Tania Gunadi

By Ryan in Actors and Actresses on Jul 28, 2009

Tania Gunadi is a budding young actress best known for playing "Emma" on the Disney show; "Aaron Stone." Tania moved to the United States from Indonesia when she was 16 and soon discovered her passion for acting. Since then Tania has appeared in various films and TV shows. To learn more about Tania, check out her MySpace.

You’re the star of Disney’s series, "Aaron Stone"…how did you get that opportunity and where did it come about?

Well, we’re filming Season Two right now, but when I got it, it was two years ago. So I auditioned for it and then the casting director liked it…I went to the second casting director, then I got a callback; went to the Disney Channel in L.A. and met the executives and the head casting director there. Then I got another callback to meet with the President of Disney and I did a screen test with Kelly Blatz, the guy who plays in Aaron Stone. So, we did a screen test and then that evening, like three hours later, they called and said, "You got it!" I was gonna die, I was so happy. It’s really a dream come true. I don’t know if you can relate, but it’s like for actors, "ahh!" – because usually you have to wait like for a week or two. Technically, they have about three months to tell you if you book or not…three hours was like ahh!! It’s also awesome because then I don’t have to be crazy and ‘oh my, please call, please call!’

Tell us a little about your character Emma?

It’s pretty cool because I kind of lead a double life; during the day, I go to school and I’m in Charlie’s band. (Charlie is Aaron Stone) I play the drums, I play video games, hang out, normal teenagerthings... but then when I come home, I invent, create, and make upgrades for weapons, really high tech weapons that haven't been invented. They’re really cool, I would invent things like ‘electro depleters’ which can kill all electronics nearby or I have camouflage mode suits that make you disappear.

You have this "techno thing" going?

I’m really bad at that in real life. I was like ‘what’s this thing?’ (laughs) …I would like to be…but I’m so bad at it. I don’t even know how to make my own website.

You immigrated from Indonesia with no prior acting experience, how did you get into acting once you were in the US?

When I was in Indonesia, I knew nothing about acting. I was never exposed to the art world. In Indonesia, I would just go to school, go home, hang out, and play. So, I’ve only learned about acting and understanding what it is since I came to the United States.

How did you get started in acting?

When I first got here [to the states], I only brought $200-300, which i thought was a lot of money. My brother was like: "no, not enough." I learned really quickly that it wasn’t enough money. So, he hooked me up to work at Pizza Hut, but I couldn’t speak English well. So, I was a CSR (Customer Service Representative) to pick up phone orders... I got so many complaints that I was demoted slowly but surely to bathroom cleaner.

However, I took lots of English classes,and I got back up to the CSR position. When I was there, I met a friend who said: "hey, you know you have lots of energy. You should audition for this Disneyland commercial!" I was like, "what? What is an ‘audition?’ I don’t understand… I have never been to Disneyland, no clue, what do you mean?" She was like: "well just come with me. All you need to do is scream and pretend you’re riding a roller coaster" I was like: "ok, I can do that! I don’t have to speak English." Long story short, I booked the part.

When I was at Disneyland, I think there were like 10-12 people in the roller coaster but the four leads got sick after about six times riding. After a total of seventeen times, people kept getting sick one at a time and they were unable to act happy on camera, but I was the only one who was like, "yay!" I had never ridden a roller coaster before and I was like, "Disneyland, it’s so cool!" So the director made me the lead and I was the only one in the front of the roller coaster – they mounted the camera on me. He’s like: "just do what you do and be happy!" So, I was doing that and he ended up giving me two more spots and a commercial.

Two weeks later, I got the paycheck and I was like: "oh my God! This is better than Pizza Hut!" (laughs). So, then I got addicted! I started taking acting classes, and started working on student films. I figured once I get a lead in a student film, I’m going to start looking for agents. Forty student films later, I got the lead and I’m like: "I’m ready now!" So, I got an agent and I’m very happy! It took a while, four or five years, but it’s okay. I’m very patient, it’s good for me!

When you were in Indonesia, what did you dream of doing as a career?

You know, it’s interesting – I think when I was a kid, I also wanted to be a teacher, but when I got to the states I realized that I needed to learn English first. So, I took lots of English classes… then I got into the acting. So, I didn’t get to pursue it, I was carried away with the fun in acting.

However, I would say about two years into acting, I said to myself, ‘ya know, I really want to just give it a shot to be a teacher, just to see.’ My friend said: ‘yeah but that’s impossible, you have to go to school and get a diploma.’ I’m like: ‘I’m sure I can teach something somewhere.’

That week, I don’t know how, but I met this lady named Allah and she was the Principal and owner of a Russian school. She was looking for a Math teacher. I exclaimed: ‘I’m really good in math,’ and so she hired me. It was weird, she only interviewed me for about half an hour. So, I ended up teaching a class, well three classes really – they’re kids from six to ten years old, all Russian kids in Hollywood.

