Keeping Tabs: Katarina Zhu, Actress, Writer, & Director

Katarina Zhu is a creative through and through—a New York born and bred multi-hyphenate and NYU Tisch School of the Arts graduate with a knack for bringing other artists together, creating intimate, character-driven stories, and accurately portraying women as complex, multi-dimensional beings.

In her directorial debut Bunnylovr, which she also wrote and which premiered at Sundance, she stars alongside Rachel Sennott and Jack Kilmer and tackles topics like toxic relationships, complex parental dynamics, and grief. When she's not acting, writing, editing, or directing, Zhu spends her time taking in art of all mediums (she tends to read two to three books at the same time–an easy read for when she's in transit, a book for before bed and another to read when she has enough brain space to hold only one thought in her head), lounging in Brooklyn parks, and getting lost in makeup tutorial videos—and, scrolling through her Instagram page, her affinity for vintage clothing is clear.

Ahead, Zhu unveils her browsing history to us: everything that she consumes, shops for, and binges in her limited spare time.

From: the suburbs of New York

Located: Brooklyn, NY

Watching:

Margo's Got Money Troubles: "It's impossible to take your eyes off Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer. They are a total powerhouse duo and the rest of the cast is filled out with so many amazing, up & coming actors like Lindsey Normington."

Gerry by Gus Van Sant: "I recently rewatched Elephant as inspiration for my next movie which is about highschoolers. It's amazing how choreographed and precise the cinematography is in that movie–it made me want to watch every Gus Van Sant + Harris Savides collab so next up is Gerry."

Reading:

"I usually have two to three books going at a time: an easy read for when I’m in transit, a book for before bed and another to read when I have enough time / brain space to hold only one thought in my head. Right now those books are:

'Bad Dreams (a collection of short stories)' by Tessa Hadley for the train.

'The Agony of Eros' by Byung-Chul Han—I'm a sucker for any book about love.

My friend Nicole has been sending me passages from Catherine Breillat’s book 'I Only Believe in Myself: Conversation with Murielle Joudet' so I’m sort of reading that vicariously through her… must get a copy for myself soon.

Obviously I also devoured Lena Dunham’s 'Famesick' in two days."

Listening: "'Blue Light' by Kelela. The synth bass or whatever @ :55s ….. cat heart eye emoji x 1000.. Her best song imo. INIMITABLE."

Ugg Classic Mini's in Chestnut: "Have coveted these since 8th grade when all of the very popular girls in school wore them."

KLUR Brilliant Light Vitamin C Serum: "I love this brand so much. One day my whole skincare lineup will be KLUR but for now, I settle for buying their Supreme Seed mask twice a year."

Dracula shirt: "This is my favorite shirt and I wear it every single day until it has completely disintegrated and I’m afraid to be without it so I just keep scouring the internet for the exact same vintage Dracula shirt and buying them all up."

Slip silk pillowcase in blue: "Good for skin and hair allegedly but I just love the way it feels—very luxe."

TheRealReal: "If I'm bored, I'll window shop online on The RealReal. I'm a RealReal stan. It's the best because the pictures are so cut and dry. When I get an item, it's usually exactly how it was pictured on the website."

@party_peas2 on TikTok: "The best account on TikTok. Just cartoon fruit and veg dancing to different songs. So wholesome."

@easternphilosophy on TikTok: "This or really any Instagram or TikTok account that's all about Traditional Chinese Medicine. They know what they're talking about and I trust them with my life. My mom always used to say your body is like a pharmacy. It has everything it needs within it to heal and it's just about which levers you're pulling on."

Rick Owens talking about work: "I love these little motivational / inspirational clips or graphics that are just like a quote from a successful person about how to achieve success in their field–even if it doesn’t apply to me at all or if it’s so corny or if I think they have no idea what they’re talking about. I think it’s interesting how people create this narrative around how / why they’ve achieved their success."

Makeup tutorials: "I recently had my glam done twice in one week and I’m addicted now so trying to learn how to beat my own face and saving every makeup tutorial I come across."

Heaven Knows What poster: "I was compulsively saving movie posters as reference for the poster of my film Bunnylovr and this was one of the main ones. Amazing poster designed by David Rudnik."