A Star is Born! Tony Nominee Nina Arianda on Her Broadway Glory and Hollywood Future

Age and Hometown: 26; Clifton, New Jersey

Current Role: Delivering a Tony-nominated Broadway debut performance as Billie Dawn, a ditzy blonde showgirl who becomes a brainy bookworm, in the revival of Garson Kanin’s Born Yesterday.

Foreign Education: Arianda spent her adolescent years in Heidelberg, Germany. “In the beginning it was hard, but I quickly grew to love it,” she recalls of her time abroad. “I had prom in a castle, for God’s sake!” Arianda returned to New York at age 17, where she attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and went on to NYU’s graduate acting program. After a sensational off-Broadway turn in last season’s Venus in Fur, Broadway came calling. “I’m still pinching myself over it,” she says of her main stem debut. “The first time I walked on stage [during rehearsal], I looked out and just burst into tears.”

Blonde Ambition: “She’s an amazing character,” Arianda says of Billie Dawn. “She is so wide-eyed and open-hearted. It takes a lot of bravery to be that honest of a person and that willing to learn without apology.” Arianda was aware of the legacy that accompanied the role (Judy Holliday won an Oscar for the 1950 film adaptation). “It’s an honor to play an iconic part, but it’s also scary when something has that label.” Arianda now has a shot at awards glory, thanks to her Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Play. So does she have any big plans for Tony night? “I have to get on that,” she laughs. “I still don’t believe I’ve been nominated so hopefully that hits me in the next couple days because momma’s gotta find a dress!”

Big Screen Beauty: Hollywood is also paying attention to Arianda. She played Paul Giamatti’s secretary in the indie film Win Win, and can now be seen in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. “It was three and a half weeks of bliss, working with Woody and sitting in cafes every night,” she says of filming. “I still can’t believe I worked with Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson and consider them friends!” Arianda already has two more films under her belt this year (Vera Farmiga’s Higher Ground and the Ben Stiller action comedy Tower Heist), but the actress doesn’t have intentions of leaving the stage any time soon. “Film is new for me so I’m so fascinated by it and love it, but I would pass out if I could never do theater again. I’d be physically ill!”