I taught there for a year and then I left because I got so attached and the kids are very attached to me and they wanted me to help them and come to their house. I couldn’t do it and they wanted me to be there forever for them and I was so caught because I had to work and I travel a lot. So, I had to leave them…but I felt really good though. I was able to share with them, at least for a year.

I’m still in touch with about four kids from that school. They have grown really fast! One guy, he was ten at the time, now he’s fourteen – he’s maybe taller than me! His Facebook photo is like- ‘Fred is that you?! Okay, you’re taller than me!’ (laughs). It’s so weird but it’s nice, it was nice.

What was the biggest thing you had to adjust to when you moved to the US?

I wasn’t even going to come to the states. My sister and my brother were already here but my mom told me that they didn't have the money to send me to study in the states. So my mom said: ‘you’re going to stay in Indonesia.’ I had already accepted that, so i said: ‘Sure.’ I’ve never been away in my whole life before then anyway.'

My sister submitted me for a lottery and I won! So my mom said, ‘well if you want, you should go because school is free…we don’t have to pay for a foreign student fee. If you pay a foreign student fee, it’s about $1,000 per unit but if you’re American or a Green Card holder, you pay only about $80 per unit and you can apply for financial aid and I did at the time because my parents’ income was very small. So, I got financial aid and they actually gave me money for books. So my mom was like, ‘you have to go – a better education and all.’

When I first got here [L.A.], it was amazing. People complain and say L.A. is dirty and smoggy and has too much traffic – it’s so not true! Compared to Indonesia, when I first got to the states, I was like: "oh my gosh, this place is so big and clean! There’s no traffic; people are nice. Everybody speaks English and they all sound so beautiful." I was in love.

Growing up in my culture, I feel like my environment always told me there’s only one way: go to school and hopefully get married at twenty and have kids by twenty three – the mindset. There’s nothing wrong with that, I have a couple friends who are married, one is twenty-five and has two kids and it’s awesome, she’s happy! But I think it’s not for me – I love this life right now.

Do you ever visit home?

Yeah! I go once a year.

When Aaron Stone is finished, will you be going back to L.A?

Yes, October 23.

Do you have any projects that you plan to work on in the future?

I just did a short film right before I left in June. So when I get back I’m going to finish the editing and hopefully premiere it, submit to festivals and stuff like that. It’s like my first project! There are three of my friends who have helped me with auditions and with my acting stuff in the last two or three years. The short film I’m basically making and I put them in the cast as a thank-you. Hopefully it turns out well!

You’re exploring other aspects of the film industry with this project with producing, directing, etc.

I didn’t direct this movie – my friend Nelson Cragg did; he’s actually the D.P. [Director of Photography] for CSI and he’s actually going to be the D.P. for a new show called "Flash Forward." I heard it’s going to be really cool! He was kind of doing it [directing] for me as a favor and I’m very happy. I was actually doing the short film to help my friends, so I produced it. I actually loved doing it! I never thought that I would enjoy it and I feel like, "Oh my God, I really want to make another movie!" I always thought I just wanted to act but now I want more. It’s good- it’s all related, growing.

Did you write the script?

My friend who wanted to do some writing wrote it. I actually have four friends and they all wanted to have their short produced and I had to pick one.

Tell us about your charity project.

I have a charity in Indonesia, it’s a small charity. It’s basically my own money and only four people are in it: basically me, my mom, my cousin and my aunt. We only do it once a year – we go to Indonesia; it’s very easy to help villages in Indonesia. I only spend maybe $3,000 or so; sometimes only $500 just to build a well. One well can provide water for 2-3 family members. Each family has 8, 9, 10 kids.

I told my manager in passing, like four years ago, then all of the sudden in the past month, I guess he mentioned it to PR people and they said, ‘well the CNN guys are interested in local charities. I’m like: ‘Am I a local charity? Mine is not recognized.’ It aired July 13.

Adopting the role of a character is much like adopting a child, you bring a new persona into your world and are charged with helping it develop and prosper. Do you find that you develop a fondness for your roles? Does a single role stand out in our mind as special?

I have a couple acting coaches, one of them, Robert Lyons, has taught me what I use for basically every character. I always do is I have a back-story. I always have the story about my character dating back to childhood and going all the way to the age I’m playing. Also, on top of that, for example, the Hallmark movie that I shot in, I had to play a Japanese teenager who was in an internment camp in the 40’s. For that one, I signed up for the Japanese National Museum in L.A. I would go there about four weeks before filming, every day I would watch the videos and I interviewed the survivors. I’d look at all of the clothing and the museum. Then, I’d write my back-story and read the lines accordingly. It helped a lot!

But, for Aaron Stone, because Emma later on becomes Dark Tamara, occasionally the boss will ask me to fight in the field because I am someone who can unarm the laser, so I had to do some martial arts training. I trained for two weeks doing major stage combat…it’s really cool.

