedding. Yeah, it was great. It's such a, like, I mean, that's their life. That's Julianne and Brooks' entire existence. And I feel like we all, Aaron and Lauren are the same.

And just, like, being in that sort of bubble of happiness, positivity, and joy, like that, just being there, you could feel the love. It was palpable. The energy was in the air. And celebrating love is so... It's great. It's fun. Addictive in a way.

We've got a couple questions left for you. What's a question you wish more people would ask you, but they never ask? I could tell you a question I wish people wouldn't ask. Hopefully I haven't asked it. That one. I think I might be moving to New York soon. I love New York. Yeah.

It's so good. I lived there for a year and a half. It's such a magical experience. I've never spent more than five to seven days there. It's hard to leave. I had somebody actually ask me when, I told them I wanted to live there and they said, how long have you been there? And I said five to seven days. And they're like, oh, that's why

you love it so much because you don't really know it yet. And it's true. It's a tough city. Nah, you love it. You thrive. You're a go-getter. Yeah. You would love it. I wish there was more conversations that were meaningful and thoughtful and not industry-driven all the time.

And I want to be challenged and cultivated by different sort of opinions and perspectives, and that's why I'm looking forward to going to New York. Yeah, it'll be fun. And meeting lots of random people and having interesting conversations with strangers. You're going to love it. You'll get so many good character ideas, development ideas too. Yes, exactly. This is a question called the three truths that we ask everyone at the end.

Imagine that it's the last day for you. You know, you're a hundred and something years old and you've achieved everything you want. Every vision, goal, dream, it's all come true. Every movie you wanted to direct, act in, create, giving back, whatever, the family, everything has happened. But for whatever reason, all the content and material put out there has been erased. So no one can watch it anymore. So you've achieved it all, but no one has access to watch it. Now everyone's there. It's your last day.

You're peaceful. You had a great life. And it's about to be over, right? They're all there celebrating you. And they say, we don't have access to anything that you've shared. All your content is gone. Your films, TV, everything you've done. But here's a piece of paper and a pen.

And we want you to write down three truths. The three things that you know to be true about everything you've learned. All your experiences that you would pass on to us. Wow. Three lessons or three truths, and this is all people would have to remember you by, except for their own memory, but no other content. What would you say are your three truths?

I find it to be true that laughter is the only cure for sadness and hard times and that if you surround yourself around people that will keep you laughing and keep you in good spirits then really everything else can disappear and you can have nothing but if you have family and laughter that you'll be set and good and you'll get through whatever tough time that you're about to experience or have experienced yeah because i've been there and it just all it's taken is a phone call and a breakdown and a conversation with somebody that i love that i know supports me to to get me back up that was one yes laughter love laughter to get me back up.

That's one. That was one. Yes, laughter. Love it. Laughter. Second truth. It's kind of similar because it's about the people around you. I find it to be true that

if you surround yourself with people that will tell you the things you don't want to hear, you will have a better life. So if you surround yourself around people who won't kiss your ass, won't compliment you all the time, like I want somebody, like I want to walk out into a room and be like, hey, what do you think about this hat? And for them to say, it's fugly, take it off. And I do. My friends are like that. My family's like that. My mom is my worst critic. She can be brutal.

I remember in high school I got into a fight with one of my girlfriends. And she explained to her what the situation was. I was crying. And my mom said, well, okay. But think about it from her perspective. This is what you did. And maybe you shouldn't have done that. And I was like, mom, why are you not defending me?

And she was like, because you're not right. You're wrong. And having her explain that to me and realize that was so important. And you need to be kept in check. Everyone needs to be kept in check. And you find your people that will keep you honest. Support you but also keep you honest. Yeah. That's great.

Yeah. That's number two. And the third truth. The last thing that they'd be remembering you by. Sorry. You said you wanted people to challenge you with questions and yeah no i love it i love it i just want it to be meaningful because it's uh i'm sure it will be i want it to it's important if you're going to be remembered you want to be remembered and and celebrated and you want this message to continue on. I'm torn between two things. One of them is the ability to forgive and let go.

Both for me to forgive and let go and to be able to actually apologize to someone if you've done them wrong. That's another thing I've learned as I've gotten older, not to hold on to grudges and to realize that there's no point in holding on to things. You'll be hurting yourself. Yeah. Maybe it's communication.

