Fashion model turned Hollywood actress - Suzanna Urszuly was born on Halloween in a small Hungarian town. Her father was from Transylvania and she definitely inherited an immortal beauty. She has successfully turned her hypnotic and seductive gaze from modeling to the big screen. Following in the footsteps of another Hungarian, Bela Lugosi, she is being cast in supporting and lead horror movie roles, as well as other film and TV work. With her very, very, very seductive Hungarian accent, Suzanna phoned in to share with TEN about her career, her passion for animal rescue work and the legend of Dracula.
Suzanna Urszuly- Hi Troy, how are you?
The Entertainment Nexus- I’m doing great, how about you?
SU- I’m doing great! It’s good to hear from you!
TEN- So tell me about your modeling career in Europe.
SU- Well I actually started after I finished high school. I got a contract with Elite models. I went to Austria…to Vienna and that’s where I started modeling. From Vienna I went to Milan, Italy. I lived in Italy for a while and then I lived in Paris for a while. Then I got a contract in Japan which was great! I love Japan. I lived in Tokyo for altogether about a year. I would go on assignment for two months and then I would go home to Hungary for a month and then I went back to Japan so I spent a lot of time there. I loved it because it was just a really nice place. We made really good money and they took really good care of us. They drove us to all of our castings. I loved it there. I worked there for awhile and then I ended up here in Los Angeles. My ex-boyfriend was born and raised here so I basically moved here because of him but then we broke up…but we’re still friends. We broke up and I stayed here and the funny thing…is he’s actually a producer and he moved to Hungary and is making movies over there now. (Laughs) I know, it was a funny switch. I love L.A. and it took me a while to get used to it. My sister is here and she is a makeup artist on a TV show. So it’s been really good because that’s how I got into movies. I started to do commercials here and my commercial agency had a theatrical department and they sent me out on a casting. It was my first audition for a movie and it was for the lead role and I booked it. It turned out to be really good so I got me into acting and ever since…I have been doing it.
TEN- Was that the movie “Bad Girls from Valley High?”
SU- Yes that was the one. That was my very first audition for an acting role.
TEN- You’ve worked with Jason Lee from “My Name Is Earl.” Tell me about that.
SU- I worked on a movie called “Drop Dead Sexy” and I worked with him. I had a couple of scenes with him and it was really fun. He is very easy to work with. He is a very good actor so he gives you a lot while you are working. It was a really fun movie scene that we did together. I’ve been working on several different things. I did a couple of pilots that I’ve shot recently that I am very excited about and I’m hoping that they are going to get picked up. One of them is called: “The Fifth Dimension” and it’s basically about aliens visiting the earth and I’m one of the aliens. I am supposed to be like this really…ya know…pretty girl and the lead character falls in love with me. And then it’s a whole kind of love story. We shot the pilot and it’s looking really good and they are shopping it around. I shot another pilot and that is for Animal Planet. It’s a reality pilot called: “The Rescuers.” I rescue a lot of dogs…I love dogs. I rescue mostly medium to large size dogs and I got a call one day from this girl and her name is Lacey Connor and she has done several different kinds of reality shows.
TEN- Yes! I’ve met her before.
SU- Oh, you’ve met Lacey? Oh, Great!
TEN- I met her at the 2008 Winter NAMM show in Anaheim, CA.
SU- Do you do music as well?
TEN- No, I just love music and I covered the convention that year.
SU- I’m probably the worst singer on the planet so whoever can sing or play music I just love to listen to them.
TEN- What kinds of music do you like?
SU- I like most everything. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it’s not too “Heavy Metal” ya know. I like everything from classical music to hip-hop. I listen to everything and it depends on what mood I’m in. That’s so funny that you know Lacey, I adore Lacey. She’s a very sweet…very honest…great girl. She sent me an e-mail and said; “Hey listen, everybody’s pointing toward you and recommending that I should hire you for my show.” She was looking for three girls basically, including herself that do rescues and are either models or actresses. It would be basically about showing the shelter system and how a rescue works. You know, what it’s about to rescue a dog and what you go through and how sometimes you get really disappointed when you have to let a dog go and a dog gets euthanized. It has good parts to it too…when the dog gets rescued and goes to a new home. Animal Planet is really interested and that is my other passion besides acting…is helping animals, especially dogs.
TEN- What are some of the modeling campaigns that you’ve worked with?
SU- I worked for Prada when I was in Italy. I did a couple of shoots for her and I did a lot of the “fit modeling.” It’s when they basically put the dress together. I was the perfect “size 2” and that’s what she wanted. I worked for several months in a row with her. I worked for Shiseido, the Japanese company. I did a huge campaign for their moisturizer and I also did their lipstick campaign. They had a big poster of me in Japan with my lips on it basically and it was a fun photo shoot. I have done a lot of commercial stuff, ya know bridal catalogs, nail polish…I did some hand modeling. Oh my, who else? I’ve been doing modeling for so long. (Laughs) I’ve been in several different magazines in Paris.
TEN- The movies that you star in tend to be horror movies…
SU- Lately I have been getting a lot of horror movies. My first one was “Timber Falls” I did a scene and I was being tortured which is not an easy scene to do. It’s not necessarily fun. A director, saw me in “Timber Falls” and he hired me for a very similar role in a movie “Stag Night.” So I did that and it was almost the same kind of scene except I was running instead of being tied up. (Laughs) You know, it was all so very emotional…very difficult scenes. It’s always challenging. The producer of those two movies is creating some more movies that are going to be shot in Eastern Europe and they are considering me for some of the parts. They are more like action movies.
