Kat Harlton
Carina Battrick is an eight-year old child actress from Toronto, Canada. A natural born entertainer, Carina’s passion for acting and entertaining an audience has been evident from a very young age. By the age of two, she would perform little plays with her older sister and started dancing before she was even walking. To date, Carina already has an impressive resumé having been cast in several major film and television productions.
Carina is starring as Little Sarah in Oscar nominated actor Viggo Mortensen’s highly anticipated directorial debut “Falling“, about a conservative father who moves from his rural farm to live with his gay son’s family in Los Angeles. The feature is making its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.
We had the opportunity to chat with Carina about working with Viggo Mortensen, her role, and the type project she’d like to work on next
Kat: You star in Oscar nominated actor Viggo Mortensen’s highly anticipated directorial debut Falling set to screen at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival this September. What was the most challenging part for you to film?
Carina: The most challenging aspect of playing was the fact that I could not read the majority of the script because it was adult oriented. My mom had to explain a lot of the story to me in her own words.
Kat: What was it like working with Viggo Mortensen?
Carina: Working with Viggo was almost surreal. I have not personally watched his movies since they are mostly for adults but I saw him at the Oscars in 2019 when he was nominated for an Oscar for Green Book. When I saw him at the recall audition I was starstruck and super excited. He has a really amazing voice that is really calming. He is very patient as director and really helps you do your best on set. I think the fact that Viggo is an amazing actor so he understands what it is like to be on the other side of the lens. He is much more patient than other directors and is very clear about what he wants to see in the scene. He also doesn’t treat you any different just because you are a child actor. He sees you as an actor who wants to deliver the best performance from a director’s perspective.
Kat: Did you find any similarities with your character (Little Sarah)? How did you prepare for your role?
Carina: Little Sarah’s character is not really like me. Sara has one older brother and I don’t have any brothers. She also lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Sarah’s relationship with her dad is not an easy one so I had to imagine what that would feel like to have a dad like that in real life, as he is very different from my own father.
Kat: Do you have any role models or people that inspire you?
Carina: Real people-Audrey Hepburn. She was able to become an amazing actress and fashion icon because she never gave up even though she was told that she would never make it. She pursued her dreams through all the adversities she faced. Fictional Character- Hermione Granger. I am a middle child. My older sister is two years older then me so naturally I would get to watch shows that the bigger kids would watch. I think the first time I watched Harry Potter was when I really wanted to be an actress. I was really fascinated with all the special effects in the movie and how the movie was made. I really wanted to be part of all that wonder. After watching the movie Hermione Granger became my idol. I love all magical things and I couldn’t believe how smart, kind and powerful she was
Kat: What type of project would you like to do next? or what would your ideal role be?
Carina: There are two roles I would really like to tackle for different reasons. Kids comedy because I am a jokester and I love to make people laugh. I love watching movies where kids get themselves in real funny predicaments. Second one would be the opposite. I would really like to portray a serious Sci-Fi Movie where a little girl has special powers that can save the earth from a major disaster. I love to pretend that I have special powers and it would be real cool to do it in a movie.
Kat: What are some of your hobbies outside of acting?
Carina: Dancing, swimming and spending time with my family are among my favourite things to do. I am a competitive dancer so it is a big part of my life. In the summer I love to swim but summers are so short in Canada. I do try to swim as much as I can in the two months of summer we have here. Usually in the summer we go to the beach but this year due to Covid we couldn’t go. I have two sisters who are also my best friends so we do everything together. We love to play pretend and dance.
For more on Carina, visit: https://www.imdb.com