Maria Bakalova has become one of Hollywood’s hottest actresses. Her breakout role was in the 2020 film, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, and she received the Critic’s Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress, and a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards. She also appeared in the horror film Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. Bakalova currently voices Cosmo in the Guardians of The Galaxy franchise. Baklava shared a stunning photo of herself and Cade Hudson by the pool on Instagram. She captioned it, “I guess summer is here.” How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Maria Bakalova stays in shape and the photos that prove they work.
Bakalova wants to keep pushing herself in her career, and that means not being comfortable. “I don’t think I will ever get to a point that I’ll say to myself, ‘I’ve made it,’ because I grew up in a way that I feel like I’ll always need to prove to myself,” Bakalova told People. “I will always want to learn more, try more, go further, jump higher. I’m just lucky to be able to have a job that is my hobby.”
Bakalova tells People that she doesn’t want to compare herself to others. For her, that means avoiding social media. “As much as I would like to say that social media is the worst and we should all stay away from it, if it’s used properly, it might be actually a good thing; [you can] use it for a greater cause,” Bakalova says. “But comparing yourself to somebody is not going to get you further down the road. That’s a problem with all of these characters, they’re looking at all the images, videos, selected by people they have never met and trying to be these people.”
Bakalova talked about her career in an interview with The Wrap. She says that she trusts the process when she’s working on a project. “You never know how things are going to go. You have your perfect-case scenario in your mind, where people are going to say the things that you’re expecting them to say and do the things that you think they’re going to do. You have your goals for the scene for each scene, but of course people are unpredictable and they might take you to a completely different direction. You have to trust the process trust, because it might be even better.”
Bakalova tells The Wrap that she’s a big believer in following her dreams, and encourages others to do the same. “This is one of the lessons that is extremely important, that no matter how big your dreams are, just dare to follow them there. You have to listen to your inner voice. If you’re responsible, if you’re working hard, if you love and if you believe, you’re going to get there, no matter if you’re a fictional character like Tutar or an actress from Eastern Europe dreaming to be in a big Hollywood movie, but told she will never be there. Your dreams are valid no matter how grand – this is the story of my life. Maybe it’s similar to the story of Cinderella, but it’s my life right now.”
Bakalova tells The AV Club that she doesn’t want to limit herself as an actress. “I dream about a variety of films that will be very small micro-budget films that will be a European one, Japanese one, New Zealand one or American ones, or like big huge movies. I’ve been a fan of Marvel since I was 15, and having a chance to see this huge machine and literally a different universe has been phenomenal. I think it’s important for us for our mental health in life to have variety. And of course I think most of us actors dream of longevity, because that’s what keeps you going.”