Singer-slash-actress Elektra Kilbey is one part of the twin sis’ duo Say Lou Lou, the band that fashion fell in love with, fronting ads for Gucci and H&M, while making us fall in love with their sonic universe of mood music and videos fused with a visually cinematic sensuality. Speaking of the big screen, Elektra’s now pursuing a life-long-acting passion, having appeared in the indie movie Odd Man Rush, and the Amazon TV series, Tales from the Loop.

Her latest role sees her play Lisa Carter in Apple TV+’s new offering, Shantaram, which is based on a best-selling 2003 novel of the same name. Here she shares her thoughts on how acting and music inform one another, and making playlists for everything!

I know that you’re a musician as well as an actor. Does one come before the other?

Right now, my main focus is acting but I’d like to think that I don’t have to choose one over the other… I love them both.

Do you write songs when you’re on set?

No. When I’m working on a project, whether film or music, I am totally consumed with where I am and what I’m doing. I have to feel totally immersed, or I get too distracted or stressed.

Was acting your original goal, as you were in the film Gossip back in 2000, before you formed the band Say Lou Lou with your twin sister?

Since childhood, acting has always been a passion and a dream, something I’ve felt drawn to, I always had a surplus of emotions and feelings that had nowhere to go until I figured out it could be expressed in embodying different characters in alternate worlds.

My identical twin sister and I had a brief stint as the token twin actors when we were kids, doing TV shows, movies and commercial work until we hit our teens and started wanting to be anything but identical!

Do you find that your acting and music inform one another? Has acting changed for you because of music?

Yes. All art forms and expressions inform each other. But at the end of the day, it’s about storytelling, which transcends choice of medium.

Do you make playlists for your characters, or has any character inspired your music?

Yes, definitely. I made one for Lisa [my character on Shantaram], trying to get into her head, her memories, her triggers...Tim Buckley, The Doors, Zombies, Kinks, Bowie, CAN, Iggy, NEU!

I make playlists for everything, whether it’s a new album I’m working on, a road trip, autumn, winter, summer, spring, a party – they’re sonic moodboards!

Music was obviously important in your house when you were growing up, with both your parents being singers. You spent time in Sydney with your dad and in Stockholm with your mum. I’m interested to know if the duality of that upbringing informed a kind of longing or dislocation in yourself, and has that impacted the music and the characters you’re attracted to in acting projects?

Growing up between two places forced me to become a social chameleon, having to learn how to fit in and play different roles, which made me pretty sensitive and aware of dynamics and contexts from a young age. All of that is helpful both in the process of creation itself, but also in all the practicalities around it.

Do you feel more vulnerable as an actor playing a character or as a musician performing?

As an actor, the vulnerability is more present after the performance. As a musician, the vulnerability is before the performance.

How do you wind down after filming, in comparison with how you wind down after a show or tour?

After a show or tour, you get hooked on the adrenaline rush from each night’s performance and winding down from that can be difficult, leaving you with “post tour depression” and this strange feeling of emptiness. After filming, I immediately miss being on set and the creative environment, wondering when I will have the privilege to do it again. But in terms of winding down, it’s way more dependent on the scenes that were shot on the day. In Shantaram, there were many harrowing moments for my character, high stakes and dramatic interactions and coming back to myself could be challenging at times.

When you first learned that you got the roles in Tales from the Loop and Odd Man Rush, how did you feel, and how did you prepare for them?

I mean… I’m still pinching myself for getting to do what I do. I do not take it for granted, ever. So far, I’ve prepared for characters the same way each time by dreaming up their life story based on the material given and my intuition. Excavating their fears, hopes, dreams, triggers. Preparation is so integral to being able to let the character live through you, I think.

When you’re on set, has it been interesting finding that relationship between you and your character?

Yes. But I do need a trigger to get me there. On Shantaram it was by listening to Once I Was by Tim Buckley. It was like a door opening to Lisa each time.

So how did Shantaram come about, and can you tell me more about the character you play?

The process was normal, but the experience for me at that time was very new and riveting. I’d only been acting for a few months, and every opportunity I had to do an audition was so mega for me. I play Lisa Carter, an American girl on a quest for beauty, adoration, belonging, escape. I think the zeitgeist of 70’s rock n roll led her to India to find enlightenment and awakening, like many of her idols at the time. Only Lisa quickly falls into brown sugar, and subsequently into sex work to support her habit. She’s a dream character to inhabit, childlike but wise, vulnerable and naive yet so experienced. There’s so much to work and play with. And throughout the season you’ll see her develop a sense of agency and confidence she doesn’t have in the beginning. It’s a lovely arc.

Who are some of your favourite actors of all time?

Where do I start… off the top of my head.... Isabelle Huppert, Charlotte Rampling, Nina Hoss, Juliette Binoche, Bibi Andersson, Andrea Riseborough.

Are you more self-aware about how people perceive you when you’re doing the solo stuff like acting?

It’s very different. As an actor you’re practically yourself off screen, but with our band we were always conscious about reinforcing the style of the record we were releasing at the time as if the perception of us was meant to embody the mood of the music.