GGA Interview: VERONIKA SLOWIKOWSKA

 

Actress Veronkia Slowikowska was born and raised in Barrie, Canada and is now based in Toronto. She has a recurring role in the highly anticipated series What We Do in the Shadows which premieres this month. She’ll play the nerdy and sassy Shanice. Veronika is also a member of the sketch group My Chemical Bromance which will be appearing in the 2019 Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival. 

 

I had a chance to ask Veronika some questions about her upcoming projects and training. She’s a total joy and I’m excited to see what she’s got coming her way!

 

 

Veronika Slowikowska: My first musical was a community theatre production when I was about 12. We travelled around different elementary schools performing. I didn’t get paid but I got to miss two weeks of school. It was awesome. 

 

 

VS: I don’t think there was ever a moment. Since day one I’ve wanted to be a performer. 

 

 

VS: Aw, that IS romantic! He must’ve thought you were funny, that’s a great compliment. Thank you! My Chemical Bromance consists of me and my two best friends. We grew up together and met through community theatre in our tween days. We all moved to Toronto eventually and stayed friends. They are the funniest people I know. I remember thinking, why are we not performing? So we met and wrote. Our first performance ever, we couldn’t stop laughing. Love them both, shoutout Emma and Sam! 

 

 

VS: My Chemical Bromance is character based sketch. We play three teen drama nerds from Barrie, Ontario in Canada who perform “improv” (everything is planned) in front of a live audience. We sing lots, dance lots, and pretend to smoke cigars lots. It’s a wild time.

 

 

VS: I did a bit of improv in my hometown and when I studied at Randolph Academy. I ended up searching for classes a few years later and auditioned for Second City’s Conservatory and got in. That’s where I learned how to write sketch through improv. That was two or three years ago and I haven’t stopped. The Toronto community sucks you in and you get addicted.

 

VS: Improvisation scared me at first. I remember taking a class when I was 16 for the first time and being so self conscious, constantly trying to be funny. The boys in my class were confident, willing to fall on their faces and I would stand there stuck, scared to embarrass myself. It’s hard to “stop thinking” but once you do that’s when the magic happens. But you get through that and you stop caring what people think! 

 

 

VS: For sure! Improv helps me every single day. Meeting people for the first time, on awkward dates, parties! It’s a great skill to have, even for non-performers. I have anxiety and improv saves me a lot. 

 

 

VS; My favourite thing about performing improv and sketch is laughing. Also not being on my phone! 

 

 

VS: Thank you! Oh yes, I was a very big fan. First thing I said to the casting director was “I love the movie and I’m so happy just to be auditioning” 

 

 

VS: In the audition we got to improvise! Also I’m a huge fan of mockumentaries and know the style well. I just finished binging American Vandal Season 2 and couldn’t wait to improvise a “talking head” scene. 

 

 

VS: My characters name is Shanice. She’s an awkward, insecure, sassy, “nerd”. She was a blast to play. 

 

VS: Absolutely! And they got some of the funniest female comedians in the game. 

 

 

VS: We improvised lots! We used the script lots! It was a great set to be on creatively. 

 

 

VS: My Chemical Bromance is in the Toronto Sketch Festival in March! Check out Toronto Sketch Festival’s website for dates. Also I wrote and produced a web series that’s a sister project to My Chemical Bromance, our Independent Production Fund (IPF) trailer is on Facebook and YouTube under A Boy’s Memoir, so check that out!