The Essentials With Sara Sampaio: Erewhon Smoothies, ‘Love Island’ and Going Blonde
Sara Sampaio shares her wellness rituals, minimalist beauty routine and the transformation to take on the role of ‘Superman’ character Eve Teschmacher in the new DC Universe.
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As a model who has covered countless magazines and walked fashion week runways from New York to Milan, Sara Sampaio is no stranger to the transformative power of hair and makeup. But she always had one rule: “I’d never color my hair.” That is, until she landed the onscreen role of Eve Teschmacher in James Gunn’s Superman film. “When I was modeling, I would always joke that I’d only go blonde for a role,” Sampaio tells Observer. “Then, obviously, my first big role, they’re like, 'Actually, we want you to go blonde,'” she laughs.
Born in Portugal, Sampaio’s long, brunette hair was part of her signature look as she climbed the modeling ranks—from her very first Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2013 to her role as Armani Beauty ambassador in 2018. Yet modeling was never part of her plan. “I’ve wanted to act since I was a kid, and then modeling kind of happened and I took on the opportunity,” she shares of prioritizing her work as a model for nearly a decade. Shortly before the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Sampaio decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue her childhood dream, enrolling in acting classes that would quickly switch to Zoom sessions during the height of the pandemic. “In a way, it allowed me to catch up and really focus on dedicating myself to learning the craft without feeling guilty that I’m missing out on jobs,” says Sampaio.
After a handful of roles in smaller films and television series, Sampaio got the call for her biggest audition yet in the summer of 2023. “I remember reading the part and being like, ‘I know exactly who this character is,'” Sampaio says of her introduction to Eve Teschmacher, assistant to and girlfriend of Lex Luthor, played by Nicholas Hoult. “I worked on it with my coach, and I had a lot of fun with my self-tape, but I knew the chances of me getting it were very slim.” Several weeks of silence followed before Sampaio—who was in Portugal launching her seltzer brand, Phunk—heard any news. “I flew back to L.A. to do my chemistry read with [director] James Gunn and Skyler Gisondo, and I think the next day I found out that I got the job.”
While most of the movie was filmed in Atlanta, Sampaio’s on-set experience began in a more remote destination. “We spent about 10 days in Svalbard, which is a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean near Norway. That was the first thing we filmed, and it felt like winter camp,” she says of meeting her castmates. “It was a really cool experience, and it was a very good bonding moment as well.”
Before heading to Svalbard, where the movie’s Fortress of Solitude scenes were filmed, Sampaio had to do some character research. “For me, it was all about building her backstory and the motivation behind why she does what she does and why she likes who she likes,” Sampaio says of the selfie-obsessed Teschmacher. “Eve isn’t really in the comics; she’s from the Richard Donner movies [1978’s Superman and 1980’s Superman II],” she explains. “I watched those movies, and I fell in love with her. Even though this Eve is so modern and she’s a very comedic character, I still wanted to keep that innocent, child-like personality that the original Eve [played by Valerie Perrine] has.”
Also helping Sampaio take on the role of Teschmacher was her blonde hair. “I went to Jacob [Schwartz], and it took 11 hours,” she says of the single-session process, which mainly consisted of highlights. “It would be so weird to look in the mirror and not recognize myself,” recalls Sampaio. “I know that most people will be like, ‘It’s just hair,’ but it’s always been such an important part of who I am as a person. It was a little bit of an identity crisis, but at the same time, it really helped me to get into the character.”
Now back to brunette, Sampaio jokes that she’d gladly go blonde again for more Superman. “The movie has so much heart, and it’s something that we need right now; something positive, and inspiring, and hopeful for all ages,” she says. “I took my nieces, who really enjoyed it, and even my grandma—she’s almost 90, and she fell in love with David [Corenswet]. Days after Superman hit theaters, Sampaio shared her current essentials—from the Erewhon smoothie she can’t live without to the face masks she turns to for an at-home spa day.
Her morning skincare routine
I have very sensitive skin, and the past few years, I’ve realized that the less I do, the better my skin is. So I wake up and wash my face with Face Reality Ultra Gentle Cleanser, and then I just put on this Avène Hydrance moisturizer. That’s pretty much it. I don’t usually do my makeup unless I have a meeting or I have to shoot something, but I mostly just don’t wear makeup. Even when I do facials, I only go to Sarah Ford—she’s the only person that I let touch my skin. She knows how sensitive my skin is and how prone to perioral dermatitis I am, so we keep it to a minimum. It’s really all about moisture and the skin barrier, and we do very gentle lasers. Nothing really harsh because my skin tends to not react very well with it. And then I also love to do sheet masks by Image and Epicutis that I get from Sarah. I have my Celluma red light therapy that I always forget to use, but I love to do it before a job—I wake up and I either put it on blue if I’m having breakouts or red. But the only thing that I do every day is the cleanser and the moisturizer.
Her wellness routine
I definitely started working out a lot lately because I went through something that caused a lot of anxiety. Just going to the gym has really been helping me get all of that extra, built-up energy out. I’ve been working out at the Alo gym two, sometimes three times a week. I started doing these hot Pilates classes at Silver Springs, here in L.A., which I hated in the beginning, but now I kind of love it and am a bit addicted. I love walking—especially if I’m getting very overwhelmed or sad, I like to just go outside and go for a walk—even if it’s just to go grab a coffee or a smoothie. Sometimes all I need is to get off my phone and go touch some grass like everyone says.
What she’s binge-watching
All my friends watch Love Island, and they kept talking about it, so I was like, ‘I’m gonna give this a chance.’ It’s the worst, but it’s amazing! I was very behind, but this past week and weekend I’ve just been binge-watching the new season of Love Island U.S. I only have two more episodes to go before the finale. I have a lot of opinions, so all of my texts with my friends are just me asking, ‘Why did they do that?!’ Love Island U.K. is going to be my next one.
What she’s reading
I just finished reading this book called The Gap and The Gain. It’s about how we measure our life if we always measure it by the things that we don’t have instead of the things that we have. It was just very interesting and talked about how to rewire your brain to not be in that mindset of, ‘Oh, I still don’t have this, and I still don’t have that.’ Right now, I’m reading a book called The Highly Sensitive Person. I’m a very sensitive person, and a lot of the time it’s hard to navigate this world, so it’s just little things to help me. I’m halfway through, so I still have lots to learn.
Favorite vacation spot
I love any tropical place, but the Maldives is such a cool, special place. I also love scuba diving, and they have the most insane scuba diving spots. I’ve been to the Cheval Blanc there, which is insanely expensive, but it’s so beautiful. But honestly, with the Maldives, you really can’t go wrong. If I’m on an island, I’m mostly at the beach, and I don’t want to do anything; I just want to eat, swim and tan.
What she’s traveling with
If I’m traveling for work, I know I always end up in sweats, so I’ll just do a carry-on, but if I’m going on vacation, I’ll just check my Away luggage in. I always have some Chapstick, and I always have a little box full of medicines. That’s one thing that I’ve learned from constantly traveling: you get sick a lot from all of the people and flying. I always like to have a mix of the most common meds that I might need, like something for the nose or the throat, and something for fevers. I can never go anywhere traveling-wise without that. And then I always have my iPad because I love watching stuff on the plane that I’ll download before.
Los Angeles favorites
I go to very typical L.A. places, to be honest, I’m very basic like that. I actually live close to Erewhon, so I like to walk there and back, and that’s a little bit of a mental cleanse for me. They have this Almond Blast smoothie, and it’s literally my breakfast every day. And then I really like Nobu in Malibu and Cucina Alba for dinner; the pastas are incredible, and their steak is also amazing.
