When we watch our favorite TV shows and movies, there are many people who come together in front of and behind the camera to bring a story to life. Some people hold roles which gives, us additional insight into the time, dedication and care that is involved for our programs!
This month, we caught up Tetiana Gaidar a choreographer and actress who has been in Amazon's FreeVee BOSCH: Legacy as well as Netflix's Day Shift. But she is also known as a tactical trainer due to her martial arts work. She worked with Keanu Reeves (The Devil’s Advocate, The Matrix, 47 Ronin) to prepare him for John Wick: Chapter 4 as well as a number of Hollywood's top talent! We wanted to know how she got into the industry, how she combines the talents that she has acquired along the way, the community in the industry and upcoming projects we should keep an eye out for.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you realize that you wanted to be in the arts and wanted to be an entertainer?
TETIANA GAIDAR: When I was 10 years old, I saw X-Files with David Duchovny (Twin Peaks, The Estate, You People)! My first instinct was, “oh my God, I love David Duchovny, I want to marry him and I want to be an FBI agent!” Ha! I think that I didn’t really think that I would be an artist or an actress. I was inspired to be a spy. To become an actress and to act and turn it into a career, this happened when I saw John Wick with Keanu Reeves and I saw how beautiful the action was and the choreography and it looked so mesmerizing. I thought that by being a spy I would have that action and life, but he was doing that up on the screen with himself! So I thought, “wow, ok well, maybe that’s a career for me and maybe I can just do that in the movies and can portray those characters like assassins and my family would be a lot happier with that.
AM: In prep for this interview, your background is amazing from acting, dancing, choreography, professionally training in Kung Fu - how did you embrace all of these skills?
TG: I think that I just honestly, I don’t think about it. I go with one skill at a time and I try to be really good at it and then I go for the next skill and the next one. I’m just so hungry for it because I love it so much. It’s so inspiring to be able to do those things and I never thought about how I embrace them! I just love learning and growing!
AM: Clearly you do! You started as a ballerina in the Ukraine and due to your training, you found yourself being a choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance Ukraine. What was that experience like for you and how long did you do that?
TG: When I was a little girl, my mom, she dreamed of me becoming a ballerina because that was her dream. So she said, “well I always dreamed to dance, but why don’t you become a ballerina?” I kind of rejected the idea of doing it as a career. Dancing and ballet really came into my life because my boyfriend died and I was 18 and it became a beautiful therapy that I was able to tell so many stories through dance. So You Think You Can Dance, because I was dancing so much as a therapy, I was coming from a very poor family and we didn’t have money for a therapist. So to go through a trauma like that, I was dancing day and night like seriously, 24 hours a day learning choreography and training myself. I was so into that so things were happening around me so fast and people were noticing my talent and pulling me on the show to assist and then I auditioned myself and was on the show. Everything was happening so fast and we’re talking about a time frame of 6 months, such a super fast process. I think it happened because I was so focused on healing myself through dance that I wasn’t paying attention about the things that were happening around me as I was advancing in dance and booking jobs. It was the storytelling that was so inspiring to me and it was mesmerizing and so healing – that’s what I was drawn to. To me, it didn’t matter if it was So You Think You Can Dance or a dance studio. To me, the story that I get to tell through this dance is what matters. I think that that’s why things happened so fast in my life and in my career because I wasn’t orienting myself in terms of planning to get on a show. I just loved the process, what could I say more about the story, could I dance more?
AM: At what point did you get your first acting gig? Was it after being on the show?
TG: The first acting gig, it was actually a short film music video with Max Barskih, a Ukranian singer who has is very famous. He has actually been at war this year as he was fighting and I am very proud of him. He’s very recognized in Europe and in Russia. He actually has some music videos in English. So his first project for an American audience was called Dance and it was about zombies and it was dancing, acting and it was like a short film basically, but still very musical. It was my first acting experience playing a zombie wife and choreographing a dance like a zombie and I fell in love with that. I thought, “wow, this is awesome!” I get a chance to choreograph for his music video, to dance in it and to act, “I’m like, ok – I love it!”
AM: Yeah! It’s a nice trifecta!
