Actress likes to get away from it all
Actress Tanna Frederick thrives when she’s juggling multiple projects. A cofounder of the Iowa Film Festival and creator of the nonprofit Project Save Our Surf, she is also an avid surfer and holds a seconddegree black belt in taekwondo. Frederick, who co-starred opposite James Denton in “Ovation,” recently won positive reviews for her work in Carl Weathers’ stage production of “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.”
An edited version of our conversation follows.
A: One of my favorite trips was last year for Mother’s Day in CransMontana, Switzerland. It’s the most delicious, loving village nestled in the Alps. The people there are so incredibly warm and open. It felt like I walked into a giant hug. My mother flew in a helicopter over the Swiss Alps. We landed on a glacier where they created a makeshift bar and we sipped ice wine in a toast to my mother, like on an episode of “The Bachelor.”
A: We did a lot of camping while growing up. We didn’t have much money, so the outdoors became my playground. I think my first actual vacation was to the Badlands in South Dakota. I can remember lots and lots of fossils, rivers, fishing, deer, hiking and, of course, mosquitoes. I definitely remember entire weekends covered in mud to stop the itching from the bites.
A. It’s not about the destination. It’s about the people you’re surrounded by. I love wandering away from the crowds to the behind-the-scenes action where local life is taking place. I’m apt to cut time in the Louvre in order to be able to check out some obscure cemetery I heard about in passing.
A: If I travel for Christmas, I stay in the snow. It’s a great recess from the perfect LA weather. For my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary, we went to Haleiwa, Hawaii, and stayed on the North Shore. The swell was 6 inches, but the traditional Hawaiian pig roast and luau put on by the locals — not to mention the snorkeling and the sea turtles hatching on the beach — were worth the entire trip.
A: My grandparents had a farm in Garner, Iowa, that I traveled to every weekend as a kid. My
Qmother grew up on it so it is rife with emotions and history for me. For two years, we produced and shot a film there called “Garner, Iowa.” The story was written by a family friend and is based on the people and the land. Filming there was a beautiful opportunity to achieve shots I feel truly capture the quiet beauty of the state and tell a story of my heritage.
A: Not keeping a schedule and sleeping in; eating fondue and lots and lots of cheese in Switzerland and having aimless conversations with locals about family lore over a cup of the best espresso in town.
A: (When I was a kid), my family hosted four foreign exchange students. They were very much family and have made their homes open to us in Europe. Staying with them and their families over the last two decades has made the world a smaller place. When I travel to Europe and stay with my former exchange families, it reminds me of growing up in a small town in Iowa.