Laura Vandervoort Talks Style, Stereotypes and Superpowers
Find out how the 'Bitten' star empowers women and young girls alike.
Laura Vandervoort is no stranger to superpowers. Even when she's not portraying a werewolf on SyFy's supernatural series Bitten or wearing her Supergirl uniform from her days on The CW's Smallville, the actress is using her power for good. Find out why the blonde beauty, who you might be surprised to learn does most of her own stunts thanks to her martial arts training, is an empowering role model to women and young girls alike.
What’s your favorite part about portraying a werewolf? “I think the fact that she’s the only female werewolf that is the lead in a series is pretty incredible. She’s just a bad-ass female on television and happens to be a werewolf. I love doing all the action sequences and having that superhuman strength that she has—it’s a lot of fun. I joke around that the best part is that I don’t have to wax.”
How does your personal style compares to your character’s? “This season we had a different style for Elena, which I think was more of my input. She’s still got the tomboy quality she has in the book, [but] she always has a bit of that sexy side to it as well: a leather jacket [with] a sheer-sort of tank on or I always wear a bit of a heel even if I have fight sequence—I think all girls want to have a bit more height.”
What part of Elena’s wardrobe helps you get into character the most? “Whenever Elena has an opportunity to wear any leather jacket so she’s swift and ready to fight, that just makes me feel more in character. She always has some sort of military-inspired part of her wardrobe because she’s a tracker. That helps me feel like she’s ready to hunt. When she doesn’t have a jacket on for some reason, I feel like Elena’s a little bare.”
What is the most empowering thing you’ve learned from your role? “Having faith in myself and believing in what I can do. This is the first series I’ve been a lead of. That can be terrifying for an actor going into season one and not knowing if you’re capable—you want to do a good job, and you want to make everyone happy. For me especially with my body, it’s such a sexualized show—that was the scariest part for me. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the action and all of the dangerous stuff; it was the nudity. Now, I feel more comfortable.”
You also are an empowering role models to young girls. Can you tell us about your children’s book? “I had a period in my life when I moved to LA, where it was a little slower and I was eager to be creative. I wanted to incorporate my two worlds, acting and my other passion of writing, and had been to so many comic conventions where little 8, 9, 10, 11-year-old girls look up to Supergirl, who I played at one point [in Smallville]. I [was] sitting there talking to them and realized that most of the action figures and female superheroes they looked up to [had] very unrealistic body types and weren’t really sending the right message. Long story short, I thought this was an opportunity to write a book—and then hopefully create a series of books—about a young girl [who] is a superhero. She's a tomboy, quirky and intelligent, makes mistakes and she’s real. The reaction was, 'This needs to be a television series,' and we’re now creating a live-action series for girls called 'Super Duper Delia.'”
What’s your favorite part about this season of Bitten? “It’s really tough for me to narrow-in on any specific part. I adore our cast and crew, being with all those creative minds and people who are just happy to be there and work. And this season, just seeing Elena finally accept her fate and embracing it—but also kicking a lot of ass.”
See more of Vandervoort on Bitten, which airs Friday nights at 9pm EDT on SyFy.