TG: Then it was so funny because my first acting experience, was playing a zombie in Ukraine – a hot girl that becomes a zombie and dances! When I moved to LA, my first breakthrough was participating in Day Shift directed by JJ Perry (Iron Man, Machette Kills, Gangster Squad) starring Jamie Foxx (Ray, White House Down, Spider Man: No Way Home), Dave Franco (21 Jump Street, Now You See Me, If Beale Street Could Talk), Meagan Good (Eve’s Bayou, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Harlem) and Snoop Dogg (Training Day, Soul Plane, Pitch Perfect 2) and I was a zombie in this one too! So that was interesting!
AM: So how did you start incorporating Kung Fu into this ecosystem?
TG: Kung Fu came way before dance. My mom wanted me to be a ballerina. I told my mom that I wanted to be a spy, I didn’t want to do ballet and I was learning English from subtitles and I was going to marry David Duchovny and dancers don’t make money. So my mom was like, if you want to be a badass, then you’re going to go to martial arts school. She literally dragged me into the first martial arts school on the way home and they had Kung Fu, karate, jiu jitsu and other kinds of disciplines. That day there was a Kung Fu class and my mom asked if she could sign me up. I saw the swords, how they were fighting and dancing and I felt that that was so cool and it was like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So I was in and that’s where my journey in Kung Fu started way back in school. My parents were very strict and my said that if I didn’t win the competition that she wouldn’t go home with me and there were a couple of times when I lost competitions that my mom would just leave me there and I would find my own way home. My parents are very strict and I appreciate it so much and I appreciate the journey through Kung Fu because it gave me the core inside of my heart to be a good person and I think martial arts is very beneficial for everyone to do because it is a very good discipline to have inside of you for who you are, to stay loyal to yourself and to have good qualities in this life. I’m very thankful for my mom to do that.
AM: It seems like your mom put you on such a great path for you to acquire all of these skill sets that you have and that you can use them interchangeably.
TG: She did and my dad too! My dad and my mom, they’re both scientists. My entire family does physics! Everybody in my generation, even right now, my sister and brother – they’re scientists. I’m the only one that is loving the arts and acting.
AM: You’ll have that!
TG: I did! Even when I saw my mom and dad recently a few weeks ago in Poland, because I just rescued them from Ukraine. My mom said, “why didn’t you tell me that you wanted to be an actress when you were in school? I would have put you in theater. You always wanted to be a spy and an agent, I don’t understand how you are doing this now! How did this happen?” I told her I didn’t know it just happened because I was inspired by Keanu and John Wick – it truly did. I’m thankful that my mom put me in dance and Kung Fu and my dad gave me the freedom to choose who I want to be and I think that that is very important.
AM: I’m a huge fan of BOSCH and I had the pleasure of interviewing Titus Welliver (Deadwood, Lost, Sons of Anarchy) a few weeks prior to the premier of the spinoff, BOSCH: Legacy last year.
TG: Oh!
AM: Yes, loved it. We remember watching the series and loved it. You were this badass that had us holding our breath in those episodes! When you hit the screen you had my attention. What was it like for you to be on that show, to have that role that embodies the assassin/spy and to showcase all of those skills together?
TG: It was absolutely a dream come true! We were on set for John Wick 4 later on and I told Keanu that I had just came from shooting BOSCH: Legacy and I told him that he inspired me to be an actress and now I’m working with him because I was training him on weapon manipulation.
The BOSCH team gave me such creative freedom to show the character in the way that I saw it and the way that I wanted to play it. The entire BOSCH family was so nice. You have no idea, it felt like family. Everyone loved each other, the energy on set was unbelievable and we were working crazy hours like all night and then havng a 5am call time. Everyone was positive and Titus was just a sweetheart. He is one of the nicest people and an incredible human being and very talented. It was such an honor to play scenes with him. It was an absolutely fun night shooting each other, going after each other like cat and mouse. I was so proud of him because he actually wrote those episodes!
AM: I wasn’t aware!
TG: Yeah it was his first writing and it were those scenes that I was in. He did an incredible job. In post-production, they didn’t have anything that they needed to change or edit. I had the best time in my life and it was a dream that came true that you didn’t even believe that you were in it until a year after that it actually happened to me! It inspires me to keep going and I hope it inspires other people to keep going for their dreams as one day it can happen to you.
Keanu was like, “wait, I inspire you?” He got so shy and he was so cute and humble. He couldn’t believe it. I told him that I had just done BOSCH: Legacy and he knew what that was. I mean BOSCH is such a famous show and loved by people because of the people who are actually making the show – the creator, producers, Titus, everyone puts their hearts in the show and that’s what makes it so successful.
