Daniela Nieves
Dress and ceramic top: KQK
Necklace: Lanvin Black Snakeskin Necklace from Paumé Los Angeles @lanvin @paumelosangeles
Earrings: SENIA
Single earring: SENIA
Ring (left): Sim and Roz
Ring (right): Le Vian
Daniela Nieves is a 25-year-old actress from Venezuela. She is known for her roles in the films Five Points, All Rise, Save me, as well as others. She plays the role of Lyssa in Sex Appeal, which was released on January 14th, 2022. The Romantic comedy follows a teenage relationship through trials and tribulation. Daniela also stars in the Peacock Original series, Vampire Academy, playing the role of Lissa Dragomir. The series is about two teenage vampires who are preparing to fill their roles as vampire-guardians. The series is full of suspense, action, and drama. Daniela stars with actors Sisi Stringer, Kieron Moore, Andre Dae Kim, and others in this series.
Left:
Top and skirt: Toni Maticevski
Jacket: Alabama Blonde
Sunglasses: Anna-Karin Karlsson
Earrings (front): monSecret
Gloves: Vex Latex
Earrings and ear climber (left): monSecret
Rings: monSecret
Bracelet: Marla Aaron
Right:
Dress: Versace
Chainmail top: Kelsey Randall
Cuffs (right): D’Orazio
Gold bracelets and earrings: Versace
Black disk earrings: Marla Aaron
Gold bracelets (left): Versace
Second bracelet from bottom (left): Le Vian
Thinner chain bracelet (left): Marla Aaron
Ring (left): SENIA
Ring (right thumb): monSecret
When did you know you wanted to pursue acting?
Honestly, as far as I can remember, the entertainment industry was just always what I pictured. Based on who I was as a child, acting just made sense. My need for storytelling is ever present. It sent my already inquisitive nature to a place of unrelenting creativity. I could take acting anywhere and everywhere, and it didn’t have to end. There’s a video of me in 2000 talking my parents’ ear off, telling them a very animated and mumbled story about the time Minnie Mouse took me to the beach. I think my mom realized there was more than meets the eye when I constantly insisted that we reenact Snow White, but only if I could be the witch because “the witch is the fun one”. So really, I think that’s when my mom knew. But I always knew.
What has been your favorite project to work on so far?
I’m really not just saying this because I just did it and it’s what I am promoting, I promise, but Vampire Academy is definitely my favorite. I mean, we filmed in Spain for seven months in castles! Yes, it was northern Spain in the fall and winter, so we were freezing, but I have some of the greatest memories of my life filming this show. It was the first time I was around so many people from different countries, different walks of life, and it was a small town so we all stuck together and created these amazing friendships. I got to play a privileged vampire princess with gowns and fangs, in a world with steamy romance, political turmoil, fight sequences, plot twists, secrets, and beautiful cinematography. What more could I ask for?
Left:
Top and skirt: Toni Maticevski
Jacket: Alabama Blonde
Sunglasses: Anna-Karin Karlsson
Earrings (front): monSecret
Gloves: Vex Latex
Earrings and ear climber (left): monSecret
Rings: monSecret
Bracelet: Marla Aaron
Right:
Dress: Versace
Chainmail top: Kelsey Randall
Cuffs (right): D’Orazio
Gold bracelets and earrings: Versace
Black disk earrings: Marla Aaron
Gold bracelets (left): Versace
Second bracelet from bottom (left): Le Vian
Thinner chain bracelet (left): Marla Aaron
Ring (left): SENIA
Ring (right thumb): monSecret
Tell us more about Vampire Academy and how you prepared for the role?
Vampire Academy is an adaptation by Julie Plec and Marguerite Macintyre of a novel series that was popular around the late 2000’s by Richelle Mead. It’s a story centered around two best friends of two different vampire races living in a magical vampire society filled with political corruption. After going through a tragic event together, my character Lissa Dragomir is forced to take on royal responsibilities, further ostracizing her best friend, Rose Hathaway, and reminding them of the gravity of their class differences in this world. As things start going wrong, secrets about that tragic event and about their friendship are revealed throughout the season. Reading the books was an excellent way into my character, Lissa. I tried to pay close attention to her core values. I noticed every time people spoke of her in the books. What did they say? What stood out about her? How did she come across? What does a princess walk like? Talk like? I thought a lot about the darkness she goes through and how and when that would affect her. Showing up to work excited, open, and ready to be surprised is always great way to prepare too.
