Hello
My name is Saskia Slaaf—a SAG-AFTRA actor, voice artist and painter whose life moves between the quiet romance of Maastricht and the restless energy of New York. My work is shaped by curiosity, emotional truth and a fascination with the small, revealing moments that make us human. Whether in front of a camera, behind a microphone or at an easel, I am always searching for the story beneath the surface.
My Story
My story began in Maastricht, but from the start, home existed on both sides of the Atlantic. My father’s academic sabbaticals carried our family to Seattle and Louisville, and I grew up moving between Dutch and English, Europe and America. Those early crossings gave me an instinctive ear for language and an enduring fascination with how people reveal themselves through voice, gesture and rhythm.
At eight, I began writing, directing and performing in my own plays at the Maria Montessori School in Maastricht. By thirteen, I had become the youngest student at the Acting Academy of Maastricht. Dance and visual art soon became equally important. In Louisville, I studied classical ballet, pointe, modern dance and jazz at the Youth Performing Arts School while pursuing painting and drawing through the arts program at DuPont Manual High School.
Later, while studying in Amsterdam, I directed music videos for MTV Europe and was discovered by a modeling agency. A shoot with Karl Lagerfeld for French Vogue opened the door to an international fashion career that carried me through Paris, Milan, London, Japan, Amsterdam and New York. My work appeared in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE, W and V Magazine, and I was featured on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. I also appeared in campaigns for Louis Vuitton, NARS Cosmetics, MAC Cosmetics, L’Oréal and Comme des Garçons.
Fashion taught me discipline, transformation and the quiet power of an image. While modeling in Paris, an encounter with filmmaker Roger Avary brought me back to the first art form I had loved. Being cast in The Rules of Attraction marked my return to acting—and the beginning of a new chapter devoted to performance, voice and storytelling.
The Craft
Returning to acting meant returning to study. At HB Studio, I trained in the Stanislavski system with Kathryn Sergava before continuing my work with Roger Hendricks Simon and George DiCenzo in scene study, movement, improvisation, voice, audition technique and on-camera performance. I later completed the two-year Meisner program at the William Esper Studio with Suzanne Esper.
At the Wynn Handman Studio, I explored an expansive repertoire ranging from Shakespeare and Sam Shepard to Eric Bogosian and the Spoon River Anthology. Each of these teachers offered a distinct path into the work, shaping a process grounded in rigorous preparation, emotional availability and the freedom to follow an impulse.
That foundation has carried me across film, television and theatre. I appeared opposite Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie in an episode directed by Steve Buscemi, opposite John Malkovich in I Love You, Daddy, and opposite Chris Parnell in Big Lake, directed by Don Scardino and produced by Will Ferrell. My screen work also includes The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, High Maintenance, the Netflix documentary It Takes a Lunatic and the World War II drama Etude of Life.
I am drawn to characters whose inner lives are not immediately visible—to contradiction, restraint and the charged silence beneath the spoken word. Whether the work is dramatic or comic, classical or contemporary, I approach every role with curiosity, precision and an openness to discovery.
For me, acting is an ongoing practice: a meeting place between rigorous technique and instinct, where preparation creates the freedom for something truthful and unexpected to emerge.
A Voice Across Borders
Language has always been central to my work. Growing up between Europe and America gave me an instinctive ear for tone, rhythm and cultural nuance. I work fluently in English, Dutch, German, French and Flemish, bringing authenticity and emotional precision to voice-over, ADR and dubbing.
My voice work includes multilingual ADR for Ang Lee’s Gemini Man in French, German, Dutch and Flemish, as well as three national Grey Goose campaigns: Empty Gift, The Final Ingredient and The Art of Summering. Additional clients include Xerox, Microsoft, Nielsen, Human Rights Watch, Chase Bank and Xbox’s Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway.
Alongside Standard American English, I work with a range of accents and dialects, including Dutch, French, German, Russian, Southern American, Received Pronunciation and Essex. Whether the project calls for polished luxury, intimate narration, character work or precise synchronization, I approach every performance by listening first—for intention, atmosphere and the emotional life beneath the words.
For me, voice acting is the art of making language feel lived rather than spoken. Across languages and cultures, I look for the same essential thing: a voice that feels specific, truthful and unmistakably human.
Beyond the Stage
Beyond performance, my creative life continues in the studio and on the mat. Painting has been part of my world since childhood, offering another language for the questions that draw me to acting: identity, memory, transformation and the stories we carry beneath the surface.
Working in oil and mixed media, I create symbolic, atmospheric pieces shaped by color, texture and recurring forms. Through SaskiaArtBoutique, these ideas move beyond the canvas into fine-art prints and artisan home décor—objects created to bring imagination and meaning into everyday spaces. Building the boutique has allowed me to unite artistry with entrepreneurship while remaining connected to the people who live with my work.
Yoga is another essential part of my practice. As a trained teacher, I return to breath, alignment and presence—not as something separate from performance, but as a deeper way of listening. It has taught me to trust stillness, inhabit the body fully and approach each role with openness rather than force.
Acting, voice, painting and yoga may take different forms, but they begin in the same place: attention. Each asks me to notice what remains unspoken, follow an impulse and create space for something honest to emerge. Together, they form one creative life—curious, intuitive and always evolving.
Oil Painting & Mixed Media
A visual autobiography shaped by memory, performance, fashion and lived experience.