Tag Archive: women in comics

Comic Book Divas and Geek Girls News like many others first watched the Wonder Woman fan trailer on Screen Rant and all over the Internet and were awazed by the trailers filming, CGI, and of course by the woman behind the brackets Nina Bergman. We sat down with this multi-talented woman about her singing career, and about her perspective of the Amazon Warrior Wonder Woman.

Q: Nina, we start all our interviews by asking people to tell us a little bit about themselves ; so ca you tell us a bit about you?

NB: I was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and spent half of my childhood traveling with my Russian Gypsy grandparents. After a messy childhood I was on my own at 12, bouncing around until I left Denmark at 14 to pursue my dreams in London. I was fortunate to receive several scholarships starting with Urdang Academy-Musical Theatre School, followed by the Bolshoi theatre in Moscow then NYU-Tisch and “Magic Circle of Opera”.

To make ends meet I started competing as an amateur boxer, it was here I was introduced to NIN which motivated me for my training and fights. This experience led me closer to my calling….. the feelings of release and heightened emotions of betrayal, anger and the truth helped me find that voice inside that led me to singing with underground bands in NY.

I was soon working full-time and decided to leave NYC to peruse my musical passion in LA. I sang with various bands and finally started my own. I paid my dues performing on the Sunset Strip and every local club possible, which opened the doors to tour with Meat Loaf, Scorpions, Julian-K, The Dreaming, and Chester Bennington etc.

During this time I continued to pay the bills and support my band shooting TV shows like “Battle Ground Earth” playing myself in 10 episodes with Tommy Lee and Ludacris for Discovery/TLC. As well as the Danish TV show “Hollywoodfruer.” I also worked on soundtracks for Lions Gates Movies such as “Catacombs” singing the theme song “Blue Butterfly” and “Repo the Genetic Opera” along with Nikki Sixx’s album, “Sixx:A.M.” and Yoshiki’s (X-Japan) album, “Violet UK”

I have acted in various films such as: “The Wayshower” with Eric Roberts and Peter Stormare, “The Land of the Astronauts” with David Arquette and Vivica Fox. Starred in “Pilots” with John Malkovich and “The Other End of the Line” with Jesse Metcalfe. I have been featured in numerous skits on “The Late Late show” & “The Tonight Show” along with hosting various shows like “E!Entertainment”, “Fuse”, and “The Grammys” as Trophy Girl. I also starred in Gnarls Barkley’s video “Gone Daddy Gone” and Sick Puppies video “All the Same.” I have been in over 20 commercials and hundreds of print campaigns including La Perla, Apple Computers, Sprite, Nike and Nature Valley and my most recent “Dos Equis” with “The Most Interesting Man in the World”.

I’m currently finishing up my debut album with Warner Bros. Records. They’re releasing my album featuring one of my new songs in the WW trailer called “Xplode” We’ve been in the studio the last year recording and I’m currently rehearsing my band, getting ready to launch my new N.I.N.A. project!!

Q: You are an actress but your passion is singing, have you always enjoyed music and what music and artists do you listen too?

NB: My big inspiration has always been Nine Inch Nails. I’m European and I grew up listening to a lot of electronic music. However rock has always conveyed the message that I seek. The two combined is my biggest inspirational type of music.

Q: How long have you been singing, and what range of music do you sing?

NB: i’ve been singing and writing songs most of my life. I’m classically trained and I went to musical theatre school. I’m a soprano and love doing a lot ethereal type of singing besides my own stuff.

Q: What inspires your song writing and the music you sing?

NB: My past and emotions that will otherwise explode inside of me if I don’t let them out. Sometimes it’s the guitar riff or a track that triggers an emotion. I write every day and sometime I keep writing about the same theme over and over again. Expressing the same idea several times until I find the perfect expression that rings true for me. Slogans and quotes sometimes triggers a song as well. I try to be as transparent as I possibly can be in my lyrics and say what I want to say in a poetic way.

Q: Who are some of the past and present song writers, bands and singers that inspire you and influence your music?

NB: Nine Inch Nails, Farinelli, Refused, Massive Attack, (old) U2, Pearl Jam, Deftones, 30 seconds To Mars, Radio Head, Yoav, Lisa Gerrard

Q: You wrote the song “Xplode” for the Wonder Woman fan trailer, did you write the song based on the character?

