2021 has been busy for Nina Dobrev. She recently starred alongside Jimmy O. Yang in the Netflix Christmas film Love Hard and is currently filming a new comedy called The Out-Laws. This means long hours on set, having to alter her healthy living practices for life on the road, and sneaking in self-care whenever she can. It also involves deviating from her typical routines, like shopping for Christmas at local stores during the holiday season.
Dobrev recently partnered with Affirm, a financial platform that allows patrons to buy now and pay over time with zero late fees. She’s been using it to purchase everything from her family’s holiday flights to gifts for friends and family. And when it comes to Christmas preparations, Dobrev has a few additional stress-reducing tricks up her sleeve, like buying gifts for people months in advance when she stumbles upon a good fit — and knowing when it’s time to indulge in a good glass of wine.
Shondaland caught up with Dobrev to talk about Love Hard, what learning to say no looks like in her world, getting the chance to star in a non-superficial love story, and how even though many admire her #FitnessGoals, she isn’t always in the mood to hit the gym.
NICOLE PAJER: People are loving Love Hard. How fun was it to be in a rom-com?
NINA DOBREV: That makes me so happy to hear. It’s fun, feel-good. That’s all we need right now. I love rom-coms. I especially loved ours because it’s unique and doesn’t take the rom-com genre seriously, and turns it on its head, which was really fun to do. I’ve never been on a dating app. But to say that I have a perfect dating life is definitely not the case. Like everyone, highs and lows, for sure. So, of course, I could appreciate my character’s journey.
NP: Were you happy to get to portray one half of an interracial couple on-screen and that we’re finally seeing that normalized in film?
ND: I think what’s great about our movie is that it doesn’t really comment on anything, because it shouldn’t be a thing to comment on, in my opinion. You fall in love with the person. At least I do. Most people do. A lot of people like to put labels on things like sexual orientation and color of skin. And for me, the more we can just normalize what’s actually happening in the world, the better. The whole theme of the movie is not falling in love with the exterior, and my character in the film makes the mistake of making it about the exterior. And she learns that lesson over the course of the film and realizes that you have to fall in love with the human inside, not the shell that you see on the outside.
NP: Tell us about partnering with Affirm this holiday season.
ND: I was really excited to partner with Affirm, especially with the way the world has been over the last few years. It’s become so challenging for people. Last year, most people didn’t get to spend time with their families at all. So, this year, as things are more opened up, I’m sure people are going to get together more and see their family for the first time. That will come at a cost — flights, if you’re renting a house or if you just go home to your family, getting gifts for everyone — it’s really overwhelming for that to happen all at once. What’s great about Affirm is they have a buy-now, pay-over-time model, which makes it more accessible for people to not spend their entire monthly budget on the holidays.
NP: What are your favorite Christmas shopping hacks?
ND: I’ve definitely started my holiday shopping. So far, there’s been more me purchases than for other people [laughs]. I typically go out looking for gifts and then end up coming home with a bunch of s--t for me. But I have knocked a couple of people off the list and still have some more to do. Yesterday, I purchased my flights, and I bought my family’s flights as well. We got a beautiful rental house.
I’m a pretty early shopper. It’s a big stress reliever. I’m actually a little late this year. I typically buy things for people throughout the year as I see something that reminds me of them, and I put them in a drawer with a little sticky note [with] a person’s name. And then usually by the time Christmas comes up, I forget that I got something, and then I buy something new. And then three months later, like in March, I find the old gift, and it’s a vicious cycle [laughs].
NP: Do you have any other tips for keeping holiday stress down?
ND: Honestly, the best stress relief is my most recent passion, which is drinking a glass of my Fresh Vine Wine. Alcohol really helps calm the nerves. When you’re with the family, it helps lubricate things and helps keep things relaxed and fun.
NP: What are you doing these days to keep healthy?
ND: I’ll try just about anything. I recently flopped one of my rooms into a small home gym because I didn’t feel safe going to the gym during the pandemic. I was busy purchasing everything from workout bands to hand weights, medicine balls, and a treadmill. I also got the Mirror. It has workouts on it that you can run if you aren’t feeling super-motivated to do it alone.
I like to work out with my friend group. I’m in Atlanta filming, and one of my girlfriends is here with me, which is really helpful, and we motivate each other. If I don’t want to, she pushes me, and vice versa. Here, I’m working out at a private gym. Even if it’s just getting there lying on the mat and stretching while I text my friends, at least I made it.
I also try to work in some self-care, which lately has been a lot of sleep. I’ve been shooting 12 to 14 hours a day. So, in my off time, I’ve been sleeping, steaming, sunning, and cuddling with my dog. My routine is kind of boring. I like to work out, watch movies, make movies, sleep a lot, and do face masks.
NP: You’ve mentioned in the past that learning to say no has been a big thing for you. When did you realize you needed more nos in your life?
ND: That started in my late 20s. I was just such a yes person, and I would constantly do anything and everything, and I got pretty burned out. I knew that at some point I had to choose myself and make sure that I’m healthy and happy, both internally and externally.
You definitely have to outweigh the pros and the cons. And for me, it’s a case-by-case scenario. I ask myself, “Does it align with what my long-term goals are? Am I risking something else as a result of this?” There’s definitely a lot of thought that goes into whether I do or don’t do something. Because time is limited. We only have a certain amount of time on this Earth. You want to make sure that it’s well spent.
This applies to job offers as well. It’s a big struggle that I’m still trying to figure out and I’m working on. I tend to take on a lot, but I do say no to a lot too. So, I really only narrow it down to what I’m most passionate about. There are just a lot of passions.
NP: Do you remember the last thing you said no to?
ND: This past weekend — I do this a lot though, actually — the other day, my girlfriends were going out. We had a cast dinner on Friday night. And then on Saturday, my girlfriends went out, and I told them, “I love you. But no. I’m staying in.” I can kind of only handle one night out a week as I get older.
NP: You recently made your directorial debut with The One. Was it scary to take the leap into that?
ND: I honestly expected to be more afraid than I was. I think I had been on set for so many years in front of the camera that when it came time to go behind the camera, it really felt very natural and seamless for me. I was more excited than anything. And I’ve always wanted to direct. It’s been a passion of mine for a very long time. So, I was really excited it was finally coming to fruition. I really look forward to doing a lot more in the future.
I didn’t direct myself in this one, but the conversation as to whether I should or shouldn’t came up. I wanted to focus 100 percent of my efforts on directing without distractions the first time. I’m not closed off to doing it in the future, but I anticipate it being more challenging because it’s harder to be objective with your own performance when you’re watching yourself, for sure.
NP: It has to be so awkward to watch yourself on film.
ND: It is hard. It’s hard to even talk about it! I don’t love watching myself, but I also do watch things in order to learn from them or something. But it only helps me inform the next move. But it’s not at all comfortable.
Nicole Pajer is a freelance writer whose work has been published in The New York Times, AARP, Woman’s Day, Parade, Men’s Journal, Wired, Emmy Magazine, and others. Keep up with her adventures on Twitter at @nicolepajer.
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