Kate Nauta - Actress and Guest Performer DIFF 2007

Kate Nauta has been around the world and back.  This model-musician-actress has a mid-Atlantic/Pacific accent, that, but for her astonishing blue eyes, would allow her to blend into any culture.

The Oregon-native may be a self-described “skinny white girl,” but her voice can be as soulful as those of her icons (Sly and the Family Stone, Marvin Gaye, and Roberta Flack).  She’s currently one of the faces of Oliver People’s eyewear, and her photograph alone persuaded Luc Besson (The Professional, The Fifth Element), well known for taking Mila Jovovich from page to screen, to cast her as a lingerie-clad assassin in Transporter 2.  Despite portraying a stone killer with a rabbit tattooed on the inside of her thigh, Nauta is more drawn to praying than preying, and her faith has brought the twenty-four year-old to the cusp of multi-disciplinary success.   

Interview:

What did you think when you heard Luc Besson wanted you for a film?

It was like, Luc who?  I’d never opened up a script in my life.  When we met, he said, “you will have a tattoo of a rabbit holding two Uzis on your inner thigh.  You kill people.”  It was too surreal, I thought, this is a blessing.

“The Game Plan” stars The Rock but isn’t an action film?

It’s a comedy, I love it, because I didn’t want to be pigeonholed as an “action chick.” I want to do everything.  I play [The Rock’s] love interest- a complete bitch. It’s a memorable character.

Your music is equally important to you.

That’s my heart, my soul.  It’s what I was doing when I first moved to New York-modeling was just a means of income.  My faith always plays into what I write.  But it’s not Christian music.  It’s secular.  I want to be an influential voice. It’s a great way to serve the body of Christ. I’m thinking of starting a band covering classic artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway- the seventies soul- the ones who taught me to sing.  I have that kind of voice, believe it or not. I can shake the house.  I’m a skinny little white girl- you wouldn’t think this big voice could come out of my body.

So what did your family think when they saw you in “Transporter 2,” running around in lingerie, shooting people?

They’re very open-minded. Did my grandparents see it? Oh, yea.  They all took a trip opening night, about thirty people.  It’s so good to have a supportive family.

Your faith-is that something you’ve been able to maintain even while modeling, traveling and living in Europe and elsewhere?

Not always.  I started modeling when I was 15 and moved to New York fresh out of high school.  I was 19 and that world definitely sucked me in. I had to go through that experience to realize this is who I am.  You learn from your mistakes and move on.  I feel like I know my foundation and I’m very stable.