I’m not like an awesome kung fu fighter or anything, but this guy, Koichi, is basically the trainer for all these great movies, and he taught us to jump this table and then you’re going to get hit and then roll across the floor and someone will throw you a stick and then you’re going to jump to this sofa and do this thing and I was like, "Oh my gosh!" Two weeks later we were able to do it. Basically its physical training as well as mind training.

How do you remember your lines? Does it just come natural?

I’m really good at that. I think what it is, is that I always read the script once first. Then I do my back story and while I’m doing the back story I am writing in my back story diary things that happen in the scrip. I’m like, "well, yesterday I had this idea to invent this gadget for Aaron Stone to disappear because the enemy has been getting better and we don’t have any witnesses." So I’ll be writing and think, "oh you know what…remember in training at that high tech facility at hall industry where I had to disconnect these wires and so and so…I think I’m going to do that." So, I’ll keep writing and by the time I come back to the script I kind of really know the lines. I’m a dork.

Well, you’re being creative and expanding on the story.

It takes longer, but I love it. I enjoy doing it. That’s why I like Starbucks and Second Cups.

Sometimes while on set it can be hard to find that zone where Tania ends and the character begins. Some days do you find it easier to step into character?

I do cheat. If the character, like Emma, is high energy, outgoing, sometimes sarcastic, witty…when I’m on set I am kind of like that already, but when I have to do a different role, for example the Japanese internment camp, where my character has a lot of resentment because she is in the camp or if I have a crying scene or things like that that are heavy, then I do not chit chat a lot with the crew…I’m kind and polite but I don’t talk to them…I just hang out in the trailer.

I will say, there’s one thing that I never miss doing, I always do it…it’s from my training with Robert Lyons…when I arrive on set, the first thing I do is always go to the set and I touch everything and feel everything. I touch the cups and the pans and the plates if I’m in a cooking scene. It’s in Philadelphia, so I have to throw garbage in the big trash can thing, and I’ve never done that. Once when I got there, they were running ahead of schedule and I didn’t get a chance to do my regular preparations.

I hadn’t touched everything and gotten familiar with my environment and they said, "Okay let’s rehearse." "Rehearse!?" I was like, "Oh my gosh, I haven’t touched anything yet." When we rehearsed, it was not good. I felt out of place and I said to the director, "can you give me just five minutes before we shoot, just five minutes." He said "okay" and for five minutes in front of like sixty crew members…I didn’t care because at the end of the day they want me to do a good job…so for five minutes I touched all the trash can bins… and it was dirty because it was real trash. I touched the floor, the ground with dirt and puddles of water, and the crew was looking at me thinking "she’s so weird," but guess what, it’s never weird because after like four minutes people are used to you and they’re like, "crazy actor. Whatever." I just do everything and I have no shame, I’m doing my homework…and then I was ready.

As soon as the camera was rolling I felt so comfortable…like I had been doing it everyday. That’s what I do in Aaron Stone too. I sleep in my bed and when I become another character, I hold my guns and ask the expert in weaponry how to hold the guns. I don’t care if people look at you like you’re a crazy person…just give them four or five minutes and they’ll all get used to you.

Do you ever do improv?

"It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is almost all improv. I take classes at Groundlings…it’s an improv school in LA. Lots of people from "Saturday Night Live" take classes there and I took two classes there. I just love improv…I love it, I love it, I love it! I’m so addicted…I can’t wait to take more classes in December when I come back. In "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia," when I got in the make-up chair, the make-up person told me, "well, you know you always have to follow the script" and I was like, "oh okay."

So, when I was on set I was really on the script and right on the money, but the other actors were improving. I wasn’t really responding ‘cause I wasn’t sure if I could go off the script. So, I asked them after the first take, "do you guys want me to improv?" and they were like "Yes!" and I was like "oh my gosh, this is a whole different story." So the next take and over the next five days it was the time of my life. It was the first time where I could improvise based on the script. You have to be on all the time while listening and being comedic.

What advice do you have for young actors who aren’t yet in the industry?

It depends on how young they are, but they have to make sure that they want to be an actor because they want it and they’re going to feel good about being an actor not because the parent wants them to or because of peer pressure. Make sure it comes from the heart. I have a few friends whose parents made them become actors, so they don’t really want to do it.

So, once they know that they want to do it because they have the passion and it’s their dream. My advice would be to go for it and be yourself…don’t try to be somebody else because that’s what happened to me when I first started in my first auditions. They always look for Asian girls with the exotic look with long hair, so I tried to flat iron and use eyeliner and things like that and I never booked anything. Then I realized I’m definitely not Lucy Liu who is awesome and exotic with long hair that’s beautiful. So I said, "You know, I’ve got to market myself as me."

I’m more of the funky type. I wear my hair crazy…I’m more that type. So, when I go to auditions and they say they’re looking for a beautiful, exotic Asian girl, I come in as a funky, crazy girl and sometimes they change the role and I get the part anyway. So, my advice for actors out there who want to do it is to be the best of them and not listen to people who are negative. The best teacher is their own heart.