Slender, serene and immaculately understated, Maggie Grace walks into the room and gets right down to the business of glamour and make-believe. She effortlessly changes from Southern California beach gal into a golden goddess complete with fitted gilt bodice gown, upswept hair and stiletto heels, dazzling everyone along the way while unconsciously channeling her Hollywood fashion role model, Carole Lombard.
The Ohio-born actress, best known for her breakout role as Shannon Rutherford in the hit television series Lost, dropped out of high school to move to Los Angeles with her then recently-divorced mother, and landed her first role as the title character in Rachel’s Room, a 2001 web-based video series.
Though visibly exquisite, Grace is not without self-doubt. “I have a pretty strong sense of self, even as a kid,” states the statuesque 5’9” beauty. “Yet, within the last couple of years I am finding new ground to stand on. Obviously, one can’t be terribly secure if drawn to this profession, right? By definition, I need some sort of validation from an audience. On some level, it’s a balance all the time.” No longer “lost,” Grace is relishing her time in the Hollywood spotlight with roles in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part I in theatres this November, as well as the film’s Part 2 release next year; Lockout opposite Guy Pearce in 2012 and a sequel to the smash 2008 hit Taken, where she’ll again star as Liam Neeson’s estranged kidnapped daughter, Kim, which will take her to Istanbul and Paris for four months of shooting.
One way or another, the Midwestern native makes this all come together. “Somehow it all does work out and for that, I’m grateful,” she says from her beachside home she shares with Ru, her rescued Hawaiian cat aptly found on the Lost set. Perhaps it’s her hectic schedule that gives title to her relationship status that she describes as “shockingly single.” Relationships have proven to be her greatest single challenge of juggling a successful career and personal life. “You have to be pretty clear on what you’re building together,” she states with a hint of experience in this area. “I have to make time for my cat, my friends, siblings, family; I don’t have any kids though, so it’s all practice and a dry run, so to speak.”
Grace feels friendships are paramount to keeping her stable and grounded persona in check. She reflects on a book she recently read, Connected. “It’s about the importance of official networks and how things such as happiness, eating, even smoking are contagious through networks. There are studies that show the importance of having friends within a mile and a half of you, who you see all the time. The fact that you can walk to someone’s house means you’re really woven into the fabric of each other’s lives and I’m so appreciative of my girlfriends.” She laughs and draws nearer as if to reveal some top secret fact. “My best girlfriends and I had a dinner party together via Skype when I was in Belgrade. They stayed up really late with an extra bottle of wine, I got up at 5 a.m. before work and we all sat around the table on Skype and took group photos of each other. It was really lovely and it’s a great way to stay connected.”
While mastering the art of staying linked, the powerhouse has also succeeded in finding ways to relax and rejuvenate not only her body, her mind as well. An avid reader since her early teens, Grace tries to begin each day with poetry, recently enjoying the words of Dylan Thomas. “It’s almost like a form of prayer for me,” she says. “I think if you find something you bind with, it shows you parts of yourself that you wouldn’t otherwise know were there; I think that’s a good way to start the day.” After her morning ritual, all bets are off for relaxing. Grace’s goal is to try and do something active every day especially when not filming. Consider the list of her recent outdoor endeavors: wakeboarding, scuba diving, surfing, paddleboarding, tennis, rollerblading, “and I’m not proficient at any of these activities yet they’re lots of fun,” she says.
Good eating measures also carry over into one of Grace’s favourite hobbies: culinary exploration. “When I’m home, I love entertaining,” she excitedly states. “I like making risotto because I have pretty good sized groups over and this dish is a crowd-pleaser. On an average day, though, I just try to do a lot of fresh vegetables and lean protein. That’s easy to cook for one.” Besides cooking, Maggie has taken up gardening to bring a Zen-like atmosphere into her days. “I’ve really fallen in love with gardening in Southern California. I’m turning into an old lady,” she laughs. Hardly. Though her current portrayal of Irina – a vegetarian vampire who is part of the coven in Denali, Alaska – in the new Twilight movie makes her over 1,000 years old, Grace took to some strenuous outdoor activities while shooting the film in remote areas of British Columbia. “We went cross country skiing a lot of the times, hiking and even had coven field trips to nearby islands by ferry.
Since shooting Twilight involves long hours on set, Grace says she is especially careful about keeping her stamina and energy at peak levels. “Obviously sleep is important because typically the day starts very early and sometimes we shoot late into the evening. So how you start your day is really important. For me, it’s everything in moderation. I go through periods where I’m a little more attentive to how I take care of myself. Usually it’s an early wake-up with a cup of tea and reading some good stuff, because I have to be conscious of what I put into my brain as well as my body. I also like to have some quiet time in the morning.”
When she’s not working, exercising, gardening or volunteering with a local children’s charity, you can find Grace doing some self-reflection. “I certainly have some periods where I can slow down a bit and take a look at myself. A lot of it comes down to habits and whenever I’m feeling off balance, I have to look where I’m really spending my time. Aristotle once said: ‘we are what we repetitively do.’ So taking a look at me to find and love myself are not just lofty goals. To a certain degree, I can look at my life and say ‘okay, yeah, this is right where I want to be.’ It’s pretty incredible that I started from nothing at age 16 and now I get to make a living at make-believe. There are certainly areas where I need to explore and grow. My life has given me great stuff and lots of fun if you’re going to spend money on something, experience always wins over material things.”