Maybe if I want people to remember one last thing, it's something that took me a very long time to figure out, and that's to talk. Yeah. And be honest about if something's wrong, if you're not feeling good, if you feel like someone hurt you, just talk to them about it. Get it out of the way, and they will hopefully do something about it, and you'll feel better about it. Because if there's something you did, hopefully people don't do things intentionally to hurt each other. But once, but if you're made aware of an issue, then you can do something about it. And so I think it's so important to tell people how you feel and communicate

because a lot of the problems in the world could be solved if we just talk to each other in a nice way and expressed our feelings. Yeah, absolutely. Those are good. Now, before I ask the final question, I want to take a moment to acknowledge you, Nina, for your incredible heart, for your giving nature, for your commitment to helping other women,

to rise up, to be aware, and to continue to push the limits. You left something that was very popular, successful, making a lot of money to go do something that was more fulfilling for you. And to be an inspiration to so many young women in the world and men to show them what's possible for themselves. So I acknowledge you for your incredible giving nature, your curiosity, your playfulness, your desire to live in service. I think you have such a big platform that you wanting to give back more now is a powerful example. So I want to acknowledge you for all that.

Thank you. Of course, of course. Yeah, I mean, we do have huge platforms, and it is important to try to inspire people to use it for good. And by the way, while we're on the topic, I would like to acknowledge you. You are doing incredible things and spreading powerful messages. Thank you. Excuse me very much. I want to tell you, over the holidays, I was in the airport,

and I was walking through to buy gum or something, and I saw these two books. Both of them? Yes, both of them next to each other. New York Times bestsellers, mister. You're killing it. Thank you. I literally was like, wait, I know that guy. Wait, that's my friend.

I did acrobatic yoga with that guy. Is it? And then I wasn't sure. I was like, am I crazy? And I took a picture and I sent it to Brooks. And he was like, yep, same dude had you suspended in midair. Like, that's so crazy. Yeah.

So. Thank you. So I am very proud of you and acknowledge all the great things that you're doing for the world. Thank you. I don't know if you know about this book. This is about men opening up and healing the stuff, the trauma from the past that men have faced that make them so guarded, that make them so hurtful towards people, other men, women, and the society in general. It's all about men forgiving themselves, healing the inner pain, communicating better. That's exactly what I was going to say.

I feel like it's a communication thing. Yeah, absolutely. Like we talked about before. I think that if men were able to express themselves, I feel like there's so much. It's like a catch-22 because men are supposed to be like strong and never show fear or sadness or cry and men aren't supposed

to be vulnerable apparently. But that's when egos get in the way and that's when they get sort of like pigeonholed and sort of put into a box and they feel like stuck.

And that's... Trapped. Trapped, exactly. That's how I trapped my whole life until I started to be aware of it and started to like do all this stuff and be vulnerable and not try to be perfect all the life until I started to be aware of it and start to like go stuff and be vulnerable and not try to be perfect all the time not trying to win and

everything not to be right at everything because in some ways the the desire to win and be right at everything it worked I got results but my inner world was constantly suffering and I did not communicate without anger or frustration or resentment. Because being vulnerable is like less than a girl. If you're like a jock athlete, you couldn't be vulnerable. Well, that's the perception that you can't be vulnerable. Right, right, exactly. But it's so important. Absolutely.

The whole masculinity and sort of like tough guy thing is very dated. Yeah. And the paradigms are shifting. And I think it's great. I think there's great things happening this year. And I think the 2018 is going to be such a powerful, amazing, positive sort of like paradigm shifting year.

And I, I, I wish all good things to the universe and to everyone in it. And I think it's going to, things are happening this year. Absolutely. We've been cleansed during this. I want to make sure people follow you.

It's just at Nina. On Instagram. On Instagram and Facebook. On Twitter, it's at Nina Dobrev, as well as on Facebook, I believe it's at Nina Dobrev, too. So make sure you guys follow Nina. Take a screenshot of this that you're listening or watching. Tag Nina on Instagram. Let her know what you're thinking about this.

Send her a message on Twitter. I'm not sure what you check the most, but send her some love and share this with your friends. And then share love with all of your friends and everyone around you as well. Absolutely. Absolutely. You just came out with a new video that came out on Funny or Die, so we'll have it linked up on the show notes as well. So you guys can watch that. Make sure to share that out. Send some love out with that. Anything else that they should be aware of to be following or supporting Time's Up, check out the website. Be a part of that movement. Please.

