Imagine not knowing a single ballet step and being asked to perform with American Ballet Theatre. That’s how 22-year-old dance artist Taïs Vinolo, who starred in Amazon Prime Video’s now-canceled “Étoile,” describes her experience learning how to act as she filmed the show alongside seasoned actors and producers.
In “Étoile,” Vinolo played Mishi, a young dancer forging her own identity amid family pressures and ballet-world politics. The experience, she says, transformed her “as a person, as an artist, and now as an actor.”
Dance Spirit caught up with Vinolo to talk about her crash-course in acting, connection to Mishi, and plans for the future.
Getting Her Foot in the Door
Vinolo’s road to “Étoile” began in 2020, when she filmed a commercial with Amazon about a young dancer whose community crafted a unique solution when her performance was canceled due to the pandemic. “This commercial opened a lot of doors for me,” says Vinolo. A producer saw the ad and sent Vinolo’s social media profile to Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino in 2020.
When the “Étoile” casting team reached out to Vinolo about auditioning, she was with National Ballet of Canada but had been taking time off due to an injury. Stuck at home without a creative outlet, she decided to participate in the show’s acting audition (the casting director was already familiar with her dancing through social media footage). After a few rounds of virtual auditions, Vinolo was invited to New York City to meet with the film directors. She says that while she usually felt stressed about auditions, she knew she had her ballet career to turn to if she didn’t land the Mishi role.
Acting for the First Time
Before the show, Vinolo had had limited acting experience. (Her role in the 2020 Amazon commercial was unscripted, only requiring her to act with her face.) Going into “Étoile,” Vinolo remembers feeling scared. “It was like learning something from zero,” she says.
She also recalls being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of acting talent at her first table read. “Being surrounded by all of these talented actors and artists, I was like, ‘Oh, wow!’ Then there’s me, who is just starting,” says Vinolo. But she received support from the show’s producers and her fellow actors. “After being surrounded by such nice people, I started to find confidence,” she says.
An unexpected challenge for Vinolo was melding her new passion for acting with her longtime love for dance. “Combining everything was very hard,” she says. On her days off from filming, Vinolo attended ballet classes and rehearsals, and on weekends she worked with her acting coach. “It was six months of intensive work every day.”
On-Set Observations
For Vinolo, one of the most surprising parts of filming a TV show was spending a whole day on one scene. “Amy and Dan are so into details, and that’s why the result is so great,” she says. Another on-set lesson she learned was the importance of setting up a shot. “It’s not about how great my performance is, it’s also about how we coordinate with the camera,” she notes.
Working with the talented, diverse cast of “Étoile,” Vinolo felt constantly inspired. Marie Berto, whose character Bruna is like a mother figure to Mishi, became a mentor to Vinolo. “She supported me and helped me with my scenes,” she says. “She’s very honest and real.”
Vinolo also noticed major character development for Mishi. Throughout the show, Mishi wrestles with how to grow as an artist and as a young woman. Vinolo found it interesting to play Mishi while she entered a new chapter of her own artistic life. “It was really great, this parallel,” she says.
Après Étoile
With her first major acting credit under her belt, Vinolo plans to continue building her career as both an actor and a dancer. She also hopes to make ballet not only more diverse but more accessible. “Something that’s important to me is to be a good representation for the Black community as a Black ballerina,” she says, adding that she believes traditional ideas about who belongs in the ballet world can dissuade young people from signing up for class. Through social media, she chronicles her life as a ballet dancer, hoping to spark interest for more potential artists.
Fast Facts
On-set essential:
Vinolo always has her headphones nearby so she can set the mood for her character. Depending on the goal for a given scene, she picks music to listen to.
Go-to snack:
Vinolo is a huge fan of fruit snacks. When she flew to Paris from her dad’s house in California recently, he bought her a bulk bag of her favorite kind.
Favorite costume from “Étoile”:
The seafoam-green dress from the “Célébrons le Leadership au Feminin” scene, during which Mishi has a drunken outburst. Vinolo loves the contrast between the prim, tasteful dress and Mishi’s sloppy behavior.
If Mishi were a song:
“La Vie en Rose”: It’s cute, it’s French, and it’s Mishi.
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