The play marks Arianda's Broadway debut. In 2010 she starred as Vanda in David Ives’ Venus in Fur, a performance which earned her a Clarence Derwent Award, a Theatre World Award and a Clive Barnes Award. (She also makes an appearance in Woody Allen's new film, "Midnight in Paris.")
| Name: | Nina Arianda |
| Where you were born/where you were raised: | Born in Manhattan. Raised in Clifton, NJ, and Heidelberg, Germany. |
| Special skills: | I'm bilingual. |
| Something you're REALLY bad at: | Math |
| First Broadway show you ever saw: | Les Miserables |
| If you could go back in time and catch any show, what would it be? | Uta Hagen in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
| Recent show, other than your own, you have been recommending to friends: | Good People |
| Favorite contemporary plays: | Too many to list, but off the top of my head: The Big Funk, Fool for Love, The Clean House, The Pink Bedroom |
| Favorite classic plays: | Just to name a few: Romeo and Juliet, The Importance of Being Earnest, Hamlet |
| Some favorite musicals: | Nine, West Side Story, Smokey Joe's Cafe |
| Your personal acting idols: | Maggie Smith, Meryl Streep, Carol Burnett, Elaine Stritch, Glenn Close, Uta Hagen, Helen Mirren, Judi Dench |
| Favorite playwrights of all time: | Shakespeare, William Inge, Tennessee Williams, Oscar Wilde, John Patrick Shanley, Donald Margulies, Stephen Adly Guirgis, David Ives, Sam Shepard, David Lindsay-Abaire, Tom Stoppard, Neil LaBute, Sarah Ruhl
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| Stage or screen star of the past you would most love to have performed with | Uta Hagen, Spencer Tracy and about a zillion more people! |
| MAC or PC? | MAC |
| Most played song on your iPod: | Recently, "Powerful Stuff" by Sean Hayes |
| Last book you read: | "David Copperfield" |
| Must-see TV shows: | "The Good Wife" "Modern Family" "Parks and Recreation" Any British mystery |
| Last good movie you saw: | "Blue Valentine" |
| Some films you consider classics: | "Bicycle Thief" "Noises Off" "To Catch a Thief" "A Streetcar Named Desire" "Umberto D." |
| Performer you would drop everything to go see: | Freddie Mercury. I wish it were still possible. |
| Three favorite cities: | New York, New York, New York! |
| Favorite sports: | Soccer, Darts |
| Favorite or most memorable onstage role as a child/teenager: | Hermia |
| Moment you knew you wanted to perform for a living: | At a poetry recital at age 4 |
| Favorite pre-/post- show meal: | Sushi |
| Favorite liquid refreshment: | Coconut Water |
| Worst job you ever had: | Selling shoes |
| Leading lady roles you've been dying to play: | Kate in Taming of the Shrew Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? May in Fool for Love Lady Percy Woman in The Pink Bedroom |
| Leading man roles you wish you could play: | Hamlet, Stanley Kowalski, Cyrano |
| Career you would want if not a performer: | Opera conductor |
| "I'll never understand why..." | ... some people choose to be unkind. |
| Words of wisdom for aspiring performers? | Give it all you got! |