Meet Ovide Van Der Vlist

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ovide Van Der Vlist. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ovide, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

For me, and I think many people, the biggest obstacle is self-doubt. It is very easy to get overwhelmed by the idea of how many people want to do exactly what you want to do and start seeing these people as competition. Well, they are not. I know, shocker!! This has been my biggest lesson to learn, and I’m still learning it, but no one is exactly like you. Think of your own friends: you feel, talk and act completely different with each one of them, because each of them has a different effect on you. You have a different effect on every person you meet and in casting it’s about finding that person that tells the story they want to tell. If you are not that person, the story isn’t right for you, but another one will. Trust that.

And call your fellow artist friends whenever you’re going through it! They probably know exactly what you’re feeling and will tell you what you need to be reminded of (because you told them the same thing just the other week).

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am an actress from Amsterdam, the Netherlands and moved to New York City in 2021 to study acting at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

After graduating in 2024, I have booked my first leading role in the upcoming feature film Girl in a Glass Box, written by author Raf Lindia and directed by Emmy-award winner Blanche Baker. I star amongst actors like Barbara Weetman (The Notebook) and Dallas Hart (Greenhouse Academy).

I signed with my first agency back home (Talented People Agency) and have flown back there this year to do a national commercial which plays in every movie theater in the Netherlands right now.

Starting 2025 with my first Off-Broadway play Big Wave as an ensemble member and shooting another feature film in January, I am very excited for what the rest of the year will bring along the way.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I’d like to think that everyone is unique, but no one is special. What I mean by that is: I like to find the similarities we have as people, because we have a lot of similarities, and use my unique voice to make the art or tell the story that I want to tell. This doesn’t have to be groundbreaking or never-been-done-before, it just needs to be personal and honest. That is what gets my creative brain going.

I’d also like to say that being ridiculous has gotten me many jobs. And what I mean by that is: every time I’ve just done what I thought was funny (and a little bit embarrassing) I’ve booked the job. I have some very embarrassing self-tapes from commercial auditions that I’ve booked that will haunt me for life, but hey, they also paid for my trip to the Hamptons, so who’s the loser now!?

Don’t try to be cool, be shameless and embarrassing. That is cool.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Ever since working at the International Theater of Amsterdam as an usher, I have been observing actress Halina Reijn closely be phenomenal in every part that she plays. Many people may know her as a classic dramatic actress, but my favorite part of her has been in Husbands an Wives directed by Simon Stone where she played this cooky woman that I just absolutely adored.

We actually moved to New York at the same time, she did to pursue directing and I did to pursue acting. Right off the bat she directed the very successful movie Bodies Bodies Bodies (A24) and has really put herself on the map this year with the highly anticipated movie Babygirl (A24) that she wrote and directed starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson.

As a female artist, trying to make it in the United States, the biggest entertainment industry country in the world, you can only go big or go home. So, having said that, here am I, dreaming big and putting out there that I will be working together with Halina Reijn in the future as I applaud her for how she is changing the industry for all female artists out there.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ovidevandervlist.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ovidevdvlist/

Image Credits

Govert de Roos
Bronwen Sharpe