AM: We're fans of the franchise and can’t wait for future seasons as well as spin-offs, but seeing you in those episodes from last season, you had such a presence and love programs that have assassins and spies.
So being able to work with Keanu for John Wick 4, you and your fiancé worked with him for his tactile training. What was that like?
TG: For me, it was surreal, that was the person who inspired me to be an actress and here I am helping Taran to train Keanu. I was very honored and at the same time, I felt very at ease because Keanu is one of the most humble people that I have ever met. Recently, I also worked with Cameron Diaz (Charlie’s Angels, Vanilla Sky, Gangs of New York) another example of humble people that you can work with. They make you feel relaxed, they are so into you and what you do. They are not into themselves.
Keanu was into training, being better, listening and he is such a sweetheart. It’s so true what people say about him. He’s very focused and I didn’t even feel like I was working with him. I am working with one of the biggest actors in the world and it didn’t feel like that. It felt like I was working with a friend that was very interested in becoming better and I found him inspiring. It’s great when you meet people like that to be honest with you.
AM: You’re a trainer at Taran Tactical. What is this and what do you do as a trainer?
TG: I help Taran get actors prepared for their action films and we work with some of the biggest people out there. I feel very grateful but when I am out there doing my job and the people we work with make it feel like a friendly relationship. I love helping them and knowing that I have the skills to help them to where they want to be.
AM: In your role with Keanu, did you help him prior to him going on set to prepare him for his role or were you on site to tweak things as filming was taking place?
TG: On set, they have armors who will help them there. All the training for the films are done prior to shooting. So when you’re on set, the moment happens when you’re filming and so you’re not thinking about training anymore. Keanu has a le git and incredible reputation for being the actor who actually puts in 100% into his training before. So it’s like on BOSCH, same for me, all my prep and training was done before filming so that when you’re on set, you have this beautiful space to create and do the choices that you feel you need to do for the character. For Keanu, when he was on set, he was able to make the choices that he felt was right for his character in the moment.
AM: Amazing, it’s always interesting to see what is involved behind the camera and in many cases, before you’re coming to set to shoot. You have worked with so many people from Kevin Hart (Little Fockers, Jumanji franchise, Night School), Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, The Many Saints of Newark, American Gigolo) and Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse, The Newsroom, Six) to name a few. You must be busy meeting those schedules.
TG: Very busy!
AM: I heard that pause!
TG: Yes! It’s sometimes nice to have that break because it just gets too busy sometimes with things happening all the time.
AM: As someone who is in great shape, we always like knowing what are 3 workouts that you do that we should think about incorporating into our own practices as we prepare for the spring and the summer.
TG: I honestly know that from my own life experience, workouts are great, but your diet is the priority always! You have to figure out your diet first and what works for your body. But workouts that I love and that I personally suggest is to stretch everyday 10-20 minutes, every morning or afternoon – whenever you have time. For me, it’s mornings because I have the most time and I feel like I have accomplished something if I have worked out for 20 minutes in the morning. I like an ab exercise because that's in our core. Abs and stretch for me! My third workout is my stunt, but it’s not for everybody! I would highly suggest to do 20 minutes every morning before you eat. Warm up your body, stretch a little bit and do your abs and then you’ll see your body start to have this beautiful definition.
AM: Do you have any projects that we should keep an eye out for?
TG: I did my first short film, my own. I was very inspired last year after BOSCH so I decided to learn how to produce, how to find the right people, getting the ideas – everything and I am very happy about it. It’s in post-production right now and it should be done in a week or two. It’s close to being done and hopefully we will get to go through some of the short film festivals so it’s very exciting and we’re looking forward to releasing it publicly. I showed some pieces to Cameron and some other friends of mine and they love it! I’ve learned so much and I have also learned about how much work it is to produce and shoot your films. It’s not easy and there are so many things involved. It’s not just about having the right idea, script and actress. It’s about finding the right producers, negotiations, locations – so many things.
PHOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 90, 95, 9LIST STORI3S PG 139 + 140 Josh Ryan | PG 92, 96, 99, 101 + 9LIST STORI3S PG 140 Images courtesy of Tetiana Gaidar | 9LIST STORI3S PG 140 Tony Duran |
Read the MAR ISSUE #87 of Athleisure Mag and see PATH TO SET | Tetiana Gaidar in mag.
