Posted in: Interview, Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: Conejo, Dominique, exclusive, interview, Maurice Compte, Michael S. Ojeda, Oksana Orlan, Sebastián Carvajal

Dominique Star Oksana Orlan on Creating Female Bond/Wick Action Hero

Oskana Orlan (Russian Bride) spoke to Bleeding Cool about her latest Lionsgate action thriller 'Dominique', franchise planning & more.

Oksana Orlan prides herself on being a triple threat with her presence in front of the camera in film, whether it's modeling, acting, or producing. Since her on-screen debut in 2002's Lana's Rain, she's found a creative partner in director Michael S Ojeda. The actress has also appeared in action and sci-fi films like xXx: State of the Union (2005), The Island (2005), Pop Star Puppy (2015), and NCIS: Los Angeles. Orlan and Ojeda also collaborated on the indie action film The Russian Bride (2018). The actress spoke to Bleeding Cool about her Lionsgate action thriller Dominique, how developing the short Rise of the Phoenix (2015) led to the full feature, filming in Columbia, co-stars, and plans to turn the film into a franchise like MGM's James Bond and Lionsgate's John Wick.

Oksana Orlan's Ambitions to Turn Dominique Into a Female James Bond/John Wick

BC: What's the inspiration behind Dominique?

OO: Dominique was inspired and created about six or seven years ago. Michael [S. Ojeda] and I wanted to create this special film action with a female anti-hero. We created a short film in the beginning, a big-budget film, but we couldn't raise the money. We did another film called Russian Bride, which was a small production. How we wanted to approach Dominique was a female version of James Bond or John Wick. That was the idea behind it: to create something special with a combination of a lot of action, heart, and emotions.

What's it like working with Michael as a director and creative partner?

What an incredible director Michael is his vision is so vivid, and unique, and he is creative. He's great at working with actors and collaborating as a writing partner and I trust him 100 percent completely, especially on the set. If he has this vision and something needs to be written, he gets it done because he's that good.

How was filming in Colombia, and did you get a chance to enjoy yourself there? Did you run into any obstacles there?

I love shooting in Colombia, what a great country! It was my first time there. I met lots of great people in the crew and actors. Weather-wise, the climate was tough, because it was raining every two hours. We shot in Bogota, located at a high altitude, so once you come in, you need to take it easy not to do any action or physical fitness so you can acclimate to that level of oxygen the first few days. It's a lush, beautiful landscape, with great food and people. I would do it again in a heartbeat, shooting there. They had a great professional crew, extremely skilled, and pleasure working there.

Can you talk about your costars Jose "Conejo" Martin, Sebastián Carvajal, Alanna De La Rossa, Gustavo Angarita, and Maurice Compte, and what they brought to the production?

That's an incredible combination, and we're truly blessed to have them in this film. It's different stories of how we met and found them. Conejo is a perfect villain, as is a character for this part. In real life, he is such a sweet and awesome guy. Sebastián surprised me with how natural an actor he is in his performance. He is probably one of the top actors I've ever worked with. Maria [del Rosario], what a beautiful and great actress she is! I enjoyed hanging out with her during this.

Whether it's our scenes or off-set, Alana will be a superstar as a young actress. I love working with her. She's so natural, all the Colombians. That's the thing about how natural their skills are. Maurice is an incredible actor, and I'm a big fan. I saw his work and wanted him in this film. It's impossible sometimes to approach the actor or lock the actor in a film, especially on a smaller budget. I met him through a friend, we got introduced, and I approached him about this film. He read the script, loved it, and said, "You know what?! I'm going to give it a shot. I'm going to Colombia with you guys." Every situation was almost mystical, how everything happened and unfolded.

I spoke to Michael earlier, and he told me you had to shoot guerrilla style. I was wondering what the most difficult aspect of production was for you or if there was a difficult scene you had to get through.

Every day was difficult because of the long hours and rain, and I felt [we were] constantly chasing time. My God! I wish we had more time, but I slept probably four hours daily over three weeks and loved every second. The most difficult scene would be the fight with 25 police officers, which was quite challenging, but I was ready. I was prepping that scene for two months ahead of time in Los Angeles with stunt coordinators James Lew and Bill Smith.

I knew that fight, which was so creative and innovative, I couldn't wait to deliver it. I was also going at such a first speed. They were all surprised, "Oh my God! She's fighting so fast," because I already was prepared. Another scene I wasn't expecting to be difficult was the pickup shots in Colombia. We returned a month later, probably 3 or 4 months later, and we did not have a crew. There were a few of us, the DP Jim Orr, who was incredible, Michael (co-star and producer), Jason Gurvitz, and me, that's all the crew [laughs], and we didn't have the luxury to have all this other crew around us.

That was difficult because suddenly, I was alone and didn't have the equipment. I don't have knee or elbow pads, and that was working with bikes. Oh my God! I went along with them, and here I am with all these bruises and scratches. I'm bruised in the pick-up shots. I remember I was crying when I was done that day. It was more like a scream cry because I shaved all my elbows raw. I was running to change, and I was like, "Ahh!!"

Do you have any aspirations to write more?

The sequel is already in rhythm. That's the beginning of the story of Dominique. There is going to be a sequel and a couple more soon. There are a few more projects as well too so that's exciting.

Are there any other genres you hope to do? Do you feel at home just doing action?

I love the whole process of doing action a lot. I do a lot of sci-fi, and it would be something else I'd like to explore, which would be cool.

Dominique is in theaters, digital, and on-demand.

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