Currently starring on TNT’s "Falling Skies," while voicing on the Legend of Korra, while finding the time to pursue music, Seychelle Gabriel is accomplished beyond her years. She is just 21-years-old and is as cool and collected as can be. We chatted with Seychelle and this is what we discovered:
What is the best part about working on "Falling Skies?"
The people, definitely the cast. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered that energy of people before. Everyone’s really supportive of each other and very unique at the same time. I play Lourdes who's almost 20-years-old now, coming into the third season and before the whole alien attack, she was a pre-med student up in Boston. She came from Mexico, where her family was. She was a regular girl that got kinda swept up in this whole thing, lost her family in the process and had to start from scratch and found her place. And supporting the second mass, which is their group, medically and is kind of second in command. In the first season, my character also had a big spirituality about her, which is really cool…she kinda represented a different kind of motivation and hope.
What else do you like to do aside from acting? I like to sing, play guitar and harmonica. I am pursuing music but no official band yet. I’m kind of all over the place, I like a lot of stuff. My favorite though is blues. I consider Bonnie Rait to be a god…that kind of voice and sound, I don’t know…makes my heart bleed or something, it’s awesome…and I’m stealing that line from a song [laughs].
What is your dream role? If they ever re-made Almost Famous, Kate Hudson.
What is your dream talent? (Super hero traits allowed) If I could...it’s kinda lame but I wish I could speak every single language...I could go anywhere and just have the homies all around me.
What is your favorite show on the air now, aside from your own? I would say….probably Treme on HBO. That or Breaking Bad.
Any upcoming roles or projects you can dish about? Season 3 of "Falling Skies," Season 2 of the "Legend of Korra." I’m also working on a music project. That’s all that’s coming along.
Current fashion trends you like? I’ve never been super in tune with that but I like the whole long skirt thing coming in. It’s in a lot of trendy stores now...it comes up high-waisted and goes down with a slim fit. You can wear it with anything…even a camisole or a corset-looking thing...I wear a lot of long skirts.
You’re a California native. Would you ever care to leave? Yeah, I think I’ll always end up here no doubt, but I wanna move down to New Orleans for a little bit. I’ve lived a little bit, little bouts in different like in Canada but I wouldn’t mind living out of the country for a longer time, maybe for a year.
What about New Orleans do you like? The music, I love when you can sit outside. I love having a balcony wherever I am. Listening to a city is so indicative of what that place is about. You can always sit outside and hear a horn down the street, or see people dancing, you can see people who are drunk, I don’t know! It’s so full of really cool sounds and people. It’s just unlike any other place, I guess. And the music’s dope [laughs]. It feels like you go back in time.
iPod? I lost my iPod right now, but on my iPhone and new CDs, I really like this guy, Michael Kiwanuka, he’s British. Really pretty voice, old soulful kind of sound…he reminds me of Elvis Costello but really young. Gil Scott-Heron “best of” CD, it was kind of a trip. Really intelligent, and enlightening and it’s like monologues and opinions and stuff, it’s really cool.
I’m kind of getting into electronic music too. I went to this music festival in Spain called Primavera Sound and I like SBTRKT. I saw them at Coachella too, but at this one, I was standing next to the speaker and the bass was vibrating my whole body—I am really getting into that too. I’m starting to really, really dig it and kind of let it envelop me.
Photographer: Vince Trupsin Hair/Makeup: Diana Lomelin
Interviewed by Michelle Chang