TEN- Maybe you can do your own stunts while filming the movie?
SU- Yeah, ya know actually I did a lot of my own stunts…when I fall…when I was running…when I would have to jump off a cliff. It was a big cliff that I had to jump off of and I landed on some soft pillows and stuff. As long as it’s not too hard…I can do it.
TEN- Tell me about your father. He was originally from Transylvania.
SU- Yes, my dad is from Transylvania which is basically part of Romania but the people who live in Transylvania speak Hungarian. It’s more like old Hungarian dialect and it’s really beautiful actually. He is from there and my mom and dad met after somebody introduced them. Basically at first, they didn’t even meet. They started to write letters to each other and they fell in love and then they met and then they ended up getting married. My father moved to Hungary and I was born in Hungary. I’m the third child after a brother and a sister.
TEN- Does Transylvania mean the same in Europe as Americans perceive it to be? You know, we think of Dracula and such.
SU- Yes, it is actually because people think about “Dra-cu-la” when they think about Transylvania. Not the whole story is true but it’s a little bit true. He was very violent and he used to basically drink his enemy’s blood just to show his power. When he killed his enemy, he basically put “Wat-ka” in his glass and then some blood and he drank it. That’s how the whole story started. I think there is a castle where he used to live in Transylvania. I think somebody bought it. I think an American guy bought and they are going to be like a whole “tourist thing” where people can come and visit. I think it’s really cool.
TEN- Now just to clear up everything for our readers, were talking about Vlad, “The Impaler” we’re not talking about your dad right?
SU- NO, not my dad! (Laughs) Although, it sounds pretty good and quite exciting but no…it wasn’t about him. My dad would love that! (Laughs even more)
TEN- How did you meet Victoria Talbot?
SU- Actually someone I know…Nikki Gray…
TEN- I know Nikki. I did an interview with her. (See TEN Interviews 7/09)
SU- Oh great. It’s such a small world. She’s the one who introduced me to Victoria. I was in New York so I called her (Victoria) and I set up a time to meet her. We met for a drink and ended up spending four or five hours setting and drinking wine. That’s how the whole thing started. I told her that I am looking for a PR and it’s been working out really well.
TEN- Victoria knows what to do.
SU- Exactly! And she is shooting a reality show too. I had a part in it and it was fun. I interviewed her in her show…I was the hostess. That was fun.
TEN- So you know Angelica Bridges? I know her too. We did an interview. (See TEN Interviews 9/07)
SU- YES! Oh my God. How amazing is that? You know all these people that I know. I will tell Lacey that I talked to you. Hopefully our show gets picked up and we can do another interview with you. There’s another girl, a third girl who was in the pilot and she was on another reality show.
TEN- What is her name?
SU- She was on that show with Dr. Drew…the sex rehab… Kendra Rossi. She’s very pretty and has long dark hair. She is a very nice girl and she got involved because she rescues mostly small dogs and cats. She’s very, very nice. She’s very beautiful.
TEN- You stay busy all of the time.
SU- Yes, I guess…you kinda have to. (Laughs) I haven’t had a lot of breaks lately…but one day. It’s not so easy, ya know but it’s OK sometimes. I guess the rescue can be tough and very time-consuming. It can be hard but it’s OK. It’s all good. I like to be busy anyway.
TEN- I imagine it can be pretty sad when you rescue an animal and see that it hasn’t been taken care of very well.
SU- I have had a lot of dogs that were abused and neglected and I bought them home to my house and basically housed them to get better. It’s amazing what you can do with time and love and exercise is important and all that for the dogs. They can change completely. It’s very rewarding too because it’s always amazing to find a good home for them. I keep in touch with a lot of the people who have adopted from me. I get really nice e-mails and pictures of the dogs with their families. I love it!
TEN- I think animals love unconditionally and love you no matter who you are or what you do for a living.
SU- I agree. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, it doesn’t matter how you look or what you can do for them…all they care about is hanging out with you and loving you. It’s a beautiful thing!
TEN- I’m going to switch gears on you now. Please tell me something disturbing about yourself that you’ve never revealed before in an interview.
SU- (Long pause) Hmmm…let’s see. I don’t know…something disturbing. I don’t know if this is very disturbing but I am a bit of a “workaholic.” When I start working, I get just really involved and I don’t necessarily have or spend time with my boyfriend or spend enough time with my friends. I’m very single focused. I have a little bit of ADD, so once I’m into something…I give 100 percent and I kinda forget about all of the surroundings. That I would love to change, I wish I could multitask like a lot of people can. I wish I could take a break but I have a hard time taking a break from work or from the rescue. It can be really hard. I can get really overwhelmed and what I really need to learn is how to take breaks, because one day who knows…I’m just gonna have a breakdown if I don’t take a break. I have to take a vacation which I haven’t had in a longtime. Ya know it’s funny that you brought this up because I have never actually told anyone this…only my boyfriend and my sister knows that.
TEN- Well thank you very much for sharing that.
SU- Yes, sure because everybody is like; “Hmmm…that’s interesting. You’re sharing that?” My sister is here and she is like “Hmmm…you’re sharing that?” I guess she didn’t know that I knew that I’m a workaholic. (Laughs)
I want to thank Suzanna for sharing with me and Victoria Talbot for setting up yet another fun interview.
For more information on Suzanna, please visit her Facebook and Myspace pages and for both Suzanna and Victoria Talbot visit www.allabouthype.com
For exclusive photos of Suzanna and Victoria, visit the “Showing Some Love For TEN” gallery.