Maika Monroe
I'm a huge fan of the first 'Independence Day.' It is amazing. When it came out in 1995, just how explosive and big it was... I loved it.Collection: Independence
I went from living in the Dominican Republic - every day, my mom and I would cook, or we'd go hang out with the kids - to flying a private jet to Chicago with Zac Efron and Dennis Quaid. People had champagne, and they were going to these amazing restaurants. It was a culture shock. It's important, I think, to have that. To see both sides.Collection: Amazing
I'm lucky because I remember my dad showing me 'Independence Day,' and I loved it.Collection: Independence
Acting is such a crazy industry, but kite boarding keeps me grounded.
When I was living in the Dominican Republic, the local kids became a part of my family.
I'm working on a movie called 'Labor Day' with Kate Winslet while still balancing kite boarding. Being an actress and an athlete is a challenge, but I'm excited to see what happens.
With kiting, you have to land a trick, and in that instant you know whether you won or lost - I knew I could become the best in the world if I trained. But with acting, there are different variations; there's not a right or wrong way. It's so hard because it's so out of your hands. I have no idea what's going to happen!
I started kite boarding when I was 13. My dad was a kite boarder, and I begged him to teach me until he finally agreed. He made me wait because it can be dangerous.
My goal is to continue to act and still be a professional kiteboarder.
I've seen so many scripts, and I want to do everything. Like with kiteboarding, you have to be fearless. I'm not scared.
'The Shining' scares me so much.
I don't look at myself as a Scream Queen, and I don't plan on continuing on this genre route. If anything, I want to go very different places.
My dad took me to see James Brown live, and that's so cool, cause I don't think many people my age can say they saw James Brown. I'm pretty proud of that. That's the thing about me that no one really knows. I had to have been 6 or 7, but I remember it vividly.
I love James Brown, and as a baby, I was always dancing to James Brown.
I grew up with horror. My dad loves movies, and he passed a lot of them on to me. There's something so fun about them.
'The Shining,' 'A Nightmare on Elm Street,' 'Halloween.' Those are the greats.
To be honest, you don't get the full picture when you read a script.
When you watch a film, a huge part of it is the music and the coloring and everything that comes together to create such a unique film. So, reading the script, I had no idea what it was gonna be.
I enjoy roles that are quite physical.
If I met Jack Nicholson, I would probably get a little flustered. Not going to lie. I've watched his movies since I was so young. Such a fan.
I'd really love to work with Quentin Tarantino. There's so many people that I'd love to work with, but there's something about Quentin, and one of my all-time favorite films is 'Kill Bill.' Something along those lines would be such a blast.
I love horror movies. It's so fun being absolutely terrified. It's damn hard to shoot, though. I didn't realize how difficult it was to make a horror movie as an actor. Physically and mentally, phew.
It's really cool to be able to do both. I get a chance to be in this film with these amazing actors, the coolest people ever, and I try to kiteboard as much in my free time as I can.
SOLOSHOT is such a brilliant idea and an athlete's dream. It has given me the ability to film myself training without anyone's help - it's perfect because I can go to the beach, set up my SOLOSHOT, and not have to rely on anyone to stand there and film me from the beach for hours.
I grew up watching horror movies with my dad. For as long as I can remember. I grew up loving being terrified. 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' at sleepovers. Hiding behind my fingers.
It fell into my lap. I grew up doing dance classes. And one day, a film production company contacted my dance school looking for background dancers. I wasn't looking for it. It just happened. And I found myself on set. And that was that.
I fell in love with the whole process of making a movie. I loved the sets. I loved watching the actors and the crew.
I have my own past and my own personality. I'm going to relate to the material in a completely different way than somebody else might.
When I'm filming, it's in the contract - 'No kiteboarding' - ha ha.
I've cracked my head open before; I've had some great injuries. So I have to do it on the side now. I cracked my head open kiting before a competition in New Caledonia. The water was shallow, and I missed a trick and hit my head on a rock.
Horror movies can be - I don't wanna say not real, but so over-the-top: you can get scared 'cos things are loud and in-your-face, but these are real emotions that I'm using.
Before acting took off, I was a professional kiteboarder training for the world circuit; with a sporting activity, you have to be determined, and it taught me to have a thick skin, which came in use after going to so many auditions and being told 'no.'
I have to say, working with Dan Stevens in 'The Guest' and seeing his transformation was incredible. Also Kate Winslet. Off set, she's loud and sweary, but when she walks on set, she has this calmness and is so centred.
I guess becoming an adult and learning how to survive on your own is exciting.
My dad showed me loads of films when I was young, but I never thought I would be in movies. That didn't seem like a real job to me.
I remember reading 'The Guest' and thinking, 'This is going to be something!'
I have a rule now that I can only watch a movie twice. By the third time I was watching 'The Guest,' I was hating everything about it, but the first time, I loved it. The first time you watch it, you watch it as a whole. And the second time, I think you can learn a lot. By the third time, you are just picking everything apart.
I think it's really good to get the adrenaline pumping.
Do stuff that scares you on a regular basis. I think it's good for the body and for the mind.
To this day, I haven't seen 'Jaws.' Because I was always in the ocean, when I was a kid, my mom said, 'See the movies that you want to, but I'm telling you, do not ever see Jaws.'
I think it's good to conquer the fears.
I grew up such a horror fan, it's kinda cool being named 'Scream Queen.' I like that.
I've never experienced complete terror, knock on wood, or running for my life or any of that.
There are a lot of times where, filming 'It Follows,' I'm fighting against a guy dressed in a green suit for special effects, and I'm just like, 'No. There's no way this is going to be pulled off.'
Signing up for 'It Follows,' I didn't have any idea it was going to turn out the way it did, but seeing it, the music and the feel of it definitely was pretty amazing, getting that kind of throwback feel to classic horror movies.
My dad taught me to kiteboard when I was 13, and around the same time, I happened to just fall into being an extra on a set and fell in love with acting and making movies.
At about 17, I decided I wanted to take kiteboarding seriously and compete, so my agents were like, 'Just keep sending in a few audition tapes anyway, just for good stuff.'
I grew up really loving old-school horror such as 'Halloween' and 'The Birds.'
There is something so fun about scaring yourself.
Cape Town, South Africa, was pretty incredible. That's probably the coolest place I have ever been, and the kiteboarding is insane there. It's so windy, so you can get massive air.