Anything else? Movies that you have coming out that you're allowed to talk about yet? Yeah. I mean, I have three coming out next year. So go watch all of them. Support them all in theaters. Please. Yeah. Dog Days is one of them. Okay. Lucky Day is another one. That one I'm really proud of, actually. Oh,. Dog Days is one of them. Okay. A Lucky Day is another one. That one I'm really proud of, actually. Oh, I should have said that.

Damn it. When you asked me earlier what I was really proud of, people might not know about. They'll know now. They're still listening. Okay, yeah? Okay. So I speak French.

We talked about it a little bit. But it's like a broken, weird French slang from my brothers and sisters that I just picked up as I was growing up. And this year, I was given the opportunity to play a French character. Wow. So I speak French in a film. That's why I cut my hair really short with the bangs.

I spoke French in it. And then when I speak English, it's with a French accent. Wow. And it was probably the hardest thing that I've had to do. Because it's one thing to have a conversation with someone in French in person. It's another thing to do on camera knowing that it's going to be on screens and people are going to be watching it and judging it.

People in France are going to be watching it. So I still don't know if the people in France will be satisfied with my performance but I've never been more serious and more engaged and more passionate about having put work and time into something. It was the most method

I think I've been so far on a roll. You went Jim Carrey on a song. Not quite Jim Carrey. Did you watch that documentary? How incredible was it? What was weird was that I thought he was crazy at times and it was like a lot. But at the same time

as much as I thought he was crazy I could also understand him because I'd just done the movie. I watched it right after I finished shooting my film. So I also was like, oh, I can relate. You do sort of need to embody and be this person when it's so far from who you really are. Otherwise it's not going to feel real. You can't just turn it on when you're in the scene.

Act. No. I've done tons of movies, and especially with comedy, it's so much easier to just jump in and out and be laughing in between the takes and then just, as soon as they call action, you just focus. But on this film, because I had to think about my performance, I was playing an older woman. I had a nine-year-old child in the film.

I had to speak another language. I had to think about the accent and the words and the intention behind what I was playing an older woman. I had a nine-year-old child in the film. I had to speak another language. I had to think about the accent and the words and the intention behind what I was saying and doing. That took up so much of my brainpower and so much of my energy that I had to stay in it. I wasn't the fun-go-lucky person on set. I wasn't chatting with people in between

the takes. The script was in my lap and I was looking down and nothing else was going on around me. I would not allow anything to penetrate. It was the first time I didn't bring my phone to the set at all. I left it in the hotel or in my trailer. And it was so fulfilling. I haven't

seen the movie. Don't know if it's going to be good. I really hope it is. But yes, I did that. Dog Days. Dog Days, Lucky Day. Lucky Day, yeah. And Departures also comes out next year. All these come out this year, 2018 Day. Lucky Day, yeah. And Departures also comes out next year. All these come out this year, 2018? I think so, yeah.

Wow. Yeah. They should. Go to the movies, support it, share out the trailers when they come out. We'll link up

all the stuff as well. Final question for you is what's your definition of greatness? In a French accent. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah. Okay.

My definition of greatness is to have a collection of great moments. One great moment in that moment, if you continue it on, if all of them are something you are proud of, then you will achieve greatness and you will look back in your life and remember all the good things that have happened in your life how's that accent perfect improv and scary thank you so much appreciate it and there you have it my friends thank you again so much for being a part of this experience with the one and only Nina. I'm super pumped about this episode. Make sure to share with your friends. Take a screenshot on your phone

while you're listening to this. Post it up on your Instagram page, on your Instagram story, and tag me at Lewis Howes and at Nina to let her know what you thought about this. I'm sure she'd love to hear the love and the thoughts about this interview. Share it on your page on Twitter as well. And the full show notes and video interview is at lewishouse.com slash five, eight, nine. And remember, John Wooden said this, that talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man given. Be grateful. Conceit is self given, be careful. You were born for greatness. You have so much potential inside of you

and one of the biggest things that you need to let go of is your fear of looking good. Your fear of what other people are going to think about you when you take action on your dreams. Pursue them with your whole heart. Allow yourself to have fun in the pursuit of your dreams so that you can flow in the process. You're going to fail. You're going to make mistakes. Be aware of this, understand this, and realize that's the only way you're going to get one step closer towards the life of your dreams. I love you so very much. And you know what time it is.

It's time to go out there and do something great. Outro Music