Taia One Shots

A Conversation with Kaia Browne

by Lou Insert Last Name
For Paradis Magazine

I recall being in this same exact apartment almost a decade ago, writing an article about a completely different person. This time, as Kaia Browne greets me at the door, she asks me to leave my shoes on a little wooden rack right by a large Bird of Paradise tree.

Immediately, I am hit by a strong yet familiar whiff of cinnamon that seems to be coming from the kitchen, our first stop.

"I don't actually drink any coffee, but I've been told that these are to die for!" she tells me in that soft English accent of hers. She offers me a range of various coffee pods and while the espresso machine is running, she pulls a tray of freshly baked cinnamon rolls right out of the oven.

"I'll be honest," she says, leaving a piece on a plate for each of us. "I didn't make these. They're a Taylor Swift specialty!"

The cinnamon rolls, of course, were divine, as was the coffee. We sit down in the parlour on the sectional with a grand piano behind us and though it sits still, the faint sound of musical notes travels through the apartment from a room upstairs.

"It actually feels weird these days when there isn't any music playing around here," Browne explains through a laugh.

It's homey and looking around this room, brightly lit on a cold New York City morning, I can't imagine this house ever sitting still and quiet. The last time I sat here, it was the sound of music crackling softly from a record player that travelled between the rooms. A cat running after a beam of light streaming past the open blinds, trying to catch it between its paws.

"My family actually moved to New York way before I did," she explains, holding a mug filled to the brim with green tea in both hands, both her legs tucked under her. "I stayed in London while I was in drama school while my dad came here for work. The first few jobs I ever got were all in London. I would travel here often, though, to visit my family, for events as well." She glances away for a moment, at a picture hanging on the wall behind that grand piano. The actress is much younger in that portrait, and next to her in that photo, her partner of ten years is kissing her cheek. She's quiet, reflecting for a moment. "It took me a while to start thinking of New York as my home, actually. For the longest time, it was just the place where my parents lived, and then, it was the place where my mother passed away. I had a little flat not too far from my parents' house since I started spending every minute I wasn't filming here. And then, I moved into this little apartment..."

She trails off and laughs while gesturing with her hands at the massive room.

"You can have two homes, can't you?" She asks me, looking at the portrait hanging above the piano again.

On top of the piano sits a GRAMMY, which isn't all too surprising since there are over a dozen of them in the apartment itself but that one in particular has Browne's name engraved on it. She is only one award away from earning the EGOT title. In the last decade, she has been in a handful of movies and shows, working alongside other notable actors and filmmakers, gaining popularity and a respectable name in the industry. Browne has been nominated alongside other well-known actors in various categories including Sandra Oh, Olivia Colman, and Anna Jones and she had managed to win two EMMYs and an Oscar for her role in the Evelyn Nicks drama film Big Love.

"That was one of the harder roles to play, honestly, but it was also quite rewarding, besides the fact that I won an Oscar for it, I mean!" She recalls. "It was an incredible experience. Probably one of my proudest works. And Evelyn, of course, she's fantastic. I would love to work with her again one day!"