Izabella Miko Is Obsessed
Photo credit: Witek Berkan
You most recently saw her in NBC’s “The Cape,” but Izabella Miko almost didn’t become an actress. Born in what was still Communist Poland to thespian parents, Izabella learned to dance at the same time that she learned to walk. At the age of 15 she was given a full scholarship to study in New York with the School of American Ballet, only to have injuries cut short her dance career.
Then, a fluke casting in a Lithuanian television movie took Izabella back to America again—this time to the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute—and roles in “Coyote Ugly,” “Bye Bye Blackbird” and HBO’s “Deadwood” shortly followed. We talked with Izabella from the Los Angeles set of “The Cape,” where she opened up about her obsessive environmentalism and non-profit EkoMiko Foundation. Part Three of Five.
EcoStiletto: What does sustainability mean to you?
Izabella Miko: I really believe in the little things that we can do. Everything matters. What we say, what we do, the energy we put out there, what we buy, what we put in our bodies, it creates this consciousness around the world. People think, “No it doesn’t matter if I recycle.” But it does matter. Even energetically it matters. I fight for people to not sleepwalk through life but to really be conscious.
ES: When did you become aware of that consciousness, of making more eco-friendly choices in your daily life?
IM: I think it started when I came to New York. I was 15. I had moved by myself; I was a ballet dancer. I started noticing the choices that we had in America that we didn’t have in Poland. And as I became aware of that and also of becoming an adult, I just saw how much trash I produced every single day. I started wondering, “Where does it go?”
It started with one little thing: recycling. And I’m now obsessive about recycling, obsessive! My trash is nothing because I have a composting bin and a recycling bin—I don’t let anything go to waste. But once you go into things that you can change, there’s so much.
Reading scripts now, we used to have so many scripts—now it’s all on the Kindle! It saves paper, ink and it saves the trip of the messenger dropping off the script at my doorstep.
Now that I make a little bit more money and I’m going to be buying a house this will come into play big time. I’ll be able to make real decisions of solar panels, what’s in my walls and all that stuff, which I’m really, really excited about.
I hope that when I have kids the world is just going to be totally different—they won’t even have to make the choice, it just will be a common thing that there’s no chemicals and everybody’s composting. I would like the technology to follow and make it easy for everyone.
ES: Speaking of chemicals, as an actress, your day job involves a lot of chemical makeup. Do you ever use natural beauty products?
IM: I love Josie Maran cosmetics, I actually did an [EkoMiko Foundation] episode on them. And I really try to go organic. It starts with me going to the makeup artist and demanding it. And they go, “Okay that’s what she wants that’s what we’re going to get.” And then they start using it on other people, which is great.
ES: What are a few of your favorite lines and why?
IM: Let me see.
ES: Are you looking in your bag?
IM: Yeah. Okay, one thing I’m obsessed with this toothpaste. I really try to use natural toothpaste. And I found this really cool one that has vanilla flavor to it. It’s called Power Smile by a company called Jason. I’m obsessed with it!
Want more? Our exclusive interview with Izabella Miko covers sexing up sustainability, one hot candle, eco-obsession, seizing the spotlight and going electric. Check back here next week!
Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff is EcoStiletto’s founder and editor. A mother of three who also blogs as Mommy Greenest, Rachel enjoys organic pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.
