The artist within

When Tristine Skyler '93 applied Early Decision to Princeton more than a decade ago, she hoped her extensive acting career would give her an edge in the competitive admissions process.

Skyler — who recently starred in "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" — had led a bustling life in New York City, appearing in TV movies, feature films and off-Broadway shows, and dreamed of spending four years on the University's tranquil campus.

But Skyler feared the admission office might not approve of her letter of recommendation from Glenn Gordan Caron, the director of "Clean and Sober," a movie in which she acted alongside Michael Keaton.

"He wrote, 'Tristine Skyler very convincingly portrayed a drug addict in the movie "Clean and Sober." ' Somehow I got in despite that letter," Skyler joked, while munching on guacamole and chips at Teddy's, a trendy cafe in New York City.

And being somewhat unconventional has never seemed to bother Skyler since.

Amidst soft jazz music playing in the background, the laid-back Skyler reflected thoughtfully on her time at Princeton and the career path she has since followed.

Leafing through a recent issue of The Daily Princetonian and smiling, she explained what attracted her to the University when she first visited during her senior year in high school.

"I was so enamored with this idyllic, dreamy vision of what college is," Skyler recalled, her light green eyes brightening. "I just fell in love."

Skyler's first weeks on campus, however, weren't exactly picture-perfect. The New York-born-and-raised actress felt out of place among her classmates, who she felt were largely from suburban backgrounds.

"I felt like a fish out of water," she said.

But Skyler — an English major who received a certificate in theater at the University — adjusted quickly.

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And by the end of her first two years at Princeton, Skyler said she couldn't detach herself from the University.

"I was a die hard," she mused. "I didn't want to miss a day."

Still, her fondness for Princeton did not always extend to the 'Street.' And though Skyler spent her junior year in a Bicker club, she grew to dislike the eating club's atmosphere, and lived in Spelman as an independent her senior year.

Her first year after college, she worked mostly for free, but soon acquired an agent and a lead role in "Crocodiles in the Potomac," an off-Broadway show.

"I was 23 and getting reviewed by The New York Times," she said.

In her latest role in the movie "Blair Witch 2" — the sequel to last year's popular "Blair Witch Project" — Skyler portrays Tristen, a young academic who, along with her boyfriend Stephen (Stephen Barker Turner), is writing a book on the Blair Witch phenomenon. Under the guidance of their tour guide, Jeff (Jeffrey Donovan), the two venture into the woods with Erica (Erica Leerhsen), a practicing Wiccan, and Kim (Kim Director), a Gothic student, to explore the site where the Blair Witch video from the first movie was discovered. But "Blair Witch 2" is a horror movie, and the group encounters more than a few chilling surprises along the way.

Skyler said it wasn't so much the desire to obtain a role in the movie, but rather a chance to meet director Joe Berlinger, that prompted her to audition for the movie.

"[Berlinger] is my favorite documentary filmmaker, and here was a chance to meet him," she said. Documentaries are her favorite films because they provide a "way to capture the complexity and ambiguity of ordinary existence," she said, quoting documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.

"I went to my audition never thinking that I would ever win the role because they were auditioning 5,000 people [for all the roles]," Skyler added.

But she got the part.

The single, 27-year-old Skyler then had to depict the character Tristen, who in many respects was her exact opposite.

"My character is from a small town outside of Boston, is 22 and in a serious relationship, pregnant and has led a really sheltered life," said Skyler, who — dressed in her black pants and turtleneck, turquoise scarf and sleek, tan overcoat — is noticeably more suave than the fictional Tristen.

"I had to find out what we had in common, which was our studiousness and a sort of idealism," she added. "I had to peel away the born-and-bred New Yorker and the sophistication or wisdom that would be beyond her scope. It was very challenging."

But Skyler has consistently proven unafraid of hard work.

For her senior thesis, Skyler developed a dramatic interpretation of T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland," which was then performed by students at 185 Nassau St.

"It's such an esoteric poem and so burdened with all its allusions. You literally need 18 secondary texts beside you when you're reading it," Skyler chuckled.

"It was just something I was dying to do. Ultimately what guides you is instinct," she added.

And Skyler has always been driven by her love of literature and the arts. As a child, she played the violin and wrote short fiction and poetry, which was later published in an anthology of young writers. She also began acting in commercials, TV movies and feature films at the age of six.

"I feel [acting as a child] was completely enriching and I was very proud to do it, but it was so demanding," she said.

When Skyler is not in costume as an actress, she enjoys wearing the hat of screenwriter and playwright.

She wrote the screenplay for the 1995 movie "Getting to Know You," which premiered in 1999 at the Sundance Film Festival and was directed by her older sister, Lisanne Skyler. The movie was based on a series of short stories by author Joyce Carol Oates.

The film — starring Bebe Neuwirth of "Cheers," Chris Noth of "Sex and the City" and Heather Matarazzo of "Welcome to the Dollhouse" — explores the interaction between strangers waiting at a bus station, a place that represents a "cross section of humanity, intersecting lives and stories," Skyler said.

"I spent four years at Princeton completely in awe of [Oates]," Skyler said of the University professor she greatly admires. "I'd see her at 185 Nassau St. and say, 'There was a Joyce Carol Oates spotting.' "

Now it's Skyler herself who is spotted by fans who saw her in "Blair Witch 2."

"It's a little strange," said the unassuming Skyler, who still rides the subway and has not moved from New York's Little Italy area since setting up residence there after graduating from Princeton. "The most unexpected people come up to me on the subway. Like this jazz musician from Detroit [who said], 'I can't wait to tell my wife I saw you — on the subway no less.' It's hilarious."

But Skyler said not everyone has received "Blair Witch 2" so favorably.

" 'Blair Witch 2' isn't a Hollywood movie in any stretch of the imagination," she explained. "It's a first-time feature by a documentary filmmaker — the type of movie you'd see at festivals like Sundance. It appeals to more of an arthouse crowd."

For this reason, Skyler said, the movie received a fair amount of criticism from those who expected it to be more of a typical Hollywood horror film.

Skyler said she wasn't discouraged, though, by the movie's less-than-stellar run at the box office.

"I'm happy with how it turned out," she explained. "At the end of the day, there were a couple of people who really recognized [the movie] for what it was."

"You just have to detach yourself and try not to be offended," she added. "We expected it, though. We expected it to be a roller coaster [ride] and it was."

Skyler, indeed, has proven largely unaffected by what those around her think and do.

At Princeton, her profound interest in the arts stood out among her friends, the majority of whom pursued more academically oriented tracks.

"I was sort of the odd one out," she said, adding that while her roommates struggled through pre-med courses like organic chemistry, she preferred courses in English and theater.

Skyler said she expected her interests to change as a result of Princeton's scholarly atmosphere, but that ultimately, she graduated still set on pursuing a career in acting and writing.

"What drives me as an actor and a writer is that it's an empathetic response because it's an opportunity to hold a mirror up to society and to show people how interesting they are," she said.

"I thought that being at Princeton would steer me toward law school or a different route, but it didn't," she added. "You can't really escape the artist in you."