ACTRESS DANAY GARCIA TALKS 'SNIPER: ULTIMATE KILL' AND THE REALITY SHE CREATED

Photo by Louis Rodiger

Strength, vulnerability, and commitment are three major themes in the life of dancer turned actress, Danay Garcia. You've seen her in Fear the Walking Dead as Luciana Galvez and as Sofia Lugo in Prison Break. She continues her acting journey as Kate Estrada in the new ​Sniper: Ultimate Kill. She walks in the shoes of a DEA agent who works to capture one man who complicates her operations and security, Colombian  drug kingpin Jesús Morales. On this mission, Kate becomes the target of “The Devil”, a sniper hired by Morales. In the operation, Kate’s team is compromised and she loses nearly every one of her agents. Estrada finds she must be careful who she trusts as she battles for survival.

In an interview with the star, she answered our questions and shared some personal thoughts of enlightenment and inspiration. 

Q&A with DANAY GARCIA

Q. Similar to the norm in Hollywood, Sniper: Ultimate Kill is a male dominated film. How do you ensure the female element stays present within your performance? Is it ever difficult to be vulnerable? How do you overcome that? 
A. One of the things I focus on is finding layers to what makes us women, really. And one of the layers is that we’re very emotional creatures. We feel a lot. We have an intuition that actually helps us save our children; We feel the kids. 

I try to focus on our strength as women. In this case, it’s something that you cannot write, it’s something that you act in. That’s what I focused on: on bringing that sensibility on that moment. 

Q. Is it ever difficult to be vulnerable?
A. It’s part of living and I sort of look at if from a strength perspective. I think being vulnerable makes us stronger. It’s a way to kind of understand what we’re doing and how important it is. 

There’s a beautiful quote that says, “Fears are not here to scare us, they’re here to let us know that something is important.” Even fear is important!

Q. There’s a bar scene where you are surrounded by two men. One of them being persistent and disrespectful. Kate handled it with style and great physicality. Have you ever been in a similar situation? How did you handle it? 
A. I’ve never been in that situation, but if I had been I would've handled [it] exactly how Kate did it [she laughs].

Q. Not only did you star in the film Loca, you also  produced it. Is working behind the scenes something you’d like to tap into a little more? Perhaps as director one day? 
A. Yes, I actually just finished. I wrote my first short film. It's actually a 30 minute short film. I co-directed it and I produced it. And I loved it! I didn't act in it because I wanted to be behind the scenes. I loved every second of it. It was wonderful. It was amazing and that’s something I really want to develop with time. 

Q. What did you love most about playing Kate?  
A. I love her determination. She never took no for an answer. It was impossible for her to quit. She was so determined to overcome this huge task and finding ways to do it and failing at it too... The way she handled it,  the way she overcomes it, and the way she won was inspiring to me.

Q. What would you say are female key elements in staying true to yourself in the industry and/or in your everyday life? 
A. You should do what you love to do…. I think it’s important to focus on the things that make you feel that you’re evolving. 

I think what really has helped me stay grounded and focused is that, number one I have a beautiful family that I love and support and support me back, and number two  is that I really feel that I’m never working. I feel that I’m always having the best fun. 

Years go by and I’m living this dream [she laughs]. It’s like a dream, it doesn't seem normal or real, but it is real and it’s the reality I created. 

Q. Aside from your job, what do you do for fun and relaxation? 
A. I love to read. I’m into reading. I read a lot. I read like a book a week. Sometimes two. I love to dance. I go to ballet class when I’m not killing or shooting something [she giggles] when I'm on set. I love to work out. I love hiking. I love nature. I try to do camping with my son. It's really relaxing to just disconnect and traveling is a for sure thing.

Q. What projects are in the near future for Danay Garcia? 
A. This movie called Loca that I produced and it’s coming out next year.

The cast is with Steven Bauer, Emilio Rivera, Lou Diamond Phillips and Danny Trejo, and other artists. Great, great, great cast that we have and the movie's outstanding. We shot it in L.A.

And the short film that I wrote and co-produced that is right now in post-production. I shot this movie in Mexico and I hired Mexican cast and locals and it was an incredible story, and a great experience that I really wanna repeat. 

Q. If you could change one thing about the film/tv industry, what would it be and why? 
A. We’re getting so many great opportunities in television and movies. I just want it to keep happening more than anything.

Sniper: Ultimate Kill is out on Blu-ray and Digital on October 3rd.

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by Jessica G. Ferrer
www.JessicaGFerrer.com