Who is an actor/director you dream of working with?
That is too hard to answer so I’ll cheat a little and add a couple. I love working with female directors, so I’d love to work with Kathryn Bigelow or Ava DuVernay. Clint Eastwood and Lin-Manuel Miranda as well! As far as actors, Matthew Macfadyen, Natalie Portman, Andrew Garfield. An absolute dream!
Left:
Chestpiece: Kim Mesches
Pants: Abodi
Earrings: Mara Paris
Thin chain bracelet: Marla Aaron
Thicker chain bracelet: Le Vian @levian_jewelry
Ring (right): monSecret
Ring (left): Unnamed NYC
Right:
Dress and ceramic top: KQK
Necklace: Lanvin Black Snakeskin Necklace from Paumé Los Angeles @lanvin @paumelosangeles
Earrings: SENIA
Single earring: SENIA
Ring (left): Sim and Roz
Ring (right): Le Vian
Do you prefer doing films or series?
Filming a series is a little more hectic and stressful. You don’t get all the scripts at once, in fact when we all booked Vampire Academy for example, we didn’t even have the first script. So, keeping track of where you are in the story, and keeping in mind where you could go in the future, all while having to shoot so much in a short amount of time can all feel kind of hard to juggle. However, you get more time in that world and in that story, but I think I’d choose film. Something about knowing what the story will be from beginning to end, plus having more time to make something that’s only about 2 hours long feels safer to me.
What are your goals for the future?
I hope to do more comedies. I think comedies are a beast but so fulfilling and worth it, if done right. It’s like a different muscle. I think I would really embrace the challenge and I’d learn so much. Also, I love singing and I love musicals, but both of those things scare the shit out of me. So naturally, I would add that as a future goal as well.
Chestpiece: Kim Mesches
Pants: Abodi
Earrings: Mara Paris
Thin chain bracelet: Marla Aaron
Thicker chain bracelet: Le Vian @levian_jewelry
Ring (right): monSecret
Ring (left): Unnamed NYC
What advice would you give to an aspiring actor/actress?
My advice would be to keep training. Work as if you already have an opportunity waiting for you that you want to prepare for. Be delusional about what’s possible for you, the more you believe it, the more it’ll stick. Take classes, be consistent and loyal to it like you would the gym or the doctor. Read scripts as if you were an actor, a writer, and a director. And this might be a controversial opinion but, find plays or film scripts online and just record yourself with a reader like a mock audition and watch it back. Notice what you do that people don’t do or say in real life. Put your 10,000 hours in. Whatever passion you feel for acting, always let it come out and express it in any creative way you can. Remember to have fun and relax. Write and direct things if the opportunities aren’t coming your way. You can do this. The passion is there for a reason, keep searching.
What or who inspires you?
People and life in general inspire me! Every day I’m inspired by people simply being themselves. Whether it’s the very unique and zestful man I just met in the elevator, or my mom telling me a poignant detail about her childhood that changed my perspective, people are so interesting. The way we interact, the way we contradict ourselves, the way nothing about human beings is black and white. The way you can be so present and think “Wow I wish I could capture this moment and its essence exactly the way it feels to me right now so I could look back on it forever”. Life the way it is will always carry truth even within its falsity and deception, which gives you the foresight to create art.
Social Media:
IG: @danielanieves
CREW CREDITS:
PhotoBook Editor-In-Chief: Alison Hernon
PhotoBook Creative Director + Photographer + Producer: Mike Ruiz + @mikeruiz.one
Talent: Daniela Nieves
Fashion Stylist: Christina Pacelli at The Only Agency
Hair: Ana Estela
Makeup: Raquel Moreno
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Associate Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine
Interview by Lola Jarzemsky, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Studio: FD Photo Studio
