From Shakespeare to Saturday Night Live
In 2016, Bowe Victoria Schlansker spent a week in Boulder at Shakespeare’s Sprites, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s acting camp for ages 6-9. Last month, she appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” and we had some questions for her and her mom about life as a 7-year-old actor.
We first met Bowe at Shakespeare’s Sprites, where she learned stage combat using pool noodles and performed the role of Helena in a scene from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Bowe’s mom, Angie Nevarez, grew up in Boulder, and “loved going to the Shakespeare Festival every summer.” Angie advises other parents to “Sign up! Sprites is a wonderful way to introduce and inspire a love for the hilarious stories of Shakespeare at a young age.”
The “Saturday Night Live” gig came together very quickly. “Bowe’s agent called at 5am asking her to audition for a ‘wicked little girl.’ Bowe memorized the lines and sent in a self-tape before leaving for school at 7am. They booked her and she was shooting the NEXT day. Things happen fast with SNL!”
Take a look at Bowe in the “My Little Step Children” skit, then check out a Q&A with her below!
How old were you when you started performing?
3 years old when I did my first commercial.
Do you have any favorite roles so far?
Being a Monkey in “Bully No More!” and a Viking in “Yo Vikings!” with the Children’s Acting Academy
What was your favorite part about Shakespeare’s Sprites in 2016?
Playing acting games with the other kids
What would you say to any other kids thinking about doing Sprites?
You might watch the show in the rain-but it’s fun to be outside at night!
That’s right, it rained on us when we went to see the CSF show that year! What was your favorite part about “Saturday Night Live”?
I liked throwing the letters into a real fire! We kept having to do it over and over and there were sooo many people there to make sure it didn’t ‘bite me’. The other best part is the giant snack table where you could have anything!
Were you nervous?
I’m never nervous for anything.
Any fun stories about the project?
In one scene the doll kept falling over for no reason and they kept standing her up and she kept falling over. We were all laughing like crazy!
Is this what you want to do when you grow up, or just something you do for fun?
Being on set is really fun! I want to be a singer when I grow up.
What’s your next acting project?
I just played a ghost for a Netflix movie. The makeup made me look kinda creepy!
Do you have a role you’d really LOVE to play?
Matilda! No wait, Annie! Can I do both?
Absolutely! Do you like playing heroes or villains better?
Villains because they wear dark outfits and have evil spells and sometimes they are the funny ones.
What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not acting?
Read, hang out with my best friend Audrey, use my Nintendo and ipad and play Minecraft.
Anything else you think our Shakespeare friends here in Colorado might want to know about you?
I’m on a soccer team, I’m a Girl Scout, I ski really fast, I can do cartwheels, and my brother Meyer bites people. And I’m on Instagram! @bowevictoria
I hope he knows you said that, because it’s going public now. Thanks for chatting with us, Bowe!