From her work in commercials (you may recognize her as the Clean & Clear girl) and the CW teen drama “One Tree Hill” in the early 2000s to her recent roles on Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” and Apple TV+’s “For All Mankind,” Shantel VanSanten has consistently leveled up with roles that challenge and inspire her. Here, she discusses learning the technical side of screen acting—on a crash course trip to Russia, no less—and what made her want to quit “For All Mankind,” the second season of which begins streaming Feb. 19.
“Sometimes it’s a random audition and there’s no context there and you get to create a life and a world for them. That part’s really exciting for me. I love the research aspect of characters and worlds.”
You began your career modeling. What was the moment you decided you wanted to be an actor?
For me, modeling was a way of helping support my family and surviving in between putting myself through college, working at Olive Garden, working the front desk at 24 Hour Fitness and a stock room, and every now and then I’d get to work for JCPenney and appear in the local newspaper as an ad. There was never a world where I wanted to be a model. If I remember being a kid, we have these great home videos. My mom worked for a local news station sometimes and would film things. She had this giant camera she would put on her shoulder and film us as kids. I would put on performances as different characters. My parents would say, “You were always going to be an actress.” I was never exposed to that world where it could be a career. It felt like, this is my escape, this is my happy place. Even when I moved out to L.A., it was like, well, I’m going to try this, and when I run out [of money] that’s when I go home and finish school; that will be a fun chapter of life. And I never moved home.
Are You Ready for Your First Day on Set? What was your first day on a professional set like?
My first day on a true set—I had one line in a Christmas movie [previously]—I booked a movie in Russia, and it was my first lead role [in 2011’s “You and I”]. I remember that they wanted Nikki Reed at the time, because I had never done anything and she had been working. Her schedule fell through and the director fought for me. I was literally a nobody. I got a call and I had 48 hours to pack my bags—I was going to Russia for three months to shoot this independent film. I had been in theater classes and acting classes for years and years; I took them back in Dallas with a woman who used to study under Roy London, I took them in college. Any time my modeling agency had someone coming into town from L.A., I would take their weekend workshop. So I was always studying the craft, but I didn’t study the technical part because I’d never been on set. I remember stepping foot on set my first day and it was myself, Anton Yelchin, and Mischa Barton, and I remember we shot the first scene and everything was very intense and emotional and the director said, “That’s great, you’re there emotionally, that’s wonderful. There's this tape on the floor, don't step over it because you step into their light and you shadow them.” And I was like, “What?” I was just kind of going back to my theater roots and living and breathing in the space and not thinking of the logistics of light or mark or where I had to land. There was a lot that it taught me in those three months. Roland Joffé directed it and was just a wonderful mentor for me, so I feel really fortunate that he had enough patience and grace for me on the technical things that I did not know.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I’m the girl who in school had to study really hard to get good grades. I wasn’t naturally as smart. I was shooting a television show, and during the first season that I was on, [a producer] came up to me and said, “You don’t have to try so hard. You’re so talented.” I didn’t know what that meant. I thought, No, of course I have to try hard, of course I have to fight. How else would I be here? Now that I’ve been living in Los Angeles for a very long time and [have been] in the industry, I would tell myself to do the work and then, the minute I step on set, trust that it’s there. That I’ve laid the foundation and the framework for something to blossom and to just surrender to the process. To trust myself more often than question and sabotage. I would always say to do the work and then let it go.
How do you typically prepare for an audition?
For me, it’s always different, but the one constant thing that I always do is Marcel Proust has this list of 34 questions. The first thing [I’ll] do [is] I'll read the script, I’ll read the sides, and I answer [the questions] with the first thought that comes to mind to build the foundation for a character. Wonderful questions [like], “If you could die and come back as anything, what would it be?” It gets me into a different mindset than my own, into a character, into creating backstories. It helps me get outside of anything that I might project onto a character and instead brings it totally to a different light. I always choose a character to try to be something I’m not, to try to dive into a different part of understanding a human being or a job or lifestyle. Sometimes it’s a random audition and there’s no context there and you get to create a life and a world for them. That part’s really exciting for me. I love the research aspect of characters and worlds.
“Somebody would look at me and think: You could never play this. I always tell my manager I want to prove them wrong.”
What has playing Karen on “For All Mankind” added to your acting skills?
I remember coming off of the show I was on before and telling my manager, “The next role, I want it to challenge me. I want to be scared shitless. I want to not know how to do something and truly come out the other side and feel as though I accomplished it.” I didn’t know going into the role that Ron [D. Moore], our creator, and [co-creators] Matt [Wolpert] and Ben [Nedivi] would do this for Karen, my character, but in the first season, they challenged me beyond what I ever thought I was capable of emotionally. I remember driving to set one day and thinking, I should turn the car around, I can't actually do this. I think I’m going to quit. I’m going to fail. This is too painful, I'm scared. Being able to show up every day for this one week we were shooting this one horrifying part of Karen’s life and come out the other side and have people now who connect with me and share what they’ve gone through that’s so similar to her feels like a grand accomplishment.
How to Know It’s Time to Fire Your Reps, According to This Apple TV+ Star What’s the wildest thing you've ever done to get a role?
I constantly feel as though I’m putting on the boxing gloves ready to fight. Even down to something as visual as [deciding] I’m going to dye my hair for it or I’m going to go and buy all the fake tattoos and I’m going to wear some weird outfit down the street walking into the room and own it. Even to writing letters to the director and pouring my heart out, which may be a little easier than doing that in person. I did that for this one independent film that I was in love with. I remember getting sides once and not having somebody to read with and thinking that I want this, what am I going to do? I’m not in a place where I can film with somebody—I was working at the time. I grabbed my phone and I thought, I’m going to figure out who this character is and I’m going to write a monologue about the scene and submit it because this is how I’m going to fight for this role. I remember getting this wonderful email back from the casting director commending me for doing whatever it took. Ultimately, it went to a much bigger name, but at the end of the day, at least I felt like I put my best effort forward and my hat was thrown into the ring. I would rather that than do nothing.
What is your worst audition horror story?
I remember I was testing for a show, and the president of the network was sitting on this tiny couch across from my little lonely chair. To my left, there’s 14 people sitting in two rows and they all just sit and watch. This is probably 10 years ago. I did this four-page monologue. I nailed it, it was great, I got done and the president of the network talked to me and was like, “You’ll be hearing from us soon, you’re amazing, we all love you.” In my enthusiasm, I stood up and gave him a hug and I decided to give the next person a hug. I proceeded to give 15 people hugs and have to find things to say and it was so awkward by the end. I ran out of things to say, so I was just awkwardly hugging everybody.
How did you first get your SAG-AFTRA card?
I did a Clean & Clear commercial and I became the Clean & Clear girl for two or three years, and it’s how I got to stay afloat and quit my awful first job that I found when I moved to L.A. I’m so fortunate because it got me my SAG card and it allowed me to keep auditioning and creating and paying my ridiculous rent for sharing a mattress pad on a floor with another person.
What's one screen performance every actor should see and why?
Shirley MacLaine in “Terms of Endearment.” I remember being so inspired by [her] and it’s still something that rings true for me having roles lately where I play a mother. I remember loving Charlize Theron because she’s a supermodel, basically, and she completely transformed herself when she did “Monster.” That for me was like, I want to do that. Somebody would look at me and think: You could never play this. I always tell my manager I want to prove them wrong. What do we have to do to completely get rid of everything that’s me and utterly transform people’s minds and prove to them I could play a role that they could never envision just by looking at me? I also think about Viola Davis in “Fences” and the pure, raw vulnerability that I watched and completely lost myself. I lose myself in every one of her performances.
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