‏Silvia Crastan‏

Born in Switzerland, with German, Swiss and Italian ancestors, Silvia Crastan trained from age 7 as a violinist/musician and performed as a freelance musician (Supported by Pro Helvetia), often together with her sister Eva Crastan (Piano), before getting into screen acting in 2010. Her concert activity has led her to many places such as India, Mexico, Palestine, Israel, China, UK, Egypt, Poland, Russia etc where she eagerly studied history, cultures and languages, having always had an interest in sociology and analyzing human behavior in various settings and situations. Her father, Valentin Crastan (born in Genova) is an engineer and book author (Elektrische Energieversorgung 1,2 and 3) and her German mother Ruth Schmied has been working as a chief secretary. Classical music, books and the arts (e.g. visiting art galleries and architecture in Italy) have always had high priority in their family. Silvia was educated in Switzerland at Biel/Bienne Grammar School, but left school at age 17 to study violin, chamber music and also Alexander Technique and Reciting/Singing, which built the basics for her acting training in 2010. In 1999, she went on to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London to continue her violin studies, having won a bursary from Dienemann Stiftung (Luzern). The death of her best friend/partner in 2008 brought a drastic halt and change to her life and after 2 years of doing literally nothing, she took up her true passion, which is screen acting, training Drama at City Lit, Central School and Actors' Temple in London. She got her first acting part in 2011, playing a distraught wife in the short silent movie "Boundless Maze" by Chul Woo Aaron Cho, followed by few other short films, to mention the amazing fashion film "Come Home" by Jonas Lord, on line on SBTV, inspired by the music of DJ Maya Jane Coles, where she plays a spiritual/mythological priestess. A highlight was working as a model with the "Photographer of the Stars" Alistair Morrison and the up-and-coming young Korean artist Chan Hyo Bae on the "Punishment" project, in which he is questioning gender and hierarchy. In 2013, Silvia had two very short BBC TV appearances in "Holby City" as Teddy's Mum and in "Legacy" as Simon Russell-Beale's MI6 Secretary Maureen in a short interaction with Charlie Cox, the future Marvel "Daredevil". In 2014 she had her first feature film role in the psychological thriller "The Gates of Vanity" directed by Suj Ahmed, produced by Future Focus Films, coming out in 2014. She is always on the lookout for good scripts and stories. Silvia has always been a great fan of Fellini's and Chaplin's movies, James Bond and British comedies and in particular loves the cinematography of Anthony Dod Mantle.