NB: I had already written Xplode prior to WW. I started working on an upbeat, in your face kinda rock song for WW called “Kill for Peace” but once Sean Murray heard Xplode he felt it was a perfect fit for Wonder Woman.

Q: You portrayed Wonder Woman in the fan trailer; had you read any of the comic books for source material?

NB: I read everything I could possibly get my hands on!! I was the chick in the corner of the comic-book store sitting quietly with my hoodie on reading EVERYTHING!!

Q: What intrigued you about Wonder Woman that you wanted to play her in the fan trailer?

NB: I love the directors previous work I’ve always been a fan of his and wanted to work with him. He thinks differently, pays a lot of attention to detail and history and he’s very good with women. I thought he was the perfect guy to do Wonder Woman! He takes chances and follows his tuition just like her and don’t follow the rules. I really like that!!

Q: You have some pretty physical scenes in the trailer; did you have to train very long for those scenes?

NB: WW Training: I’m an ex ballerina trained at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and I was an amateur boxer for many years and trained mixed martial arts on and off throughout my life. But training for WW was very different. As soon as I got the part I started training like she would’ve have trained. I didn’t want her to have a “stylized” way of fighting. She’s not a martial artist she’s an Amazon trained Goddess. So half of my training was figuring out how she would have trained and then do that! I worked with ex-street fighter and olympic wrestler Christopher Torres and stunt coordinator Luke Lafontaine. I had about 3 months to prepare. I didn’t want her to look all buff. I wanted her to look real. That included 2 hours of freestyle sparring, an hour of specific exercises targeting certain muscles and then sprinting up a steep mountain “The WW Run” as we called it. Knees high, feet kicking back and strong arm sprints, until my legs buckled and I collapsed. That would be a 4 hour workout 5 days a week.

Q: Did you design the Wonder Woman costume?

NB: I had a lot of great ideas for the costumes. Jesse and I approached a couple of interesting designers but we had no time. At the last minute, wardrobe stylist Stacy Ellen Rich came in and saved the day. We all decided to keep it traditional and simple, honoring the earlier Wonder Woman.

Q: After playing your first comic book character, would you like to portray another comic book character in a movie or have your likeness featured in a comic book, if so who would you like to play and why?

NB: There’re so many great ones!! I like comic book characters because their character is usually well developed and thought out. Most of them stand for a cause and they all fight viciously for what they believe in! These are my kind of women.

Q: Many women relate to the character Wonder Woman, what makes this character so relatable to you?

NB: ”Wonder Woman is a peace warrior fighting for justice and sexual equality” I was raised by a hardcore feminist mother who dedicated her life to fight for woman’s rights and her own. She loved whoever and whatever she wanted to love, whether or not it was accepted and she was punished for it. She instilled a responsibility in me to continue her philosophies. It’s my calling to fight for what I believe in, never back down and find the peace and equality that I know exist in this world!

“Wonder Woman is a fleeting old soul with no place to call home. Constantly haunted by her duty to bring justice to this world, to save and protect the less fortunate” Growing up in violence and chaos, I learned two things at a very early age. If I make it past 18 years old, that means I found the answers I need to survive. By then I’ll know my calling: to protect and give hope to others who have none – to be the voice for people who don’t have one – to be liberated and to liberate others from bondage of oneself and society, and to own all the powers and gifts that were given to us without guilt and shame.

“Wonder Woman is part of the animal kingdom. She can communicate with animals” I have never felt a difference between humans and animals. We’re all the same living, breathing creatures to me. Because of that, I’ve been an animal rights activist and vegan most of my life.

“Wonder Woman Peace/Warrior” The contradictions that live in her live in me too: The lies we sometimes tell to find the truth, the bridges we burn, the games we play to win battles and save lives. Wonder Woman is not perfect. She makes mistakes through trial and error. Her heart grows weak and her humanness takes over and she falls at times. Her humanness is the part that connects me to her and I believe to the rest of the world as well.

Q: I don’t know if you have heard of cosplaying, but it’s very popular, it’s a community of comic book, gaming, anime fns that create and dress like their favorite characters at conventions; who would you like to cosplay as besides Wonder Woman?

NB: I have been a model for two comic books in the past, for the comic book “Hack/Slash” and “Tekken”

Q: Where can fans follow you and keep up with your career?

NB: They can follow me on my offical website N.I.N.A, they can follow me on Twitter @NinaBergman, on my Facebook Page, and on my YouTube Channel.