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Preparation for Biting the Big Apple
By Monica Kade
Life can be a series of embarrassing events and unlike Bella Vendramini, many of us aren’t prepared to share these with anyone- let alone the world!
Bella Vendramini, actor and author of Biting the Big Apple takes us on a journey exploring the hilarious, heart wrenching and at times slightly explicit experiences of life, love, and sex in New York City.
‘I feared I wouldn’t be good enough, that I wouldn’t be strong enough or talented enough…’, is just the beginning of Bella’s commentary about packing up her life in Australia and moving to New York.
Bella, first and foremost, is an actor. She caught the ‘acting bug’ early on in life and made her mark on the industry firstly through touring in a children’s theatre troupe. Now, the problem with the acting bug (those of you who are actors will know this) is that you cannot, no matter how hard you try, despite the scare tactics that parents (among others) will project upon you - you cannot get rid of it once you’ve got it. No amount of rejection pills, straight jackets, lotions, potions and stints to rehab can cure your addiction and love for the craft of acting.
Fast forwarding to her twenty’s and after a couple of films, the addiction was evermore becoming part of her every day existence. It’s a given that actors are very emotional and intricate people, and at times, well, they get depressed. That is just how Bella’s cookie crumbled. Her threatening crumble must have set alarm bells into the universe because it wasn’t long before Miss Vendramini found herself on a plane to Los Angeles, to be producer of a new Indie flick; Japan.
"For pleasure - Be prepared
to party. Be prepared to
have minimal sleep
and one day have a
liver transplant."
Whilst this is a very compacted and maybe slightly vague introduction to Bella’s life, it’s the start of her journey and how she found herself in New York.
Bella’s book is a collation of 18 months of diary entries with chapter titles like: ‘Meeting Mr. Big and so long Sour Receptionist Chick and thanks for all the killer bees (and policeman’s balls) and shaving rash’ – that’s only one, all of which have been cleverly inspired by 'too much red wine'.
The ultimate inspiration behind the book, aside from the actual experience, was her parents and friends. From the book itself you can see what a positive and vital influence Bella’s parents have on her life; ‘They’ve always taught me to push my comfort zones and try new things. So even though I had no experience writing a book, I was eager and willing to give it a go’.
From a reader’s perspective, what I love about the book is that is sucks you in; you feel every inch of emotion that Bella goes through. You laugh out loud, you chuckle to yourself, you grow so inspired you feel you could conquer the world and you, too, get scared. I guess it’s because you connect.
In her own words Bella explains; ‘Most of my female friends have similar issues; be it fear of failure, sexual issues, love and it’s complications, dreams and how to achieve them or identity issues. I wanted to shed some light on that, I wanted to let other women know there is no shame there, that those issues are common and to discuss them is not only healthy but with a glass of red wine or two, a hell of a lot of fun as well’.
Thanks to Bella’s honesty, it has given her readers the opportunity to relate to her experiences on many different levels. This might attribute to why her book is landing on the best sellers lists.
Aside from the book’s primary focus of her days studying at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Institute, it delves into the turbulent currents of love, lust, thrust, and men - and the shit they bring with them. So it only seemed natural to ask Bella to sum up heartache in five words. Her answer was; ‘Shit, shit, shit, shit and shit’. Bella did include a version for the less obscene, but honestly, when it comes to heartache, who doesn’t use obscenities!?
So for the girl who watches the spectacular, gleaming-twinkling lights from her tall skyscraper apartment, with all of New York laid out in front of her, what’s next?
‘I’ve taken a break for the last couple of months. I was working my ass off then I was travelling for eight months, so now is the time to rest and watch Rock Of Love with mouse slippers, pizza and lemonade. I’m off to Europe again to go to the Cannes festival in a month then after that trip I will settle for a little while, get a new apartment in Greenwich Village, then I can start writing the sequel to Biting The Big Apple and begin auditioning again. I plan on going to LA to audition sometime too.’
Doesn’t this just make you sigh contentedly and smile? You feel happy and excited for this complete stranger (well, stranger only if you haven’t read the book, in this case, I highly recommend you do) to the point where you just take a breath, let it out while you kick back on your bedroom floor, arms under your head, staring at the ceiling because you’ve just finished with a happy ending.
So for the independent, notorious (I wish) and freckled woman that Bella describes herself to be, I leave you with her two pieces of advice when biting the big apple:
1) For pleasure - Be prepared to party. Be prepared to have minimal sleep and one day have a liver transplant. Be open to all opportunities that present themselves. This town is built on a network of contacts and each person you open the door to will be invaluable.
2) Career wise - Don’t be intimidated by this city. There is a lot of competition but there is also a lot of encouragement. Yanks love Aussies so don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice. Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t happen over night or if phone calls don’t get returned, as New Yorkers are hell busy and it’s not personal - so keep trying and when you are tired of that, keep trying some more, I promise you, magic will happen if you let it.
Bella’s book, Biting the Big Apple is available at Hachette Australia $35.00
- Monica Kade
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