Diana Silvers and Kristine Froseth Get Grilled (By Each Other)

In the twisty dance thriller Birds of Paradise, Diana Silvers and Kristine Froseth play rival frenemies competing for the top prize at an elite Parisian ballet academy. Based on A.K. Small’s YA novel Bright Burning Stars, the movie ratchets up the tension as newbie dancer Kate (Silvers) and the more seasoned-but-mercurial Marine (Froseth) engage in some psycho-sexual mind games and one upmanship to score a contract at the Opéra national de Paris. But in real life, the actors became fast friends while shooting the Amazon movie in Budapest, as evidenced by the following back-and-forth, in which they discuss first dances, favorite songs, and FaceTime.

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DIANA SILVERS: Who was your first dance with?

KRISTINE FROSETH: I’m trying to remember the first dance I ever went to. I feel like it was this kid in eighth grade.

SILVERS: Was this in Norway?

FROSETH: Yeah, actually it might’ve been sixth grade.

SILVERS: You went to a ball?

FROSETH: A cute little sixth-grade ball with my neighbor crush.

SILVERS: That’s really cute. A boy next door?! Oh my god.

FROSETH: Yes! Our windows were right next to each other.

SILVERS: Wait, this is like a Taylor Swift music video.

FROSETH: Oh, it kind of is. Those were the times. All right, if you had to choose one word to describe your dancing style, what would it be?

SILVERS: Oh geez, “all over the place.” That’s not one word. I’m sorry.

FROSETH: Powerful, spontaneous.

SILVERS: Spontaneous! Spontaneous dancing. Okay. Oh, this is such a good question. If you could only dance to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?

FROSETH: Oh my gosh, that’s such a tricky one. I don’t even know. Do you have an answer to that?

SILVERS: No.

FROSETH: There are too many songs. There are all different energies and vibes that we could go for. Are we able to come back to any of these questions?

SILVERS: Okay, don’t think about it. 3, 2, 1, go!

FROSETH: “Tribe” by J. Cole.

SILVERS: I feel like you love that song. Yeah, that makes sense.

FROSETH: It has to be a J. Cole song. What’s your favorite place in Budapest?

SILVERS: Wow, you get all the cool music questions and then I get my favorite place in Budapest. There was this one really cool bar in the Jewish district that I really liked going to. It was like a ruin bar. I don’t remember what it was called, but it was really cool.

FROSETH: Cool!

SILVERS: What albums or music were you listening to while you were filming Birds of Paradise?

FROSETH: Do you want to answer that, Diana?

SILVERS: No, I don’t.

FROSETH: There’s a song called “Blue Eyes” that really depicts M’s internal conflict, so that was a huge one for me. That was on repeat the entire time. I had a lot of Eminem on, too.

SILVERS: I listened to so much Kanye West. It was ridiculous.

FROSETH: You played so much Kanye in the trailer. I remember that.

SILVERS: That’s all I did.

FROSETH: There was a lot of aggression. What is your idea of paradise? Have you ever found paradise on earth?

SILVERS: Oh, man. I love being in nature. I went on a solo hiking trip when I was 20 to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, and that was paradise to me.

FROSETH: That’s so badass. I love that.

SILVERS: Who did you FaceTime with the most while you were making the movie?

FROSETH: My best friend, Maya. Whenever I was becoming too overwhelmed, I would call her and she’d tell me to calm down.

SILVERS: Aw, that’s sweet.

FROSETH: Was there anyone from the shoot that you haven’t kept in touch with that you wish you had?

SILVERS: I feel like I’ve actually done a pretty good job at keeping in touch with people from the shoot. I talked to Solomon [Golding] a couple of days ago.

 

FROSETH: No way! That’s so nice.

SILVERS: Natasha, my dance double, lives in Ireland. She’s married. She’s so cool. She’s very funny.

FROSETH: Yeah, she’s great.

SILVERS: I miss you, Natasha! Oh, it’s my turn. After you got the part and you went through the script, were there any scenes that you looked forward to shooting and any scenes that you dreaded?

FROSETH: Oh my gosh. I was really looking forward to doing the solo Romeo and Juliet, just because that meant so much for M and her whole story. That dance was so beautifully choreographed, so I was scared to do it but very excited. I choose that one for both. What did you do for fun when you weren’t shooting?

SILVERS: I feel like I was always shooting.

FROSETH: You were. You also got some great vintage finds that I remember.

SILVERS: Oh yeah, I did go thrifting a couple of times. But honestly, for the most part, if I wasn’t filming, I was rehearsing or training because I’m a madwoman. We went to this one Italian restaurant. I would always go with Solomon and Maddie [Green]. On Friday night if we were off early enough, we would go to the restaurant.

FROSETH: I forgot what it’s called, but it was tasty.

SILVERS: Did you have anything you relied on to get you through filming?

FROSETH: Oh, I relied on almond butter so heavily.

SILVERS: With rice cakes.

FROSETH: We ate rice cakes and almond butter nonstop. I relied on my AirPods and music. I relied on you. I relied on my friends. Who in your life do you think is going to absolutely love this movie? How about your sisters?

SILVERS: My sisters and my best friend, Olivia, who was my lifeline during filming, all loved it, which made me feel really good about myself and the movie. So, that meant a lot. Is there anyone in your life that you wouldn’t want to see this movie?

FROSETH: Well, I was a little bit nervous about my parents seeing it because we didn’t really talk about sex that much growing up. So I was just like, “Hello.” But they saw it, and that went totally okay. [Laughs]

SILVERS: I’m afraid for my brothers to see it. I’m like, “You guys shouldn’t watch this.”

FROSETH: What was the best meal you had in Budapest?

SILVERS: The Italian restaurant. What did you miss the most about me after we wrapped?

FROSETH: Aw! I missed all of our jokes on set. And all of our ups and downs from you being my support and to being the comedian and making me laugh nonstop, all our little—

SILVERS: Antics.

FROSETH: Lego building. I miss all the little things.

SILVERS: Me too.

FROSETH: It wasn’t the same over FaceTime. Are we going to stay friends?

SILVERS: Yes. That’s an easy yes. Of course.

FROSETH: That’d be so savage if you said no. I’m still going to call you. I know where you live.

SILVERS: You actually do.

FROSETH: I do.

SILVERS and FROSETH: End!